Susan Reich

This school is really tiny, just 70 or so kids across four grades. This has its advantages: small class sizes, family feel, nobody gets lost. When you call, the principal picks up the phone. You feel like you're not just a number. That size has its disadvantages: no sports teams, not a lot of fancy facilities. It's very DIY: if you find an arts program you like at SVA or a drama or dance course somewhere else in the city, the school will count that course as a credit, if it's long/rigorous enough, so you can really take advantage of NYC. IF you are in a sports league, the school will credit that as a sport. There's a (pretty reasonably priced) one-on-one option if the kid is really behind on something that you can take instead of the Beekman class. On the downside, there isn't a wide range of art or music or P.E. offered within the school. (They go to a local gym on Fridays) Beekman seems to have a lot of more or less normal kids who for whatever reason aren't a classic fit for a typical school. Some of them are expats who came halfway through the semester, or from the U.N, (there's quite a lot of Asian kids), some are from fancy private or big public schools where they stumbled. I guess Beekman is their second chance, and some of them take it and others don't and get moved along. This is not a competitive school to get into, but there are some quite talented kids here. The teachers seem kind, if not universally dazzling pedagogues. There's no PTA (that I've found) and no fundraising. MY LD kid is there, after a few stumbles. Overall we're pleased with how sane and flexible the school is; low key, sensible, no crazy NYC pressure, while still getting kids a solid education. I would recommend Beekman for the kid who needs something a bit different, but is still recognizably a school.