Educational Chaos Prompts New Classical Prep School to Launch in NYC

A worried Mother’s Perspective
By Susan Greene

There will soon be a new addition to the New York City private school landscape. Emet Classical Academy, the first classical Jewish prep school in the country, will be opening on the Upper East Side this September and, for me at least, it could not have arrived at a better time.

I write this as crowds of young people line York Avenue in a slow-moving protest from downtown New York to Gracie Mansion, stopping along the way to taunt individuals and institutions tied in any even attenuated way to Israel with accusations of genocide. Like Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

These protests have become a regular event in New York City and they worry me. Though, in fairness, I worry a lot. I am a Jewish mother, a lawyer, a New Yorker. I worry as a profession and personal hobby. Still, I am particularly worried that these protests herald a dangerous future.

Hate Spread Via Catchy Slogans

Many protestors shout inflammatory slogans – pithy and rhyming, but overly simplistic. The notion that these young people are uniquely capable of seeing the truth of a generations-long conflict, and can reduce it to a slogan that encompasses its full weight and breadth, suggests extreme egoism of a smug cadre, confident in its moral and intellectual superiority.

But these slogans require the avoidance of deep thinking and demand intolerance of contrary views. Slogans make things easy. Nuance is harder. And so, my worry? I worry that these young people do not understand the implications of their words. I worry that they fail to see the complexity of the issues upon which they profess to be experts. And I worry that it is our education system that has failed to send critical thinkers into the world.

Back to Core Beliefs

Emet might be a salve for that worry. Its website announces that it will focus on the “core ideas and texts of Western civilization” with a goal to “train students in the best a classical Western education has to offer, from grammar and rhetoric to high level math and science.” All this, says Emet, to “forge citizens who will strengthen American civic life and make great contributions to the human endeavor.”

This language is a radical departure from the more progressive ethos that has come to define New York City schools. Where a classical education emphasizes foundations in classical texts and a mastery over a range of disciplines, progressive education embraces a philosophy that prizes a student’s choice and creativity above all else. Gone are the days of reading great books and practicing penmanship.

Many schools no longer teach primary texts or demand that students have foundational understanding of basic disciplines. And so, when progressive educators offer choice and creativity to students before first introducing them to the full spectrum of learning, “choice” and “creativity” are illusory. “Make a choice,” is the message, “get creative and find a passion,” even at the expense of expertise. Students write essays before they can diagram a sentence. They form social justice groups without learning about the Civil Rights Movement. Compounded through the years, this philosophy has eroded academic standards. It has also encouraged the kind of slogan wielding that so frightens me.

Importance of Different World Views

Over the last ten years, many progressive educators decided that the same students who had been wise and empowered enough to control their own education, were suddenly too fragile to be challenged on their views. Uncomfortable histories were rewritten. Classic novels carried trigger warnings or were outright banned. Ever younger students were pushed to take on the mantel of social justice without the scaffolding of a comprehensive education, all the while being shielded from viewpoints that differed from their own.

Young people emerged from institutions that adopted such a teaching style entrenched in their own views, passionate and confident in their own truth, yet intolerant of and unable to engage with anyone who disagreed with them. I fear for a future where such thinking dominates decision making.

Back-to Basics Philosophy

Emet, with its “back to basics” philosophy, will demand of its students a different kind of thinking. It will demand excellence and mastery of a subject before students move forward into debate or advocacy. That foundation will give students the confidence to make the right choices with respect to how they spend their time and energy and what issues truly matter to them. It will expose students to a range of opinions, allowing them to see an issue fully and understand it from all sides. From that foundation, students will be confident to truly engage in the kind of meaningful discourse that promotes positive change. When an Emet graduate finds their passion, it will be through independent thought coupled with deep understanding. These are the kinds of young adults who do instill confidence in me for the future.

Emet Classical Academy is a Jewish preparatory school for 5th to 12th graders in Manhattan. The school is committed to the pursuit of excellence in every academic and cultural field and to the preservation of the best of Western civilization. Applications are available for the 2024-25 school year. www.emetclassicalacademy.org