The School House in East Northport, Long Island University awarded $2.3M civics grant

The federal Department of Education has awarded a $2.3 million grant to Long Island University and a private North Shore school that has been praised by Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

The School House, a nonprofit institution based in East Northport, received the grant with LIU as part of the federal government's push to bolster civics education across the country.

In a post on their website announcing the grant, Long Island University said the funds will “equip over 300 educators to reach 50,000 students nationwide with new civics resources and projects that empower the next generation of citizens as America approaches its 250th anniversary.”

The Education Department awarded more than $150 million to 85 higher education institutions and other organizations this year. Four grants were awarded in New York. In addition to the award to Long Island University and The School House, grants were made to Iona University in New Rochelle for $1.9 million and Retro Report Inc. and Literacy Design Collaborative, Inc. received more than $2 million each.

Mimosa Jones Tunney, founder and president of The School House, said within the last two years The School House team has created more than 400 instructional videos using their own "American Emergent Curriculum." The content ranges from lessons about American milestones such as the Louisiana Purchase to important figures like Thomas Jefferson. The grant will help them focus on civic-related content and allow the school to spread their teachings to different educators across the country, she said. 

“We want our very young children to understand that they have a voice in the process,” Jones Tunney said.

At The School House, she said, “We go over each year the legislative, the executive and the judicial branches. We encourage them to reach out to their assembly members, to sponsor bills, to understand the judicial process.”

Jones Tunney said representatives from the school and the university will meet in January to iron out additional details of the 3-year grant. Tweed Roosevelt, the great-grandson of former president Theodore Roosevelt, is the chairman of LIU's The Roosevelt School.

Neither the university, whose Long Island campus is in Brookville, nor the federal Education Department responded to requests for comment.

Jones Tunney has said she would like The School House to serve as a model for education across the country.

She and her husband, John J. Tunney III, co-founder of the Besito Restaurant Group and owner of The Shed, a brunch chain, founded the school in 2019. It currently enrolls students from 18 months through eighth grade and charges an annual tuition of $18,445, though Jones Tunney said many families receive financial aid.  

The school uses what it calls the American Emergent Curriculum, which was developed by Jones Tunney, who has a background in the entertainment industry and as a political speechwriter. The curriculum incorporates methods such as a structured work cycle, project-based learning, critical thinking and group dialogue, along with art and nature instructional opportunities.

In May, McMahon toured the facility before visiting Massapequa to announce the results of an investigation into the state's Native American school mascot ban. At a press conference, the education secretary said the school exemplified "how education really needs to be."

Jones Tunney said The School House currently has affiliate "microschools" in College Park, Texas, and Roscommon, Michigan. Next school year, she said about nine communities will open their own School Houses or use their American Emergent Curriculum. There are also plans to open schools in Portland, Maine and North Miami, Florida, in 2027, Jones Tunney said.