Thornton Performing Arts Magnet (TPAM) is an imposing structure that has exposure to three different city streets in the center of Mount Vernon. Formerly Washington School, it was built in 1929 and served as a junior high school for many years. The school was renamed in 1995 after Nellie A. Thornton, the principal who served for twenty-two years.

TPAM is an elementary school of 700 children in grades kindergarten through six. It has a professional staff of 52 and also serves as the physical home for pre-K, Head Start and a Mercy College extension center. The school boasts excellent technological capability, with 140 computers in the classrooms, media center lab and offices. Wood Auditorium, with an original seating capacity of 1900, was a cultural mainstay for many years, featuring a wide range of performances and productions - from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to Christmas spectaculars for our neighbor, historic Grace Baptist Church.

TPAM has been part of a Federal and State magnet program since 1989, with the theme of performing arts. Although several of the special services have diminished over the past decade, instruction is still provided in violin, African dance, ballet, tap, jazz dance and band in addition to the regular standards-based instruction in the core curriculum areas.

With a strong emphasis on balanced literacy, improving test scores, and the inspiration of new leadership, TPAM holds great potential for its newest wave of young learners.