INDEPENDENT SCHOOL COUNCIL OF NEW YORK CITY: A NEW MODEL FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION

The Independent School Council of New York City was a consortium of four top New York college-preparatory schools that came together in the 1970s to form a consortium, consolidating various aspects of their academic and business operations. The four members were considered to be amongst the most selective and exclusive schools in the city and had a long history of working together as peer schools.

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The 1960s and 70s was a time of great change in education in New York City and across the United States. The conservative ethos that had dominated much of the early part of the Century had been displaced by cultural revolution and, to an extent, a rejection of tradition and traditional values. Despite their long-standing reputation as progressive and innovative schools (many of which were founded as laboratory schools by great educational academics or the Teacher’s College of Columbia University), exclusive private schools and the social structures that they represented had become unfashionable with many parents opting to send their children to public schools or alternative schools.

With rising costs of doing business and a drop in demand for places compounded by the declining birth rate in the 1970s and 80s, a number of New York’s independent schools found themselves in difficult circumstances and began to explore opportunities to realise efficiencies and synergies that would mitigate these circumstances. A number of consortia began to emerge, such as the New York Interschool, formed in 1971, the Independent School Council of New York City (ISCNYC) founded in 1970 and, later, the ill-fated Baldwin League of Independent Schools. These groups saw formal agreements established between peer schools seeking to pool their resources and administrative functions in a bid to reduce costs, improve admissions and harness greater marketing and promotion opportunities.

These various consortia differed significantly in the extent to which the member schools cooperated and merged activities, with the Baldwin League effectively being a merged school group, the ISCNYC being a membership group with some joint activities, and the Interschool group being a membership body with a common approach.

A key proponent of this consortium model was Dr. Rollin Baldwin, founded of The Baldwin School, who had observed the success of various Midwestern school groups in which differing schools had merged resources (typically boys – often military – schools merging with their sister girls’ schools and other local peers). He believed that a similar project would alleviate some of the problems experienced by New York schools in a competitive marketplace, in particular, his own school. The Baldwin School convened the Independent School Council of New York City, inviting Columbia Grammar, Elisabeth Irwin High School and The Walden School to join and consolidate aspects of their educational programme and administrative functions. Other schools were also invited to participate with the potential to join on specific initiatives or projects only. This concept would be further expanded upon with the establishment of the Baldwin League of Independent Schools which saw Baldwin merge with the McBurney School and then with Carnegie Hill School, The Rhodes Academy and Riverside School (all of which are since defunct).

The Independent School Council of New York City was short-lived as The Baldwin School and The Walden School continued to experience financial difficulty through the 1970s and 1980s, before merging with other schools before, ultimately, closing. The project was hindered too by the difficulties in identifying real opportunities to realise collaboration and cost-saving synergies. At the outset, the consortium agreed to little more than a common printing and copying service. Two of the member schools, Columbia Grammar and Elisabeth Irwin, were already members of the New York Interschool consortium (which, arguably, was more prestigious and had greater traction due to its larger membership body) and the Guild of Independent Schools of New York City. All of the member schools are or were accredited members of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and associated with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Independent School Admission Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY) and the Parents League of New York (PLNY).

The Independent School Council of New York City no longer exists but represented a significant step in the consolidation of New York’s great schools which occurred in the 1970s-1990s and demonstrated how these venerable institutions could work together to head off common issues and improve their competitiveness and viability.

We welcome any thoughts or comments that you have on the Independent School Council of New York City or similar bodies, particularly any firsthand experience you might have. Please feel free to share with us in the comments section below.