Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Ethics + Service Learning

At Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Ethics is a core academic subject. We require all our students to complete coursework that identifies moral and social intersections, draws on the School’s ethical humanist traditions, and expands their understanding of the larger field of ethics. A key component of our Ethics curriculum is our Community Service Learning (CSL) program, which directly responds to the issues our students experience and witness in the world. Our Ethics and CSL programs represent a diverse array of student leaders, community partners, and faculty and staff committed to the advancement of social justice in our city and beyond. In applying their learning to the world around them, our students live out the mission of ECFS.

Global Learning

To prepare students to navigate both the opportunities and challenges characteristic of our increasingly interconnected world, ECFS extends the boundaries of the traditional classroom with a variety of global learning experiences for students in Fieldston Middle and Fieldston Upper, mostly in the form of spring break trips and summer programs. ECFS believes that global education and travel should not be mere tourism; they must entail service in action. By combining service learning with cultural immersion, our students come away from their adventures with a better understanding of another culture through firsthand experience.

City Semester

City Semester is a selective, interdisciplinary, experiential program offered to students in the spring semester of 11th Grade. The program integrates all disciplines (English, History, Languages, Science, Math, Ethics, Arts, and Physical Education) into a dynamic, cohesive whole with New York City — and the Bronx in particular — as its focus. Students spend at least two days a week outside of school researching, exploring neighborhoods, interviewing residents, working with community organizations, collecting data, presenting in the field, and speaking to policymakers. The academic work is rigorous and challenging, with veteran teachers instructing in their own disciplines and collaborating across disciplines. City Semester brings students out into the world to both construct their own learning experiences and address urban policy challenges.

Student-to-Student (STS)

In the STS program, Middle School mentees are paired with Upper School mentors, who coach them twice a week on ethical issues.The program builds a positive social framework for everyone: younger students have peers to look up to as role models, and older students take on the responsibility of student teachers.

Fieldston Outdoors

FIeldston Outdoors is a six-week summer day camp that allows lower school students to engage with nature. A day might include a hike through the Palisades or a canoe ride down the Piermont Marsh.

CARe (Conversations about Race and Empathy)

CARe creates a space for lower school students to engage in conversations about race and support positive racial identity development. Children participate in the CARe program in one of two ways: they can either choose a General Discussion Group or an Affinity Group. A General Discussion Group is open to students of all racial backgrounds, while an Affinity Group gathers children around a shared racial/ethnic identity. Each group is led by two trained co-facilitators and follows a similar age-appropriate curriculum.

Alternative Learning Program (ALP)

Every two years, Upper School students, faculty, staff, and administrators choose niche subjects to probe in a two-day experiential learning experience called ALP, or Alternative Learning Program. Workshops are often student-generated and student-led or co-taught with a faculty member; past topics have included Bollywood and Indian dances, designing Rube Goldberg machines, and the art of roasting and cupping coffee.

Fieldston Awareness Days

During Fieldston Awareness Days, our community attends special classes, seminars, and activities revolving around a specific theme or topic for an entire school day.