Grades 3–6
Babylon, New York
Public/Suburban
Enrollment 575
Babylon Union Free School District
2008 National School of Character

Form a character education committee comprised of dedicated people, and provide common readings to get the group started.
–Eric Freidman, Principal

The village of Babylon lies at the midpoint between bustling New York City and the trendy Hamptons, yet it seems like a small town in Middle America. Babylon Memorial Grade School, while preserving that old-fashioned Norman Rockwell family spirit, emerges as a microcosm of the new “tolerant world” envisioned by Martin Luther King, Jr. With a 17 percent minority population and more than 99 percent of its special education population fully mainstreamed, the school strives to foster acceptance of others. The four pillars of respect, responsibility, honesty, and empathy dominate every nook and cranny, but it is tolerance in thought and deed that gives the school its special character.

Read more about Babylon in the 2008 NSOC book: “Respecting the Right
to Be Different”

SIGNATURE PRACTICES

Featured Lesson Plan: Character-Go-Round
By analyzing character traits in both literature and their own life, students will reflect upon how their own words and actions influence how others perceive them.

Sample Practice: Quarterly Home–School Connection
Students complete an activity at home that helps reinforce the core value of empathy.

Promising Practice: Class Court
Students confront incidents of bullying in a mock court.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Eric Freidman, Principal
Babylon Memorial Grade School
169 Park Avenue
Babylon, NY 11702
Telephone: (631) 893-7980
E-mail: efreidman@babylonschools.org
Web site: www.babylonschools.org/Schools/memorial.asp