The school adheres to a progressive or constructivist educational philosophy, which espouses the value of experiential learning and self-reflection.

Schechter Manhattan opened in 1996 with Dr. S. Lorch as the founding Head of School.

The first eighth graders graduated in June 2006; alumni have gone on to a wide range of excellent independent, Jewish, and public high schools including but not limited to: Bard, Beacon, Dalton, Heschel, High School of Math, Science & Engineering, Horace Mann, LaGuardia, Ramaz, SAR, Schechter School of Westchester, Stuyvesant, and Trinity.

Schechter Manhattan is a member of the Independent Schools Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY).

Prior to that time, the kindergarten and first-grade classes met at the Park Avenue Synagogue and the rest of the school, grades 2–8, was located on the Upper West Side at 15 West 86th Street, in the building of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism.