Brief History Of New York's Education

The history of New York’s Education dates from 1629, when the West Indies Company came to the city. They enacted the law which required the establishment of schools in the city. Four years after the law was passed, first school was opened and it was a public school. It was opened in 1652 in the City hall. Back in time eduction was only for elite people and meant tutoring and a small one room schools. These one room schools usually held 30 to 40 students of all ages and levels with one teacher. In some of the larger one room schools, the teacher would teach to the higher level and older students, and in turn they would teach to the younger and lower level students. The expectations from all students were same and if a student failed to accomplish a desired standard, they were punished heavily.

The demand for education that these children had were different depending upon the level and the ages. the best they way out was to split the class was by age. At different ages, the students had different needs, and the best way to meet these needs was to group everyone of the same age group together. Initially, many of the small schools grouped them together with several ages in one room. Grades 1,2, and 3 would be together, while grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 were in another area. If the students moved on, they would usually attend colleges or universities. Later The grades were separated into their own levels, and mandates were set for what had to be taught at each grade. The rise of elementary schools and secondary schools came about. Then middle schools were added years later.Today, we operate on a 12 grade level system, plus kindergarten. It is amazing to see how schools have grown from one room buildings to large corporations with many schools to accommodate every