Our Buildings and Campus
The Beatrice Lieben Building
Community Lower School
11 West Forest Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666
Our Lower School, K-8, is housed in the Beatrice Lieben Building, named for school founder, Dr. Beatrice Lieben.
Through a lifetime of achievement, Dr. Beatrice Lieben had a phenomenal impact on special education in New Jersey and on the lives of thousands of children. Her lasting legacy was The Community School.
As a clinical child psychologist who specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of children with learning problems, Dr. Lieben recognized over a half-a-century ago that many intelligent children with learning problems were frequently neglected by educators because of the subtle, often hidden, nature of their difficulties.
Dr. Lieben designed the Community School to demonstrate how a strong academic program could successfully meet the remedial and developmental needs of the learning disabled child and to prove that many of the emotional and behavioral problems that so often accompany the academic delays could be resolved within a school’s therapeutic milieu. This mission statement, at the center of Dr. Lieben’s design for an effective school, remains the primary goal at Community School, now with over 350 students and a staff of 150, making a significant difference in the lives of learning disabled students.
In 1995, New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman presented “The Governor’s Award…The Pride of New Jersey” to Dr. Lieben, noting that it was the “highest honor the State of New Jersey can bestow on a person”.
The Lyonel Zunz Building
Community High School
1135 Teaneck Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666
Community High School, 9-12, is located in the Lyonel Zunz Building, named for the School’s long-time Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Lyonel Zunz.
With Lyonel Zunz at the helm, the Community School has grown from two small classrooms with a staff of three teachers in 1968, to a renowned and honored school now serving 350 pupils from eight separate Counties throughout New Jersey and New York and from over 75 school districts.
Lyonel Zunz was responsible for acquiring the school’s original home in Englewood and the Lower School’s now permanent home in Teaneck, for establishing Community High School, and for the construction of our Field of Dreams, the schools' athletic complex.
As a lifelong leader in the fields of law and education, Lyonel Zunz has demonstrated extraordinary dedication to our programs and a love for our students that has never wavered. Nobody has had more of a positive impact on the lives of children than has Lyonel Zunz.
In April of 2001, Lyonel was honored by both the New Jersey General Assembly, which issued a proclamation praising Lyonel for tireless service and for exemplary dedication in support of education, civic accomplishment, and public service, and by President George W. Bush who, writing from The White House, praised Lyonel for his work at Community School and his inspiration to others as well as his devotion to duties and positive leadership.The Kaplen Family
Field of Dreams
In 2002, the Community School added the Kaplen Family Field of Dreams to the campus of our High School and Lower School.
The Field of Dreams is the school’s athletic and recreational complex, adjacent to our Lower School and just across from the High School.
Made possible by a generous gift from the Bill and Maggie Kaplen Foundation, students and staff are now able to make use of the Field of Dreams baseball and soccer fields, jogging and walking track, fitness areas and stations, playground, tree and garden compounds, sitting areas, game tables, sculpture gardens, outdoor classrooms and picnic tables.
The opportunities afforded by the Field of Dreams are many - athletically, recreationally and social. It is used for our Physical Education program, athletic programs, recreational groups, and intramural athletics, as well as for school social events like Field Day, assemblies, barbecues, carnivals and graduation.