| Avenues: The World School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 259 Tenth Avenue Manhattan, New York, United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Independent, Coeducational |
| Established | 2011 |
| Head of School | Tyler Tingley & Robert "Skip" Mattoon |
| Grades | pre-K-12 |
| Website | http://www.avenues.org |
Avenues: The World School is a planned international system of independent pre-K-12 schools,[1][2] with its first campus in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood scheduled to open in Fall 2012. Avenues plans to open 20 or more schools in other cities around the world over the next decade. The system is planned to be be an integrated "learning community" with a shared vision, curriculum, technology, professional development of faculty and oversight by a centralized headquarters team.
Avenues will be organized into four schools: the Early Learning Center (nursery school and pre-kindergarten), Lower School (kindergarten through grade five), Middle School (grades six through eight) and Upper School (grades nine through 12).
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Avenues’ chairman is Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.[3] formerly president of Yale University and dean of Columbia Law School. Schmidt co-founded Edison Schools, now EdisonLearning in 1992, and he currently serves as chairman of the board for the City University of New York. The system's CEO is Chris Whittle,[4] a media and education entrepreneur. Whittle founded Edison Schools with Schmidt in 1992, and before that built a single college magazine into one of America’s top 100 media companies in the 1980’s. The company's President is Alan Greenberg,[5] a businessman with a background in interactive and traditional media in the education, healthcare and global travel sectors. He founded Greenberg News Networks, which was subsequently purchased by WebMD.
Tyler Tingley[6] and Robert "Skip" Mattoon will be the co-heads of Avenues’ New York City school. Prior to Avenues, Tingley headed Philips Exeter Academy for 12 years, and before that, The Blake School in Minneapolis. Prior to Avenues, Mattoon headed the Hotchkiss School for 11 years and earlier served as dean of faculty and associate headmaster at Deerfield Academy. Gardner Dunnan, Avenues’ academic dean, headed the Dalton School for 23 years. Most recently, he led the development of The School at Columbia University, a K-8 school for children of Columbia faculty and the Columbia neighborhood.
Nancy Schulman, who was the director of the 92nd Street Y Nursery School for two decades, will head the Early Learning Center; Elizabeth Hixson, who served the Dalton School for 17 years, most recently as head of the Middle School, will head the Lower School; and Thomas Bonnell who was most recently the head of Savannah Country Day School in Georgia, and before that was Middle School director and associate head of school at the Dalton School, will head the Middle School.
Located in Chelsea at 259 Tenth Avenue, Avenues’ New York City campus is adjacent to section two of the High Line park, which opened in June 2011.[7]. The 10-story 215,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) building, designed by architect C. P. H. Gilbert, is being renovated. Architectural firm Perkins Eastman and interior design consultant Bonetti/Kozerski Design Studio are responsible for school design, while STV is handling construction management.
Avenues has formed a partnership with the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex to provide both athletic facilities and experienced, professional instructors in 20 different sports. Classes will be taught both in Avenues’ gymnasium and at Chelsea Piers’ facilities. Avenues also plans to utilize other area resources, including Chelsea’s artistic community. The Avenues-Chelsea Arts Initiative will provide the opportunity to involve, educate and stimulate students in the visual arts. Additionally, Avenues will support the Friends of the High Line (New York City).
The school is scheduled to open 12 of its planned 15 grades in the 2012-2013 school year, including all grades between nursery and ninth grade. The 10th, 11th and 12th grades will be added over the following three years. Avenues’ first graduating class will be in spring 2016[8].
Avenues offers an early admission track that will provide the opportunity for students to apply before applying to other New York City independent schools. The application process for regular admission will begin in fall 2011 and include the completion of the ERB and ISEE for appropriate grades. It is unknown how selective this process will be. Due to the fact that the school must fill most of their grades in one year, it is likely they will be less selective than other New York City independent schools, though they plan to fill only through the 9th grade for their first year. [9]
The school will offer financial aid to the parents of admitted students through the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS).