The Computer School was founded in 1983 through the hard work of Steve Siegelbaum, Peter Rentof, and several other teachers, and was located within the Joan of Arc Middle School facilities on West 92nd Street.

It's creation was made possible through a grant by the Logo developers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Computer School was able to expand to a new site at MS44 two years later.

The philosophy of The Computer School derives from the sense that the defining notion and judgement of a school is what it produces. It adheres to the questions: What do we want our students to get out of their tenure here? What are they expected to know and be able to do? What kind of people do we want them to be after their three years here? These questions must be answered as an ideal, and it is essential that we maintain that ideal as our vision.

Here, then, is what we would like The Computer School to produce:

A child who routinely and purposely reflects upon her/his work

This means that we must provide the students with the means to develop meaningful projects, the latitude to err and correct, the time to edit and revise, the atmosphere to plan and ruminate, and the support to critique and accept criticism.

Journal writing or log keeping

Other writing activities across the curriculum

Reduced reliance on traditional testing as a means of assessment

A child who can enter high school with a sense that school is not only a place where he/she is helped to prepare for the real world of work and self-fulfillment, but is itself part of the real world.

This means that we must provide a standards-based curriculum that recognizes and is informed by the interrelationship of several disciples, and hence rejects the artificiality of subjects in isolation. We must afford students the opportunity to work collaboratively while allowing for different styles and speeds of learning.

Further, it means that we must develop as part of the curriculum a program in which the students are exposed to theater, museums, business, government and environmental sites, and other cultural institutions and community resources.

Theme-based interdisciplinary curriculum featuring individual and group projects

Inclusion of field trips and outside resource personnel as a regular part of the planning and implementation of curricular units.

A child who is beginning to understand his/her place and significance both in today's society and the continuum of history, who is developing a sense of the interdependence of the various forces of history, and who demonstrates a healthy respect for the world's diverse cultures .... hence, a child who reflects the understanding and responsibility that would enable him/her to see him/herself as a valued, productive member of society.

This means that not only must we provide the students with a solid historical background but also encourage them to become active participants in their community as they also actively participate in their own education. It means that we reject the patchwork, superficially layered-on, so-called multicultural approach to the social studies in favor of one in which the world's collective cultures are in all senses genuinely integrated. As such, the individual student becomes truly multicultural.

Community service programs

Projects and aspects of school life, ranging from writing, producing, and presenting theater performances, to room and equipment maintenance, for which students are given considerable responsibility

Peer tutoring

Contact and involvement with real issues of the community and beyond.

A child who is an active learner and who develops a real spirit of inquiry: a child who is a problem solver.

This means that our purpose must not be to give information or facts or answers, but to provide the means, the setting, and the tools which will enable our students to search for the right questions to pose and will confidently ask them to perpetuate exploration. It means that we open our students to new and diverse experiences, that we provide them with opportunities to produce authentic work, to construct theories that are germane to and stem from their own interests.

Appropriate, well-planned, relevant field trips

Additions and alternatives to test-based assessment methods, such as presentations, exhibitions, and portfolios

A learning-centered, student-centered, rather than teacher-centered class format.

A child who is on his/her way to becoming technologically aware, one who will understand, or at least begin to comfortably utilize the power of the computer and related technology and be able to access information and resources through a variety of electronic media such that he/she can thrive academically and vocationally in the world of the 21st century

This means that we must provide the students with an environment in which computers are readily accessible and are thoroughly integrated into all phases of school life. It means that lessons must be designed to allow for different groups of students to be engaged in different tasks simultaneously.

Computers, modems, networks, printers, etc. situated in classrooms in addition to a computer lab and a robotics lab

Internal and external telecommunication links as well as internet access.

A well-rounded child who is able to express himself coherently and lucidly in a variety of modes.

This means that while we cannot hope to be comprehensive in terms of topics covered, we must provide a full curricular range including the arts-as well as the sciences and humanities-which are not presented in some enrichment fashion, but rather are seen in a fully integrated sense as part of a complete education. Further, it means that writing must be a part of all subject areas, and that opportunities in sports must be offered to all students.

Art, music, and drama as part of our interdisciplinary theme approach

Relationships with Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Community Works, Roundabout and other theater organizations, museums and cultural institutions.