Our Vision

Theater making will be among measures of literacy and academic achievement for all children grades three through six in order for them to succeed in tomorrow’s world of innovation.

Our Mission

To improve the educational success of children, grades three through six, by using theatre making during the school day as a method of personalizing and embodying educational content across the curriculum.

Our History

Since its founding in 1994, Stages of Learning has had a positive impact on more than 40,000 children and their teachers in the New York City metropolitan area.

The Stages of Learning program came out of the Chekhov Theatre Ensemble, as a way for the actors of the program to share and teach their craft. The Chekhov Theatre Ensemble, a company that incorporates Michael Chekhov’s physical based methodology became an award winning performance ensemble, yet the educational program that was also based on Chekhov’s techniques reached every student turned out to be even more rewarding.

The Stages of Learning program continued to grow, as Floyd Rumohr, the founder, put more research into the how and why this particular technique worked so well. He invited some of the great minds in arts education to evaluate his program, tweaking, building and structuring the quality program that it is today.

While the Chekhov Theatre Ensemble is still a part of the company’s work, the Stages of Learning program the shining star. This arts education program for grades 3-6 is respected and known as a high quality, curriculum building program.

In 2007, with the goal of giving all of the students in New York City the benefits of theatre education, Mr. Rumohr decided aligning with a larger organization could help him achieve this idea. In 2009 he signed the paperwork to become part of a strategic alliance with Queens Theatre in the Park, becoming their in-school education department.

This alliance enabled Stages of Learning to reduce the cost per student of the program—making the program more accessible to more schools—and more students. Additionally, Queens Theatre in the Park is now the home of the Chekhov Theatre Ensemble.

Due to the solid foundation that Mr. Rumohr gave Stages of Learning, this program will continue to grow and reach more students every year. Through sustainable growth, Stages of Learning should be able to achieve Mr. Rumohr’s goal of reaching every student in New York City through theatre.