Our School

History

It Started with a Vision

The Dalton School, originally called the Children's University School, was founded by Helen Parkhurst in 1919. It was a time marked by educational reform. Philosophers, teachers, and child psychologists identified as "progressives" began to question the conventional wisdom of the day which held that education was a process of drill and memorization and that the only way to teach was to regiment children in classrooms. Their natural instincts to play, to move, to talk, and to inquire freely were to be suppressed.
Progressive educators believed that the development of the whole child is of primary importance; that children are social beings and that schools should be communities where they can learn to live with others; that these communities should devote themselves to the total enrichment of mind, body, and spirit.
Helen Parkhurst, after experimentation in her own one-room school first in Tacoma, WA and then with Maria Montessori, developed what she termed the Laboratory Plan. It called for teachers and students to work together toward individualized goals. The Laboratory Plan was put into effect as an experiment in the High School of Dalton, Massachusetts, in 1916. From this beginning, the Laboratory Plan and The Dalton School eventually took their names and their mission.
In 1919, Helen Parkhurst relocated to New York City, where she opened her first school on West 74th Street. Larger facilities soon became necessary; the Lower School was moved to West 72nd Street, and the High School opened in the autumn of 1929 in the current building at 108 East 89th Street. Eleanor Roosevelt admired the work of Helen Parkhurst and played an important role in expanding the population and resources of the school by promoting a merger between the Todhunter School and Dalton in 1939.
In the school's second decade, the school established many foundational elements. Two student publications, which are still active today began: The Daltonian, the student newspaper, was founded in 1933, and Blue Flag, the school's literary magazine, in 1935. Also in 1935, the Dalton Theatre Guild produced its first production, Macbeth. The Community Service program began in 1942, and during WWII Dalton students spent their summers as farm laborers in New York State, replacing laborers who had gone to war.
Enlarged and modified through the years, Dalton has served as the center of an ever-expanding community, always alert to promising innovations in education and yet, in the best sense, committed to traditional values. Dalton still celebrates many of the school-wide traditions begun by Helen Parkhurst, including the Candlelighting Ceremony, Greek Festival, and Arch Day.
Over the years, Dalton has gained international recognition for its academic excellence. Schools in The Netherlands, Australia, England, Korea, The Czech Republic, Taiwan, and Chile have adopted the Dalton Plan. Today, there are two schools founded on the Dalton Plan in Japan. Leading educators from public and private schools and universities, from the United States and abroad, visit Dalton on a regular basis to observe its system of education and to learn more about the school's recognized achievements in the area of technology.
Dalton's population and facilities have grown considerably in the last three decades. In 1964, the First Program was moved from 89th Street to a facility of its own at 61 East 91st Street, providing an ideal setting for kindergartners and first graders. In 1978, the First Program expanded to include the adjacent building at 53 East 91st Street, and it was enlarged again in the fall of 1992 to include 63 East 91st Street. One entire floor of this new building was converted into a science and art center for Dalton's youngest students.
In 1992, a Physical Education Center was constructed at 200 East 87th Street. This state-of-the-art facility is used by all students in the second through twelfth grades. Comprising over 32,000 square feet and three floors in a high-rise building, the air-conditioned Center represented Dalton's largest single addition of space since the school's opening at 108 East 89th Street in 1929. It includes an exhibition gymnasium capable of seating 500 spectators, and a second practice gym, an aerobics room, a wrestling room, a spin room, and a fully-equipped fitness and weight training facility.
Construction of Dalton's Physical Education Center enabled the school to convert its former gymnasium at 89th Street into academic space including classrooms, a dance studio, and a multimedia art and architecture Laboratory. In 1995, an entire new top floor was built with modern art studios with skylights and large windows overlooking Manhattan's skyline. Two levels below were Dalton's newly renovated Middle School and High School libraries.
In 2003, the music floor was dramatically renovated and now houses the Performing Arts Center. This dynamic space enables Middle and High School students to pursue their passion in the arts, whether in music, theater, or dance. With access to state-of-the-art acoustics, theatrical rigging and lights, a music library, a control booth, recording capabilities, a large rehearsal hall, and a new classroom space, Dalton's performing arts curricula continue to be vibrant and innovative.
In 2007, the 3rd floor at 89th Street was completely reconfigured—including a cafeteria dining area, student lounge, and nurse’s office—and the cafeteria’s outdated kitchen had a top-to-bottom renovation. Students, faculty, and staff all benefited from this more efficient, modern, and welcoming space. 
After acquiring an adjacent townhouse, the First Program facility at East 91st Street was transformed. In 2013, we finished two ambitious phases of construction and renovation including a new spacious science center (with roof access) and art center next door; a modern kitchen; an enhanced energy-efficient infrastructure; improved disabled access, including a new elevator; a reconfigured basement level with two refurbished Kindergarten Houses; a new student technology center; and a new admissions office. 
Following two-and-a-half years of construction, Dalton’s newest facilities at 89th Street opened in September 2019. This was an exciting, once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine our entire school for the 21st century. And this investment offered an unprecedented opportunity to connect Parkhurst’s pedagogical foundation to the physical space facilitating project-based, experiential learning. From top to bottom, this project ensured that we could serve each student in inspiring, new ways.
We added a 12,200 square foot, two-story rooftop expansion to our existing 12-story 89th Street building. Our new facility includes a dedicated STEAM facility and open space for collaborative, interdisciplinary meetings, and community events. The expansion gives us the flexibility to build on the success of our programs in the STEM fields, robotics, and transdisciplinary work.
The Ellen C. Stein Center for Collaborative Study, our thoughtful, forward-looking design encourages interaction and chance encounters between students, faculty, and disciplines. The open communicating staircases, informal nooks, and pockets of seating allow for moments of spontaneous, serendipitous conversation, while movable classroom walls encourage collaboration, creativity, and exploration.
This flexible place of new learning enables methods of teaching not yet envisioned and fosters new connections between faculty and students. Potential curricular innovations are boundless with the addition of a robotics field, prototyping space, an engineering lab, computer science & digital media rooms, a machine room, a teaching kitchen, a stunning greenhouse skylight, and glass-enclosed art studios adjacent to a dance studio – which doubles as a black-box theater. Ample space is also available for art exhibits and science competitions.

A Firm Foundation

Dalton would not exist were it not for the foresight and generosity of Mrs. W. Murray Crane. By virtue of her husband's family business, the paper company Crane & Co., established in 1801 in Dalton, Massachusetts, Mrs. Crane provided the financial support for Helen Parkhurst to establish the Dalton School.
Helen Parkhurst arrived in Massachusetts to teach the Crane family's youngest child, Louise. During this time, Parkhurst continued to explore her interests in "educational laboratories." Fifteen years after her first teaching experience, Parkhurst introduced her innovative plan of educational instruction in a local school for physically disabled boys founded by Mrs. Crane. Its immediate success inspired Mrs. Crane to pursue the implementation of Helen Parkhurst's "Laboratory plan" in the high school of Mrs. Crane's hometown, Dalton, Massachusetts. Shortly thereafter, the plan was renamed the Dalton Laboratory Plan, as it is still known today.
Through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Crane, Helen Parkhurst founded the Children's University School in New York City "with the avowed object of demonstrating what the Dalton Plan could do to revitalize education -- to make it a living thing capable of arousing and preserving the interest of pupils in their work." It was renamed The Dalton School in 1924. By then, the school was recognized internationally following the 1922 publication of Helen Parkhurst's seminal book, Education on the Dalton Plan, which was translated into 14 languages.

Explore Further

Historical Writings

Education on the Dalton Plan is the foundational text upon which The Dalton School was built. Throughout that text and other writings of Helen Parkhurst, male pronouns are used when discussing students and teachers generally. That language reflects the usage of her era and does not denote male preference today.

 

Grades K-3

53 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128

Grade 4 & PE Center

200 East 87th Street, New York, NY 10128

Grades 5-12

108 East 89th Street, New York, NY 10128

Contact Info

212-423-5200    |    info@dalton.org

Stay Connected

Quicklinks