Private primary schools in New York

[delupa19]

We are considering moving to NY with a 5 and 6 yr old (one boy one girl). Can anyone help with:

• Recommendations for good private primaries (looking for schools that are very strong on the academics front and have a good range of other activities)
• Similar websites over there that are worth signing up to
• Any feedback on British schools that have set up over there? (The likes of Werherby-Pembridge)

No idea if/when we might be coming back. I will be working in the Village, undecided on where we would prefer to live as long as it is commutable to work.

Any suggestions would be massively appreciated!

I work at a private high school in the UES and am on the admissions committee so have a sense of quite a few of the local K - 8 schools. Do you want them to stay in the British system? We get a few kids from the British International School over on the east river which they speak pretty highly of. How do you feel about faith schools? Feel free to PM me!

The UN school is very good. St Luke's School in the village used to be good, but I am not sure now- it might be worth a look.
Some of the public elementary schools are excellent.

Thank you both. We are not British so not rooted to the British system. This is meant to be a permanent move (although no one ever knows what life will bring next!) so my main objective is to find a school that is academically strong and where the kids will be able to build and maintain long-term friendships. I actually went to college in the US and lived in New York for a few years so know Manhattan well. But this was pre kids so have no clue about the primary school scene! Charlesbakerharris will definitely PM you!

Grace Church school? No idea if it's still good but I used to live across the street and the children always looked happy.

The issue you will have in NYC is similar to if you moved to central London now and needed 2 private school places for a 5&6yos.
Schools would have had assessments a while ago and most schools would be full.
So - if you can afford it - educational consultants may sometimes help, but it’s not easy.

My friends with similar aged boy/girl moved there a couple of months ago - and had powerful corporate resources, connections and edu consultants.
It was hugely challenging to find places in good private schools. There are a lot of people work a lot of money. All after the same thing.
Finding places there was possibly even harder than it would have been in London.

There are several. If you would like single sex: Brearley, Chaplin and Spence are excellent all girls schools. For boys Collegiate, St. David(k-8), St. Bernard (k-8). For coeducational Trinity, Dalton, and Horace Mann are all top notch. There are several others but I would say the above are the top Manhattan prep schools

I grew up in Manhattan. This list is the best one and most accurate. Yes to this list: Brearley, Chaplin and Spence are excellent all girls schools. For boys Collegiate, St. David(k-8), St. Bernard (k-8). For coeducational Trinity, Dalton, and Horace Mann are all top notch. Do know that Wetherby and Pembridge have opened a school in Manhattan if you want more of the British style school system

Where do you plan to live? Sort that out first and then look at schools. Do you plan to live in Manhattan or the suburbs?

Dont discount public school. We have been shocked at the high standards of academics and discipline compared to the private schools. The private schools mentioned by nrvsmum are all good. DD1 was offered a place at Spence and the process was fine. We did no prep for it at all and she blew them away. She was fluently reading and doing simple addition subtraction when they assessed her and she was 4. They had her do some play and asked her some questions. We liked the school a lot and the parents we met were nice.

You might want this moved to the living overseas thread under homes & property.

There are many excellent schools uptown, downtown in the bronx and in brooklyn. Depending on age and location (not including nursery schools however unless they extend beyond nursery..) here is a short list of most sought after schools..

Upper East Side:
Trinity (coed, perhaps most academic overall)
Brearley (all girls, was traditionally considered to be more intellectual/academic of the 3 top all girls)
Chapin (all girls, more waspy and traditional of the 3 top girls)
Spence (all girls, something in between B and C)
Dalton (coed a bit more 'progressive' without being explicitly 'progressive')

Upper West Side:
Ethical Culture
Bank Street (excellent progressive school, nursery - grade 8 only)

Bilingual:
Lycée Francais
United Nations School

Riverdale Schools (Bronx):
Horace Mann - coed very very academic
Fieldston - upper school of Ethical Culture, more progressive

Downtown:
Friends Seminary (solid academics, very sought after downtown school)
Grace Church (traditional, sort of like an uptown school downtown)
City & Country (oldest/best progressive school in the country, nursery - grade 8)

Brooklyn:
Packer Collegiate (traditional, academic)
Brooklyn Friends
St Ann's (very high achieving top progressive education, very artsy etc like a much more academic King Alfred's.. they don't have grades but children regularly accepted to Ivy League schools etc)
Berekely Carroll (very well rounded, strong humanities)