As a fan of history and 1920's architecture I had to stop when I saw this historical marker on the corner in front of the The Cushman School located in the historic MIMO Miami district on Biscayne Blvd. It is the oldest, continuously-operating, co-ed pre-kindergarten through grade 12, college preparatory, private school in Miami. The historic marker was erected by the Class of 1964 in cooperation with the Historical Association of Southern Florida.
Dr. Laura Cushman moved from Iowa to Miami in the early 1900s. After becoming an accomplished teacher in the county school system, she decided to open The Cushman School on the front porch of her home in 1924 with just 12 students. In 1926 the school moved into the Mediterranean Revival building designed by Russell Skipton that is still used today. The classrooms were arranged to ger the breeze from Biscayne Bay. Windows were added to the school that came from the Royal Palm Hotel in downtown Miami. The school bell on the roof of the main building is the same plantation bell that was used to call the construction workers to Villa Vizcaya. Today the campus is a mixture of the historic buildings and new ones and the high school building is a few blocks south on Biscayne Boulevard.
Dr. Cushman served as principal of the school for 52 years. She wanted the children who attended the school to not only be good scholars but also good citizens with the character traits of industry, responsibility, reliability, courtesy, honesty and integrity. In 1992 the United States Department of Education named The Cushman School as a National School of Excellence.
Today, the school consists of a mix of historic and new buildings spread across a beautifully landscaped campus in a historic pocket of Miami. The high school building is a few blocks south on Biscayne Boulevard. As a fellow educator I loved learning about Dr. Cushman's educational philosophy which positively influences the development of the child but with all of the data input and test taking that goes on in schools today, is not emphasized enough in the public school system. How refreshing to see that there is a school developing tools and educational programs that help children reach their highest potential while still promoting social responsibility. All of that comes at a steep price however as tuition ranges from $33,000 to $43,000 a year at The Cushman School. read more