History and Timeline


In touch with the past...preparing for the future

History

In 1979, Mustard Seed School opened its doors to 16 students at the Martha Institute in Hoboken on 6th Street and Park Avenue.  The first classes existed in a non-graded setting with a heavy academic emphasis that also integrated arts, faith and service. From its inception, the school was created to serve a diverse community, especially those students who had the fewest options. The school has grown and flourished since those early days and changed location to accommodate growth. One class has turned into 12 classes serving approximately 200 preK-8th grade students. Our core values remain the same:  outstanding education integrating academics, arts, faith and service; celebrating each child; available to all. 

The school has had many exciting events and accomplishments.  Browse the timeline below for a few highlights.  

Timeline

2010 - Award-winning documentary filmmaker Brian Fuller spends the month of January on campus with a crew.  The school is the subject of his next documentary which will be released in the fall of 2010.

2009 - Mustard Seed announces plans to expand.  The school acquires additional space at its 422 Willow campus.

2009 - Mustard Seed School holds an Early Learning Conference for educators of Preschool through First Grade students.

2009 - The school celebrates its 30th Birthday. Governor Jon S. Corzine joins the Mustard Seed community for a celebration.

2009 -Mustard Seed partners with a local church, Redeemer Hoboken, on a parenting workshop about church, family and worship.  40+ parents came to hear the speaker, former Mustard Seed Kindergarten teacher Janet Johnson.

Mustard Seed Choir2008-09 - Grades 6,7,8 sing at the Apollo theatre as a part of the Carnegie Hall program, “Perelman American Roots.” Also as a part of the program, music teachers received professional development and a teaching artist visited the school six times.
 
2008-09 - Shared Space is extended to include 4th and 5th Grades
 
2008 - Shanna Pargellis, Director of The Nest and Lower School and a 30 year veteran teacher, speaks to graduate students on a profession in education at Intervarsity Christian Fellowship’s Following Christ Conference on Human Flourishing in Chicago. Click here and scroll to the education section for the audio track.
 
2008 - The Nest Early Learning Center becomes a full program of Mustard Seed School and moves to Our Lady of Grace Campus.
 
2007-2008 - Mustard Seed institutes a high volume reading program and academic exhibitions in the Upper School.
 
2007 - Recording artist Ginny Owens teaches a mini-term class on “Finding Your Voice”
 
2007 - School receives Markowitz Book Award from the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
 
2007 - The Nest expands to 44 children.
 
2007 - Head of School Christine Metzger receives a Van Lunen Fellowship. 
 
2007 - Coleman Fung establishes the Endowed Chairs for Math and Music.
 
2006 - The Nest Early Learning Center opens as a pilot program with 16 students at the school building of Sts. Peter and Paul in Hoboken.
 
2006 - Spanish language program expanded to include an advanced independent Spanish Literature class for native speakers
 
2005 - Kathleen Hanson re-joins the faculty in the newly created position of Upper School Director.
 
2005 - Advisory Council, Mustard Seed’s “Think Tank”, gathers for the first time.
 
2005 - Head of Spruce Hill Christian School (Philadelphia) Seth Cohen writes his doctoral dissertation on Mustard Seed’s Responsive Classroom approach.
 
2004 - Internship program with Covenant College.  Students come to Mustard Seed to work and learn alongside Mustard Seed teachers for a month in the spring.
 
2004 - Between Memory and Vision published. The book features Mustard Seed School in a chapter about faith-based schooling.
 
2004 - Music teacher Joan Litman directs the Bach Festival at which Mustard Seed students perform among 150 students from four schools.
 
2000 - A nationwide search leads to the hiring of Mustard Seed's second Head of School, Christine Metzger originally from Wappingers Falls, NY.  Ms. Metzger previously served as the principal at Denver Christian School - Highlands Ranch campus in Denver, CO. 

2000 - Teacher Dee Mingey receives the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship, enabling her to author a manual on the school’s innovative Shared Space.

1999 - Choir sings at Tree Lighting Ceremony at Lincoln Center.

1998 -Founding Head of School Lawrence Litman leaves Mustard Seed after 19 years of extraordinary service.

1996 - Book published, From Candy Sales to Committed Donors: A Guide to Financing Christian Schooling. Mustard Seed cited as an example.

1996 - Students perform three Carnegie Hall concerts and at Kennedy Center as part of a benefit concert for Bosnia.

1993 - Investment Banker Gary Lawrence resigns as a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan.  After a 19 year career as a banker based in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong, Gary joins Mustard Seed as a math teacher.  Gary is currently the Coleman Fung Chair for Mathematics and the Assistant to the Head of School.

1993 - Choir performs on PBS with Peter, Paul and Mary.

1992 - Denmark flies Larry and Joan Litman to their country to teach about multi-culturalism to Danish educators.

1992 - Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate William Clinton visits the school and holds press conference.
 
1988 - The US Department of Education distinguishes Mustard Seed as a “Blue Ribbon” Elementary School.
 
1986-89 - Larry Litman and Shanna Pargellis participate in conferences resulting in the publication of the book 12 Affirmations: Reformed Christian Schooling for the 21st Century.
 
1985 - Students enter an art contest through the Hungarian Peace Council and win.  The poster created as a collaborative art project is displayed at the Hungarian Peace Consulate in Budapest, East Germany (NATO peace conference) and finally at the United Nations.
 

1985 - National exhibition includes student pen and ink drawings.

1980 - 150% growth, 50 students enrolled.

1979 - Mustard Seed opens with 16 students.  Larry Litman is the Head of School and teaches 3rd-5th Grade.  Shanna Pargellis (then Shanna Klein Horsman) teaches K-2. Joan Litman is the third faculty member, launching the school's award-winning music program in the Kodály tradition.

1979 - A group of pastors, inspired by a documentary on the Dawn Treader School (Paterson, NJ), decide to address the education crisis in Hudson County by opening a Christian School in Hoboken.  They recruit Lawrence Litman of San Clemente, CA, to launch the school. Larry; his wife, Joan; and children, Emily and Peter, pack the car and drive across the country to open the school.