Beginning in 1948, the New York City Board of Education created a system of “600” schools for children it classified as “socially maladjusted” and “emotionally disturbed.” Over the next two decades the program grew into a network of day schools and classes in hospitals, residential institutions, and detention and remand centers, in the five boroughs and beyond. This site gathers the primary sources, maps, and writing behind a history of those schools and of how race and disability shaped special education in New York City.

This archive is in development. Last updated October 2026.

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Explore

• 600 Schools Over Time: an interactive map of 51 “600” school sites, 1948–1967
• Primary sources, including the Committee on the “600” Schools’ 1965 report to the Board of Education, “600” Schools Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
• “New York City ‘600’ Schools and the Legacy of Segregation in Special Education”, Francine Almash, Gotham Center for New York City History (2022)
• About this project