If you think the notion of a one-room school house seems quaint, consider some of their most noted graduates: Herbert Hoover, US President, Joyce Carol Oates, the Pulitzer-prize-winning writer and Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia co-founder. The idea of a contemporary “urban one-room school house” might seem a throwback, but for some parents in Brooklyn, it’s actually a very modern undertaking.
Beginning in Fall 2012, Brooklyn Apple Academy will open its doors to a new class of students who will be doing everything from building catapults, writing puppet shows and exploring the landscape on weekly field trips. The Academy will take inspiration on small size from The Rad School and curriculum from Brightworks.
The founder and lead teacher, Noah Apple Mayers, is working with Phoebe Damrosch- a woman who has been involved in neighborhood coop preschools and also spent part of her childhood in one room school houses in Haiti- to populate the school. Noah, the lead teacher, has taught at R.A.D, Village Community School and Brooklyn Free School among other places. He also aided in building another micro-school at imaginaryspace.org. There will also be assistant teachers and guest specialists.
Brooklyn Apple Academy‘s goal is to have a class of 4-6 students this year, and then increase that number as the students and the school grow older. The exact location is yet to be determined, but it will be in a renovated basement in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood in Brooklyn. They will offer a 3-day-a week program for students age 4-6 from 9 am until 2 pm. Next year they hope to expand the program to 5-days-a-week.
6 Spots are available in the 2012-2013 School year. They project that the tuition will be somewhere in the range of $8,000 dollars per term. The actual cost will vary based on location and class-size.
More information can be found at Brooklyn Apple Academy. You can also email Noah at BrooklynAppleAcademy@gmail.com with any questions, to get an application, or to set up a meeting.