After teaching courses in Humanities and Comparative Literature at Brandeis University, 1950-1952, Firestone founded the New Rochelle Academy in Westchester County, NY, on a four-acre estate in 1954. The Academy was granted a charter in November, 1980 by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The college preparatory, co-ed, day school started with forty students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Over the years it grew to include 500 students, 75 teachers, a $3.5 million budget and a satellite school in nearby Mount Vernon, NY.

          Following Pearl Firestone's death in 1988, the school was closed, and Firestone moved to New York City. A more complete story of the New Rochelle Academy and how Firestone became a playwright is chronicled in a September 8, 1991 New York Times' article in which Alvin Klein, Times' drama critic interviewed him. The complete Alvin Klein interview, entitled A LIFE IN THE THEATRE FOR HEADMANSTER can be accessed by clicking here.

New Rochelle Academy

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The photo montage on the left of student activities at the New Rochelle Academy was published in the 1965 "Laurel", the yearbook; and the one on the right was in another publication of the school: "Optics - 1966, 1967, 1968". Larger copies of these photos will open on a separate screen if you click on either of them. If you find yourself, we'd love to hear from you, as we would from all our past students (and faculty members too.) Just send us an email!