Children's School
Eliot-Pearson Children's School
The Eliot-Pearson Children's School is the laboratory-demonstration school affiliated with the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. The school serves as a model and demonstration facility, providing a training and observation site for new and experienced teachers and a research facility for faculty and supervised students in the Department of Child Study and Human Development. The Children's School enrolls approximately 80 children. It has preschool and kindergarten to second grade classes that vary in length and frequency.
History of the Eliot-Pearson School
The Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development and the Children's School began in 1922 as the Ruggles Street School and Training Center, established by Abigail Adams Eliot with assistance from Mrs. Henry Greenleaf Pearson.
As one of the first nursery schools in this country, the Ruggles Street School became a natural training ground for preschool teachers. It also served as a research site for those interested in learning about normal, healthy, active young children - an interest that had emerged with the establishment of child development as a field of study. In 1926 the Ruggles Street School became the Nursery Training School of Boston, reflecting its primary focus on teacher training.
Then, in 1951, it was affiliated with Tufts University, and teachers were able to pursue their college education in conjunction with training in a preschool setting. In 1964, the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study was formally established, with the Children's School as its laboratory - demonstration facility. The School and Department have a long history of providing the highest quality of early learning to children while simultaneously offering in-depth training to the students of the department.