Nick Smart

City and Country School

City and Country School, for children ages 2-13, was founded in 1914 by the pioneering educator, Caroline Pratt, during the dynamic period of Progressive Education. Believing that education is fundamentally a social process, we strive to create a vital school community that supports each child's innate passion for learning while also expanding his or her understanding of communities and cultures that exist beyond school and home. The teacher's place is alongside the child, posing questions that elicit imaginative thinking, problem-solving and decision-making in pursuit of a deeper perspective. In the partnership of learning among children and teachers, community is lived through purposeful experiences that foster responsibility, cooperation, active participation, care, and respect—qualities necessary to the life of a democratic society. With social studies as the core of the curriculum, enriched through science, mathematics, literature and the arts, students are offered varied opportunities to explore and question the human story, both past and present. Academic and practical skills are embedded in contexts meaningful to children, within larger, in-depth investigations. C&C graduates are rigorous, original thinkers who embrace inquiry and experimentation as a means toward discovery. Compassionate in spirit, supportive of the needs and ideas of fellow citizens, and sure of their ability to solve problems, they move confidently into the world and contribute positively throughout their lives.