Welcome from the Head of School

Welcome to Caedmon’s “virtual home.” It is a wonderful time to visit, as we are celebrating our 50th birthday and looking ahead to the next half-century. Fifty is a particularly powerful milestone – when one is old enough to know what you do well and why you do it, but also young enough to have the energy to try new paths and to make some enhancements.

Caedmon was founded by a group of excited, passionate parents. The importance of that relationship exists today. Proud to be an excellent elementary school, we work closely with parents to ensure that their children attain a solid foundation in order to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. When the journey at Caedmon has ended, we work carefully with our families as our students place in the finest New York private and public middle schools.

Caedmon truly lives its mission, which is centered upon four tenets:

• We are a community, first and foremost.  People at Caedmon -- faculty, staff, and families -- “have each other’s back.” Everyone at Caedmon holds as a priority the success of each other.
• We strive for academic excellence, which includes an understanding of how children develop and of each student as an individual. 
• The school was founded on the idea that New York is a diverse, global city. Caedmon doesn’t “work on diversity” – it is a diverse and exciting school, where difference is embraced as an opportunity to appreciate and learn about our world and each other.
• We teach in accordance with the philosophy of Maria Montessori, who saw education as a natural outcome of curiosity and self-driven success, as opposed to pleasing the teacher or being taught by the expert at the front of the room.

At the school’s 40th birthday, an “anecdotal history and appreciation” of the school was published. In it, “Chip” Doyle, a member of the first Caedmon graduating class and son of one pair of the founding parents, captures perfectly the experience of a Caedmon student:
‘The learning seemed really natural and really fun. We were a group of kids, sort of like a team, but I think we simultaneously learned how to think and act for ourselves independently, at our own speeds, with great confidence that we wouldn’t be penalized for trying and failing, or trying several different ways to get to a solution or discovery. That’s quite a gift to give a child, and Caedmon gave it to us.”

There is a very special “vibe” that you feel when you visit the school. It is a result of passionate teachers who care very deeply about the children who have been entrusted to them. While we try to capture that here on our website, I encourage you to visit the school and experience it yourself.

We’ll try and save a slice of birthday cake for you!

Matthew Stuart

Head of School