Paris Schools history

On 1st December 1819, a group of economic scholars and businessmen founded ESCP Business School under the name École Spéciale de Commerce et d’Industrie.

In reality, the Republic built on what the July Monarchy law of 1833 had come to pass, especially on the primary level.

As of 1879 a law required each département to fund and equip decently an école normale.

1896 Origins of Parsons In New York City, William Merritt Chase establishes the Chase School, intended to foster self-expression and experimentation.

1911 A New Leader Is Chosen Educator Frank Alvah Parsons is named director of the school now called Parsons School of Design.

1919 New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research is founded by James Harvey Robinson, Charles Beard, and others.

Parsons School of Design has maintained a presence in Paris since 1921, when Frank Alvah Parsons first established the Paris Ateliers of the New York School of Fine and Applied Art.

1925 A Legend Emerges in Paris Van Day Truex receives a scholarship to the Paris Ateliers after two years of study in NYC at what is now Parsons.

In 1930, Jean-Michel Frank’s students at the school created the Parsons Table, an icon of modern design popular to this day.

1941 Parsons Takes a New Name Then known as the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, Parsons in NYC takes its current name in honor of the school’s influential longtime director.

All six American High Schools opened in Germany in September/October 1946.

1948 Paris Ateliers Reopen The Paris Ateliers reopen, enabling students to engage with an industrializing world and apply design in new ways to meet its demands.

School finally opened on October 8, 1951.

PAHS in 1954 at The building is now

It made getting to class in the morning very easy! It might be interesting to some to note that the author’s first home upon arrival in Paris in 1955 is visible in this photograph directly across the street from the school.

1956 Bob Eisenhart (’56): My year at PAHS was my senior year.

In 1959, the house was bought by the American School of Paris, which then settled there.

In 1960 schools were opened for these kids in their locations, so they did not graduate with us.

A new wing, completed In January 1963, provided such innovations as specially constructed rooms for vocal and instrumental music.

The building known as the Sorbonne housed the arts and science faculties of the University of Paris, one of Europe’s oldest universities, until it was split into 13 autonomous universities following mass student protests in 1968.

1970 Partners for a New Future Parsons School of Design becomes part of The New School and awards the country's first university degrees in fashion design, interior design, and lighting design.

In 1973, the school expanded across Europe with second and third campuses in Germany and the UK. Furthermore, this was also the year that ESCP welcomed its first-ever female student: Joëlle de la Vourc’h.

Two years later, he launches his eponymous collection, and in 1987 he becomes the youngest designer ever to receive his industry's highest tribute, the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.

The city also renewed its commitment to opera by opening a second opera house, at the Place de la Bastille, in 1989.

In 2013, the university re-established an academic center, Parsons Paris, to offer students a learning center in which to prepare for creative paths that increasingly interlace the world.

2015 Parsons Takes Top Rankings Parsons School of Design is ranked #1 among United States art and design colleges and #3 in the world by the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings.

2019 Parsons Paris Inaugural Gala The Parsons Paris community gathers in celebration, introducing the new Parsons Paris Advisory Board and raising funds for scholarships and other needs.