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Read the press release here.

Prince William's Alma Mater to Open School on the Upper East Side

By Shaye Weaver | October 19, 2016 12:20pm
 The Wetherby-Pembridge School is taking over the former Manhattan Country School building and will open next fall.
The Wetherby-Pembridge School is taking over the former Manhattan Country School building and will open next fall.
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UPPER EAST SIDE — The school that educated Princes William and Harry in London promises to bring the best of English and American education to the city's children next fall with the opening of its first American outpost.

England's Wetherby-Pembridge School will open at 7 E. 96th St. near Central Park, serving children ages 3 through 11, who will dress in Wetherby's iconic gray uniforms with red trim, and will be placed in "houses" with a group of students they will stay with until they graduate, according to head of school Kate Bailey.

And while students won't actually live at the school, the houses will compete and complete team projects as a way of nurturing a sense of belonging. Names of the houses haven't been determined yet, Bailey said.

The curriculum, including science, math and literature, will rely on English tradition but will incorporate New York's standard for social studies and history, Bailey said. Students can also choose to study French, Mandarin and Spanish.

"It's really bringing the best of Britain and America together for kids who are in an ever-increasingly small world," Bailey told DNAinfo New York on Tuesday. "We do plan on implementing little quirks of the school in London."

Each child will also be assigned a mentor from a higher grade who will coach and "look out" for them, Bailey said.

Though the school is co-ed, classes will be divided by gender. Boys and girls will be joined for lunch, sporting activities and other social and extra-curricular activities.

Family nights will be a regular event, and candlelit suppers will take place during the holiday season in November and December.

"We want children to feel comfortable with the fact that we're bringing two cultures together," Bailey said. "Wetherby-Pembridge will appeal to families seeking academic rigor and forethought in teaching, and we want to reassure parents in the area that the education their students will receive is wholly competitive and fully transferable as well."

The school is currently taking applications and looking for a diverse set of students with a "can-do attitude, a wonderful sense of humor, personality and confidence," Bailey said.

Tuition is $45,500 per school year.

The school building — the 1913 Ogden Codman townhouse formerly home to Manhattan Country School — is undergoing extensive renovation to make way for 16 classrooms, an art studio, a science lab, music rooms and a spacious dining room, according to school officials.

 Related reading: Manhattan Country School Feels at Home in Move to Upper West Side

"The building itself is a beautiful space," Bailey said. "The irony of it is that its layout is much like two of our schools in London — which are like home away from home. If I am able to achieve even half of what we built in London here, I'd be incredibly proud."