Former Fieldston teacher and administrator David Schwartz remains a beloved member of the Fieldston community to this day. Twenty-two years after retiring, “Schwartzie,” as he is affectionately called, is remembered as that rare teacher who taught the lower, middle and upper levels of the school on the Riverdale campus. Schwartz has left an everlasting impression on the Upper School as a teacher and department chair and has continued to make an impact on the greater world since his departure from Fieldston in 2000 after twenty-nine years of teaching. One teacher recalled that “Part of Schwartz’s democratic vision was a belief that ‘At Fieldston everybody teaches.”
Before coming to Fieldston, Schwartz taught at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, New York as well as Solebury Boarding School in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Schwartz was first drawn to Fieldston because his former colleague from Riverdale, Kenneth Barton, became the principal of Fieldston Upper School. Then, after further research, he became interested in Fieldston’s mission. Schwartz was attracted to the school’s obligation to making the world a better place, and not only for yourself. Fieldston was also one of the few schools that had a community service program at the time. Schwartz believed that the “very existence of the ethics department was shaping the environment of school for the better,” which he valued.
In 1972, Schwartz made the decision to transfer to Fieldston from Solebury. At Fieldston, he was first an English teacher for all Upper School grades. As a new English teacher, Schwartz was also a grade dean from 1972 to 1984. He later became the Assistant Principal of the Upper School, though this role was short-lived because Schwartz was needed at Fieldston Lower due to their problems with under enrollment and management. Schwartz was always intrigued by the true progressivism of Fieldston Lower, so when he heard of discussions about closing the lower school, he jumped at the opportunity to step up and save his favorite division of Fieldston. When reflecting on his time as the Principal of Fieldston Lower, Schwartz said, “Fieldston Lower is one of the most interesting schools I’ve ever encountered in my career. A real commitment to progressivism and curriculum at each grade dedicated to social studies–it was wonderful!”
After resolving the enrollment issues at Lower, Schwartz returned to the Upper School as a 9th grade dean and English teacher. His two favorite English courses that he taught were Essay Writing and African American Literature. Schwartz remembers teaching English very fondly: “A very varied career and a very rich one for me. I just loved the students. I really loved the students. Looking back, I can say with real conviction, I thought I was going to learn about teaching but what I really learned about was learning. The thrill of teaching was learning from and with my students.”
In 2000, Schwartz made the decision to retire from Fieldston due to his discontent with the institution over issues of social justice. To Schwartz, it felt as if the school was “patting itself on the back for simply admitting students of color when in reality much more needed to be done.” When Schwartz first came to Fieldston, he was glad to be teaching at a school that admitted students of color long before the majority of private schools did; however, throughout his time at Fieldston he became increasingly angry about the school’s failure to respond to the needs of minority students. As a Fieldston faculty member, Schwartz constantly urged the administration to make adjustments, but saw little change.
After leaving Fieldston, Schwartz became an active member of the Working Families Party. The Working Families Party was founded in 1998 by labor unions and community activists in an effort to, as Schwartz put it, “make the Democrats be what they said they were.” Members of the Working Families Party believed that Democrats were shying away from truly tackling oppressive institutions that historically many of them had benefited from. Schwartz took an interest in the party because he viewed it as “the only party that actually stood for social, racial and economic justice.” The Working Families Party is now an influential group with a large following and a candidate on the ballot during every gubernatorial election.
Schwartz was the Vice Chair of the Westchester Putnam Chapter of the Working Families Party. As one of the party’s leaders, he tackled issues such as wages, affordable housing and universal pre-kindergarten. Schwartz is now resigning as Vice Chair of the chapter because he thinks that the chapter “is too old and the leadership is too white.” He spent the last few years trying to bring in newer, younger leadership and has finally succeeded in his search, as he is being replaced by a young Hispanic woman who has experience working with immigrant families. Schwartz may be resigning from his leadership position, but he still plans to be a fully engaged member of the Working Families community.
Through volunteering for the Working Families Party, over the last 12 years Schwartz became involved with The Children’s Village–an organization dedicated to “partnering with families to help society’s most vulnerable children so that they become educationally proficient, economically productive and socially responsible members of their communities.” Schwartz tutored children in English for the organization. Former Fieldston Ethics Department Chair Angela Vassos also works with The Children’s Village by placing at-risk youth with them. The Children’s Village strives to put resources into communities by teaching birth families parenting skills, providing affordable housing and by making counseling services available to all.
Schwartz is very busy with his work for both the Working Families Party and The Children’s Village, so he doesn’t come back to visit Fieldston often. That being said, Schwartz has also noticed a “disappointing forgetting of retired teachers that has been occurring” recently at Fieldston. He is hopeful that with Joe Algrant as the new Head of School, this will change. Schwartz said, “Joe is attuned to the history of the school and the teachers who truly care about the school.”
Schwartz continues to be touched by a great many of his students. In fact, one of his dearest friends is a former student of his who graduated in the class of 1974. He also has managed to stay connected to Fieldston by participating in fundraising for the Fieldston Enrichment Program. To this day, Schwartz deeply misses everything about teaching. He mentioned how he used to frequently say, “You’ll find me dead in my classroom. I’ll never ever retire!”
