Coming This Fall: The Brooklyn Apple Academy
Neighbor Noah Apple Mayers, a teacher and artist, is putting his passion for a unique learning environment to good use by starting the Brooklyn Apple Academy this fall. It will be a hands-on, 3-days-a week program for students ages 4-6 in a location still to be determined nearby in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
To give you an idea of what the school is all about, we asked Noah about his background and what will make this school special. For more information, check out the website, download the application, or plan to attend an info session this Saturday, March 31, from 12-1:30pm, RSVP to brooklynappleacademy@gmail.com for the address.
DPC: Why did you decide to start the Brooklyn Apple Academy?
Noah Apple Mayers: When I reflect on my own public school education, I can’t help but regret the vast amount of wasted time and countless hours of tedium. I think it’s all too easy to be complacent about the fact that a lot of kids hate school. I want to create the school that I would have loved to go to.
How has your experience influenced this project?
In the past ten years, I’ve had the opportunity to work as a teaching artist in 24 schools in NYC; some public, some charter, and a few alternative settings. I’ve personally experienced the wide range of educational styles this city has to offer, from the truly stellar to the dispiritingly cruddy. These experiences have helped me to envision the kind of learning space I’d like to create.
What can prospective parents expect–how will this compare to other schools they might be considering in Brooklyn?
We’ll create our curriculum with respect to NY State’s common core standards for what students are expected to be capable of at each grade level. I’m confident that our students will be able to exceed those standards without exerting undue pressure to master particular concepts on a preordained timetable. Our goal is to help the students become self-motivated lifelong learners, and coercive tactics will be used as sparingly as possible.
We’ll provide an individualized educational experience, rich in active, hands-on learning, with a very small student-to-teacher ratio. We’re aiming for a class of 4-6 students in our first year.
What’s the one question you get asked the most about the school?
A lot of people who see pictures of my work at Imaginary Space want to know if I have a time machine that will let them go back in time and go to school there. If anyone can invent a time machine, it will probably be one of my students.
Where can people see more of your artwork?
For the past decade or so, I split my time evenly between my work as a teacher and my work as a puppeteer and a visual artist. As I prepare to become a father (in June!) I’ve been channeling most of my creative energies and passion into teaching. Ever since, I’ve seen my teaching take on greater meaning in my life. It has all the performative aspects I enjoyed as a puppeteer, and a far more captive audience.
How does Ditmas Park inspire your art and your teaching?
Living in Ditmas Park helps me recharge. I love to come home after a long day of teaching, and sit down on the porch to watch the sunset. I’m looking forward to teaching in the neighborhood and cutting down on my commuting time!
