Izzy Lapidus is a Brooklyn-based student pursuing her MSEd in Childhood Special and General Education at Bank Street. During the 2025–2026 school year, Izzy worked as a teaching assistant at a public school in Park Slope, Brooklyn, spending the fall in a fifth-grade Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classroom and the winter/spring in two second-grade general education classrooms. She also serves as the Graduate School’s Student Ambassador.
We sat down with Izzy, and here’s what she told us.
In three words, how would you describe your approach to teaching?
Passionate, curious, and strengths-based.
What excites you about teaching?
I am very driven by justice. I believe in creating spaces where all children are encouraged to express themselves and are celebrated for who they are. I am very inspired by the words of Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, who argues for developing a problem-posing educational environment where children are encouraged to ask questions, engage in self-reflection, and collaborate with teachers. I aspire to create educational environments that are student-centered, strengths-based, and molded around the desires and needs of the members of the classroom community. Like Bank Street’s founder Lucy Sprague Mitchell says, I, too, “see in education the opportunity to build a better society.”
What drew you to Bank Street?
I became interested in pursuing my graduate education at Bank Street when I learned that it is the gold standard for progressive education. I am passionate about equity, special education, and social justice and I believed it would be the perfect place for me to explore my interests. Thus far, Bank Street has played such an important role in my development as a teacher, enabling me to feel more confident, knowledgeable, and equipped to best support my students, especially as it relates to creating access for emergent multilingual learners and students with learning disabilities.
What has been a favorite class you have taken at Bank Street, and why?
It is very hard to choose, but I would have to say Language Acquisition and Learning with Pam Jones! This class really opened my eyes to the many different forms of English that exist and taught me about raciolinguistics, the study of how people are judged on what they say based on how they look. My final project for this course was creating a zine called Breaking Down Raciolinguistics For The 2nd Grade Ecosystem.
Did you study education as an undergrad? If not, what did you study?
I created my own interdisciplinary major in Computing, Design, and Pedagogy, synthesizing my interests in computer science, design thinking, and education!
Can you share a classroom highlight?
I have had 100 digits of Pi memorized ever since I was 12, when it was an extra credit assignment to memorize as many digits as possible for my seventh-grade science class. Every year on International Pi Day (March 14th), I love doing something special to celebrate. Some years, it is a video that a friend takes of me reciting the first 100 digits that I share on social media. Other years, it is a bigger project. In 2021, I collaborated with CBS’s Mission Unstoppable to create a Pi Day Challenge encouraging other people to memorize. This past year was extra special since it was my first time celebrating Pi Day in a classroom with my second-grade students! I created little cards with the first 100 digits on them and handed them out to everyone. I recited some for them just to show I wasn’t playing around when I said I knew 100, and we talked about strategies for how to memorize. On Monday, several of them came in having memorized several digits, and one student (8 years old) even memorized 40! Remember, they’re in second grade! I already have tons of ideas about how to honor International Pi Day in my classroom in the future, and hope this can be a tradition I practice throughout my teaching career.
Is there a Bank Street faculty or staff member that you would like to shout out?
Mimi Rosenberg, my former Bank Street advisor, played such an important role in supporting me through my first year in the classroom as a teaching assistant. She helped me find my teaching voice, celebrated my confidence, and stood by my side through the thick and thin of it all. She is an incredible mentor, and the Bank Street community is so deeply lucky to have had her for all these years. She has retired as of July 2026, but her legacy will live on in all the Bank Street students’ lives (and their students’ lives) she impacted.
What are you interested in (aside from teaching!)?
I love reading, especially books about history. I also love city e-biking, working out, thrifting, creating designs on Canva, hanging out in Prospect Park, making art, going to amusement parks (shoutout to Coney Island), and spending time with (or calling/FaceTiming) my family and friends. I am definitely very passionate about teaching and talk about it a lot.
What are you currently listening to?
Kurt Vile, The Beths, and the Indie Rock playlist Spotify made me. If I am locking in on work, though, I either have lofi beats or classical music playing.
Any fun facts?
I can solve a Rubik’s cube in under a minute and I’m also the Graduate School’s Student Ambassador!
Are you open to students reaching out to connect with you?
Sure! My Bank Street email is ilapidus@bankstreet.edu. I am always down to connect with more Bank Street students and prospective students, especially those interested in becoming (or who already are) public school teachers!
Inspired by Izzy’s story?
Explore Bank Street’s graduate programs and discover where your interests in education can take you.