Maple Street

Maple Street
Originally uploaded by benwaltzer

This is the Maple Street School, on Lincoln Road in Flatbush. It's adjacent to the Prospect Park stop on the B/Q train.
I learned about the school from my friend Anthony Pinciotti, the jazz drummer, who sent his son, Sal, there. "They check out Miles Davis. I went in there and they were listening to 'Kind of Blue,' instead of watching Barney or some dumb-ass shit like that," I remember him telling me and my wife 3 years ago.
The school's director is Wendy Cole with whom I am going to try and catch up in the next few days for a chat about the history of the school and its role in the community. Suffice it to say, though, that we were attracted to the school for a few reasons. Besides being nearby, it stresses child-directed learning through interaction with other children, the environment and the arts. It is based, in part on the Reggio-Emilia and Waldorf-Steiner educational philosophies. Also, the school, unlike some others we visited, is highly diverse - racially and economically- and actively struggles to maintain its identity as an institution rooted in the community. That is, as it has grown, and grown more expensive since its inception in 1978, it continues to serve the Flatbush community, as well as the generally more affluent newcomers that have been part of the area's gentrification over the past five years. It is also a cooperative that puts its pupils' parents to work. More on that later.