By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
FINANCIAL DISTRICT — With amenities worthy of a private college and a price tag to match, Claremont Prep is expanding into a new building this fall.
The new $40 million campus at 25 Broadway, which will house Claremont’s middle school and fledgling high school, includes a competition-length pool, a 400-seat auditorium and art studios with views of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.
Tuition is $33,000 a year, but about 30 percent of the students receive scholarships.
“This is an amazing project,” said Bob Townley, executive director of Manhattan Youth, after seeing a presentation on the details last week. “It could relieve some of the overcrowding down here.”
Claremont opened five years ago as lower Manhattan’s only non-sectarian private school. Since then, the school at 41 Broad St. has grown from 54 to 512 students, ranging from 3-year-olds to ninth graders.
Starting this fall, the middle and high school students will move to 200,000 square feet in 25 Broadway, while the preschool and elementary school will remain on Broad Street.
Claremont leased the top four floors of 25 Broadway, the landmarked Cunard building, last fall. The space features 30 classrooms, including five computer labs, two language labs and six science labs, a two-floor library, a cafeteria and a lounge.
On the ground floor, Claremont is building a full-court gym and fitness center. Below that is a 25-yard, four-lane pool in the basement.
Students will use a dedicated entrance at 1 Morris St. to enter the school.
Claremont has grown more popular among lower Manhattan families since it opened. Initially, just 20 percent of the students came from below Canal Street, but now 50 percent come from downtown, said Michael Koffler, CEO of MetSchools, Claremont’s parent company.
Roughly 40 percent of the students come from the Upper East and West Sides, and the rest come from the outer boroughs, New Jersey and Westchester, Koffler said.
