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Professional Children's School

College preparatory school in New York City

Field	Value
established
founders	Jean Greer Jane Harris Hall
grades	4-12
website
image	Professional Children's School entrance in morning.jpg
caption	Students entering school in morning, 2025

The Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college-preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades four through twelve. The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an academic education to young people working on the New York stage, in vaudeville, or "on the road".

PCS was co-founded by Jean Greer and Jane Harris Hall when they learned that children who were working in entertainment were not able to attend traditional school. The school's premises were originally at The Rehearsal Club on West 45th Street in Midtown Manhattan, and later at 1860 Broadway, near West 61st Street, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. It subsequently moved to 132 West 60th Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan.

The school's curriculum and hours have changed over time. The New York Times wrote in 1994 that it "is the country's only fully accredited nonprofit school offering an academic college-preparatory education for those studying for careers in the arts and young performers with special scheduling needs." Students who are especially successful in their careers, such as in ballet, may not go to college after all. A book published in 2005 described scenes at the school that were common with regular schools in terms of the subjects being studied, but with added provisions for remote learning when students were on tour with a production and with the added social comfort of being around other children going through the same experiences.

Alumni

Note that all names listed here must be sourced. Unsourced additions will be removed without notice.

Dance

Jerry Ames | access-date = January 5, 2019
Jared Angle
Tyler Angle
Alexandra Ansanelli
Merrill Ashley
Debra Austin
Peter Boal
Ruthanna Boris
Ashley Bouder
Leslie Browne
Fernando Bujones
Daniel Duell
Megan Fairchild
Robert Fairchild
Suzanne Farrell
Eliot Feld
Savion Glover
Susan Hendl
Adam Hendrickson
Darla Hoover
Sterling Hyltin
Allegra Kent
Gelsey Kirkland
Darci Kistler
Maria Kowroski
Carla Körbes
Rebecca Krohn
Lourdes Lopez
Savannah Lowery
Nilas Martins
Steven Melendez
Colleen Neary
Kyra Nichols
Tiler Peck
SarahAnne Perel
Susan Pilarre
Rachel Piskin
Teresa Reichlen
Nancy Reynolds
Carrie Lee Riggins
Jenifer Ringer
John Selya
Jennie Somogyi
Ethan Stiefel
Marianna Tcherkassky
Ashley Tuttle
Sheryl Ware
Heather Watts
Wendy Whelan
Deborah Wingert

Music

Loni Ackerman
Anastacia
Jack Antonoff
Emanuel Ax
Jessie Baylin
Vanessa Carlton
Kyung Wha Chung
Dana Dawson
Peng-Peng Gong
Andreas Haefliger
Marvin Hamlisch
Lorin Hollander
Caroline Jones
Ida Kavafian
Cho-Liang Lin
Frankie Lymon
Yo-Yo Ma
Jack Metzger
Midori Gotō
Buddy Rich
Beverly Sills
Arlene Smith
Martha Strongin Katz
Conrad Tao
Pinchas Zukerman

Theater, film, and television

Brooke Adams
Trini Alvarado
Adam Arkin
Alex Paez
Essence Atkins
Kaye Ballard
Mischa Barton
Charita Bauer
Bonnie Bedelia
Milton Berle
Zina Bethune
Nadia Bjorlin
Richard H. Blake
Tempestt Bledsoe
Joan Blondell
Ann Blyth
Laura Bell Bundy
Eddie Bracken
Jordana Brewster
Irene Cara
Phoebe Cates
Helen Chandler
Miles Chapin
Kathleen Cody
Holly Marie Combs
Kieran Culkin
Macaulay Culkin
Rory Culkin
Charlotte d'Amboise
Alexandra Daddario
Sandra Dee
Brandon deWilde
Barrett Doss
Giancarlo Esposito
Donald Faison
Carrie Fisher
Anne Francis
Rebecca Gayheart
Helen Gallagher
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Elliott Gould
Todd Graff
Karron Graves
Lukas Haas
Albert Hackett
Anthony Michael Hall
Huntz Hall
Patti Hansen
Melissa Joan Hart
Amy Irving
Scarlett Johansson
Brad Caleb Kane
Carol Kane
Ruby Keeler
Jean Louisa Kelly
Patsy Kelly
Jane Krakowski
Ricki Lake
Diane Lane
Jennifer Lien
Peggy Lipton
Lorna Luft
Sidney Lumet
Barbara Luna
Ida Lupino
Helen Mack
Jena Malone
Nancy Malone
Daniel Mann
Patty McCormack
Leighton Meester
Lisa Mordente
Rita Moreno
Phyllis Newman
Jerry O'Connell
Donald O'Connor
Jennifer O'Neill
Sarah Jessica Parker
Martha Plimpton
Laura Prepon
Margaret Qualley
Martha Raye
Tara Reid
Rosemary Rice
Christina Ricci
Eden Riegel
Sam Riegel
Tanya Rivero
Christy Carlson Romano
Rose Marie
Sara Rue
Michael Rupert
Rebecca Schaeffer
Aaron Schwartz
Shim Eun-kyung
Jonathan Silverman
Penny Singleton
Christian Slater
John Spencer
Julia Stiles
Susan Strasberg
Eddie Kaye Thomas
Uma Thurman
Rachel Ticotin
Ashley Tisdale
Janine Turner
Leslie Uggams
Heidi Vanderbilt
Dick Van Patten
Joyce Van Patten
Christopher Walken
Nancy Walker
Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Lesley Ann Warren
Tuesday Weld
Nat Wolff
Lee Thompson Young

Sports

Kristie Ahn
Carol Heiss
Reed Kessler
Sonya Klopfer
Yvonne Sherman
Ashima Shiraishi
Josh Waitzkin

Literature

Michael McGarrity
Linn Ullmann

Fashion

Rachel Antonoff
Claudia Mason
Vera Wang

References

"Professional Children's School : Academics : Schoolwide Resources : Welcome".
"Professional Children's School : About Us : History I".
Kenney, Ted. (August 12, 1990). "If You're Thinking of Living in: Lincoln Square". The New York Times.
Anderson, Arthur. (2010-02-03). "An Actor's Odyssey: From Orson Welles to Lucky the Leprechaun". BearManor Media.
Gollin, James. (2010). "Pianist: A Biography of Eugene Istomin". Xlibris Corporation.
Saxon, Wolfgang. (June 16, 1994). "Jeffrey Lawrence, 56, Is Dead; Headed School for Young Artists". The New York Times.
Corry, John. (February 4, 1976). "About New York". The New York Times.
Sand, Barbara Lourie. (2005). "Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician". Hal Leonard Corporation.
"DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI". Professional Children's School.
"Barriskill Studio Company | Barriskill Dance Theatre School | Durham".
(April 30, 2006). "A Pas de Deux of Youth and Dance". The New York Times.
"From the Top at Carnegie Hall . Peng-Peng Gong - PBS".
(July 6, 2018). "Caroline Jones's Unusual Journey to Country Music Stardom". The Wall Street Journal.
Tommasini, Anthony. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06E4D7153EF937A35754C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 "Beverly Sills, All-American Diva With Brooklyn Roots, Is Dead at 78"]. ''The New York Times''. July 4, 2007. "But her father put an end to her child-star career when she was 12 so that she could concentrate on her education at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and the Professional Children's School in Manhattan."
Hellomagazine.com. (October 8, 2009). "Mischa Barton: Biography".
Reed, Jon-Michael. (1985-03-13). "Tune in Tomorrow". The Daily Review.
Haskin, Frederic J. (March 22, 1920). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/142992394/?clipping_id=130630627 "School in Church for Stage Folk; Children of New York Stage and Studio Are Trained at Parents' Expense"]. ''Asbury Park Press''. p. 4. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
(November 14, 2018). "Biography".
[http://www.biography.com/people/scarlett-johansson-13671719 "Scarlett Johansson Biography"]. [[Biography.com]]. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
[https://tv.yahoo.com/scarlett-johansson/contributor/29532/bio "Scarlett Johansson"]. [[Yahoo! TV]]. Retrieved August 26, 2012
Giordana, Lucille. (1992). "Growing Up Is Great".
Braun, Stephen. (July 24, 1989). "Murder suspect seems determined as victim". Eugene Register-Guard.
(October 28, 1972). "Miss Vanderbilt Becomes Bride Of Jones Harris". The New York Times.
(30 November 2016). "Ashima Shiraishi: A Strong Mind".
"Professional Children's School : Alumni : Distinguished Alumni".

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