Located in Manhattan's poorest district, Central Park East Secondary School is a model of urban educational reform. As applications rose, a second school opened in 1980, and a third four years later. Today, each enrolls 250 students. During Central Park East Elementary's tenth anniversary celebration, Theodore Sizer of Brown University suggested that Meier start a secondary school, with some funding from his reform-minded Coalition of Essential Schools. Meier was the school's first principal, a job she held until last fall.
Classes are small, and the curriculum is traditional liberal-arts fare.
Students have the same teacher for at least two years, and teachers are also guidance counselors, each advising 15 students. Knowing students' school and home backgrounds, they provide a support network lacking in many larger schools. Teachers, she makes clear, have a much larger role.