By Albert Amateau
A new private elementary school for children 3 to 11 years old, World Class Learning Academy, an affiliate of British Schools of America, is opening next year in the East Village at E. Second St. at Second Ave., in the former LaSalle Academy.
The school is enrolling 3-year-olds for its nursery school, opening in January 2011, and is accepting applications for children ages up to 11 for the rest of the school, which will open in September, said John Taylor, headmaster.
“We are the only school in the city to offer the International Primary Curriculum — based on the numeracy and literacy program of the English National Curriculum,” Taylor said. The English National Curriculum is the standard primary-school curriculum in the United Kingdom, Taylor explained.
The English connection goes further.
“We have royal patronage,” Taylor said, noting that Prince Michael of Kent, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, will preside at the opening ceremony next year.
The new school has renovated 50,000 square feet of the building at 44 E. Second St., which it has leased from LaSalle, the all-boys Catholic high school. LaSalle is now sharing the building at 215 E. Sixth St. with St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic elementary school.
Full-day tuition for the nursery school will be $22,500 per year; for 4- and 5-year-olds, the tuition will be $25,500 per year; and for the upper grades, $31,900 per year. The half-year tuition for the nursery school in January will be $9,400, Taylor said.
The British Schools of America, parent organization of the World Class Learning Academy, has five other primary schools in the U.S.: in Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston and Charlotte, N.C.
