Where is Your Favorite Spot on the ECFS Campuses?

My favorite place on campus is the outdoor classroom behind the library. Being surrounded by a verdant landscape — the beautiful Tate Library windows as the backdrop — brings a sense of peace and connects me to nature!

— Shelley Topping-Omodunbi, Director of Public Partnership

My favorite spot on the Ethical Culture campus is definitely the rooftop playground. In addition to being a great outdoor play space for kids, it offers a really spectacular view of Central Park and neighboring buildings. Our rooftop is an extraordinary vantage point from which to view the changing seasons and the ever-changing New York City skyline.

— Maryann Mazzacaro, Kindergarten Head Teacher, Ethical Culture

My favorite spot on campus is the picnic table outside of Fieldston Lower. It’s a great spot to eat outside and enjoy our beautiful campus. In the summer — when most students and staff are away — we often meet to have lunch with coworkers from other departments and divisions who are here working (something we rarely, if ever, get to do during the busy academic year). Heavenly!

— Melinda Moore, Assistant to the Principal, Fieldston Lower

One of my favorite spots at Ethical Culture is at the windows that overlook Central Park in room 308 I love watching the park grow and change throughout the seasons, and it gives me opportunities to slow down and appreciate all the blessings in my life. In the spring, when everything has thawed out and the sun shines bright, the jazz players come out of hibernation, and the rhythms of their music float in through the open window, energizing all who listen.

— Kyle Zhen, 2nd Grade Associate Teacher, Ethical Culture

This is not an easy question since the campus has many beautiful areas. One of my top picks is the terrace outside the southeast exit of the Fieldston athletic building. Although this area is primarily used to exit the building, you can also access it by walking up the stairs on top of the bleachers. From here, there is a very nice view of the fields, and it’s always quiet since there is not much pedestrian traffic.

— Noel Soriano, Assistant Director of Facilities

My favorite spot on campus is the Fieldston Lower Library. Not only is it a beautiful and warm and inviting space itself but it houses an impressive collection, and you can always walk in there and see young readers taking advantage of it with expert guidance from the library staff. I think it is a space that perfectly encapsulates the wonderful and unique things that ECFS has to offer.

— Felipe Cocco, Ethics and Technology Lead, Fieldston Middle

Early in the morning, the Fieldston campus is humming with activity, as the Facilities crew is already working, and I can hear music combined with the sounds of chopping filtering from the Fieldston Upper kitchen window. I enter the still-dark, state-of-theart fitness room in the Fieldston athletic building that overlooks the track and football field and see the sunrise as I exercise. Workout is done; I feel ready to take on the day.

— Ana Baert, Associate Teacher, Fieldston Lower

There is a little wooded space outside room 402 and Ms. Repole’s office, where I’ve had bird feeders up every winter for about 25 years. I can huddle down in there with school buses not far, and watch chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, goldfinches, and many, many house sparrows ‘gather around the table’ and eat. Many biology classes have sampled there for invertebrates over the years as well, finding slugs, ‘roly-polies,’ and centipedes. It’s a bit of the ‘old nature’ of this area of New York City, and I treasure it.

— Howie Waldman, Science Teacher and Green Dean, Fieldston Upper