Our Mission

New City School inspires children to engage joyfully in learning and achieve academic excellence while cultivating their personal strengths and passions. We empower our students to build community and advocate for a more just and equitable world.

Since 1969, New City School has been committed to providing opportunities for a diverse group of children (and adults!) to learn together, to be creative, and to develop a sense of independence and confidence. It is a place that considers the needs of children first, a place that is built on a commitment to diversity, and a place that brings children, parents and teachers together in a community of joyful learning.

Our Four Pillars

Throughout their time at New City School, students practice and develop self-awareness and mindfulness as they uncover and build their identity; they learn to question, connect to, and understand the world around them as they chase their passions and gain the knowledge and skills to help them reimagine the road ahead. Curricula across grade levels at New City School connects across the throughlines of identity, interconnectedness, and agency & advocacy, which are grounded in our Four Pillars:


Academic Excellence
We work to ensure that our students from preschool to sixth grade are authentically engaged in their learning. Our students are strong academically; they are purposeful in their work. They are leaders and innovators who set goals for their learning, reflect, and approach challenges with dedication and a growth mindset.
Diversity Beyond the Numbers
Diversity is one of the founding principles of New City School, and it is deeply integrated throughout the other three pillars. We define diversity broadly, and intentionally build and nurture a diverse community, knowing that it is crucial for children to understand, commit to, and seek out diversity in school and in life beyond our red doors.
Personal Intelligences
The personal intelligences—interpersonal and intrapersonal—are the foundation for everything we do. Our promise is to nurture students to be introspective and empathetic.  Our students take the time to know one another and be truly known in return, and together they work to solve problems and lead for change. New City students are intentional in their actions, upstanders in their communities, and kind at heart. 
Joyful Learning
New City School students love going to school! Our students discover their interests; they learn to ask questions, stay curious, and develop a genuine love of learning. Our teachers dedicate time and space for students to share their ideas and take the lead in their own learning process throughout the day. Students develop the habits of mind to learn about themselves and others, chase their passions, and wonder about and re-imagine the world around them.

Our History

New City School was founded in 1969 to help stabilize the then-struggling neighborhoods of the city’s Central West End. A group of neighbors, many of whom had small children, began meeting to discuss the possibility of opening a school to serve the neighborhood children—and beyond.

By the Decade