• About MMFS
• Welcome From the
  Head of School
• Mission
• Diversity
• School Structure
• History
• Faculty and Staff
• Board of Trustees
• Who is Mary McDowell?
• MMFS Alumni and College

• Elementary School
• Middle School
• Upper School

The School's History: A Trajectory of Rapid Growth

Mary McDowell Friends School has come a long way since its doors opened in 1984 with five students as the "Mary McDowell Center for Learning" (MMCL). The school grew out of a successful collaboration among parents of children with special needs, special education professionals and concerned community members. The founding committee, which included Susan Weiner and Violet Longobardi, envisioned an elementary school that would meet the need for innovative educational services for young children with learning disabilities in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. Originally started in the Brooklyn Meeting House, the program was grounded in the values and long tradition of academically outstanding Friends educational institutions.

In 1990, MMCL received its New York State provisional charter as a nonprofit educational institution. Debbie Zlotowitz, hired as Head of School in 1992, launched a new era of rapid growth. In 1993, the school received a permanent New York State Charter, and by 1994, enrollment had grown to 40 children in five classes with an expanded faculty, specialists and activities. As demand for classroom seats grew beyond the Brooklyn Meeting House, the school rented additional space at the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. With enrollment at 76 in 1997, Beth Schneider joined as Assistant Head of School.

1998 was a landmark year: MMCL received its first accreditation from the New York State Association of Independent Schools, and it acquired its own building. Funding for the building purchase was set in motion by a major grant from the Macmillan Foundation, half designated for tuition aid endowment and half for the development of a new site. A second major grant came from an anonymous donor through the New York Community Trust. In September 1999, the school actualized a long-held dream of a permanent home in its newly renovated four story brick building on Bergen Street in Brooklyn's Cobble Hill neighborhood. The new home brought together all students and faculty under one roof and allowed the school to offer admission to an even greater number of students, expand its educational programs and modernize its technology and facilities. It also enabled the school to develop its mission as an educational resource for the larger community.

The Mary McDowell Teaching and Learning Center was launched in September 2001, providing workshops and on-going consultation to professionals, parents in schools and community organizations throughout the New York City metropolitan area.

To meet the great demand for educating adolescents with learning disabilities, MMCL opened a middle school in September 2005. With a successful capital campaign completed in 2006, an additional floor was built to accommodate our growing student population, and a spectacular rooftop basketball court and greenhouse were added to enhance the school's academic and physical education programs. The school expanded yet again in the 2006-07 school year with a new lower elementary division, consisting of three classrooms with ten students each, aged five to eight years old. With continuing increases in enrollment at a number of age levels, MMCL moved its middle school to its own defined space, a 26,000 square foot building on nearby Summit Street with a large gym and cafeteria.

Building upon the success of the middle and lower schools, the Board of Trustees undertook a multi-year process to determine whether MMCL ought to add a high school program. At the end of that process, the Board unanimously and enthusiastically decided to do just that. At this important moment in the school's history, the Board also acted to change the school's name to Mary McDowell Friends School (MMFS), which is more fitting for a K-12 school. The new name is also a direct reminder of the important role that MMFS plays in the community of Quaker schools. The new division opens in the fall of 2010 with a ninth grade. MMFS will add a grade to the upper school in each of the subsequent three years, until a four-year high school program is realized. The Class of 2014 will be the first to receive a MMFS high school diploma. The upper school carries forward the school's tradition of challenging students in a supportive and individualized program. The curriculum represents the best of what is found in outstanding special education and mainstream programs across the country.

As it grows, Mary McDowell Friends School continues to move forward with exciting and innovative programs for students with learning disabilities.