Faculty were addressed by first names and students were given great leeway in determining their course of study.
[1][2] The Walden School was founded in 1914 by Margaret Naumburg, an educator who later became an art therapist.
[4] Naumburg, who had been exposed to the theories of John Dewey at Columbia University, embraced "individual transformation" as an education principle, encouraging creative expression and self-motivated learning.
[1] Walden's original building at Central Park West and 88th Street has been demolished.
However, Walden's adjacent building at 1 West 88th, now known as the Goodman Building after Walden alumnus and civil rights martyr Andrew Goodman, is now occupied by Trevor Day School.