NEW YORK—Hands-on instruction with a variety of components for enhancing learning—a hydroponic garden, a mini “zoo,” and a state of the art theater—is the core of The Mandell School on the Upper West Side.
The private school was founded by Max Mandell in 1939 as a play group for children in the area. He took them on learning excursions around the city, dropping in on places such as Coney Island, Bear Mountain, and Jones Beach.
“His belief was that if you took children and created a safe, stimulating environment for them, and gave them experiences that broadened their horizons, anything was possible,” said Gabriella Rowe, Mandell’s granddaughter.
Rowe, despite misgivings earlier in her life, runs the school now.
Previously a banker, she learned two profound life lessons: One is that there are people who work at jobs they don’t love; the other is how to be passionate.
“I actually loved banking,” she said. “I got to go down in coal mines and go on oil rigs and learn how companies work.”
For Rowe, being passionate includes caring about and investing in what one is doing.
“That is so much of what we teach children,” she said. “We teach them [that] whatever it is you choose to do in life, you’re not only going to do it well, you’re going to do it with everything that you have to give.”
Engaging Students
The students appeared engaged with their work during a recent tour. Some sawed wood for making toy cars in a classroom; others gathered around guinea pigs in the lab (known as the “zoo”); and in the theater, a class watched the Lorax film after recently finishing their own Lorax performance.
All of these scenes show the core of The Mandell School.
