The Park School of Buffalo

The Park School of Buffalo is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Amherst, New York (north of Buffalo). Founded in 1912 during the American country day school movement, the institution features lower, middle, and upper schools, serving roughly 290 students from Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12. About Park History Originally located in downtown Buffalo, The Park School was founded in 1912 by a group of Buffalo parents seeking an alternative to the existing pre-preparatory institutions in the area. The group consulted with John Dewey and observed one of his students, Mary Hammett Lewis of Columbia University, then an instructor at the prestigious Horace Mann School in New York City. Lewis was invited to Buffalo to become the founding headmistress. She later wrote a book, An Adventure with Children, describing her experiences at the school. As the student body grew, it was decided that an upper preparatory school should be added. Originally for girls, the upper school began accepting boys in the early 1930s, then offering the only private, co-educational experience in the Buffalo area.