Wetherby School NYC? Wetherby School, the elite London private school that Prince George will attend, will open a New York City branch, to be called Wetherby-Pembridge, in 2017. Will British posh translate?
Both schools are owned by the education company Alpha Plus Group. New York’s Wetherby School will be housed on the Upper East Side on East 96th Street, in the building last occupied by Manhattan Country School, which will move to the West Side.
London’s Wetherby School previously educated Princes Charles, William, and Harry. British mothers desperately phone the school as soon as their children are born to try to win them places. From the Daily Beast’s Inside Wetherby, London’s School for Princes:
Kate Middleton has bowed to the inevitable and is to allow her son, Prince George, to be educated at Wetherby, the same private school Prince William and Prince Charles attended, and long famed among aristocratic Londoners for being the city’s most exclusive and intensively academic private “pre-prep” school.
Opening a new New York City private school is a challenging business. For New York families, the question will be if the British school’s elite reputation and well-respected offerings translate. It will be fascinating to observe if New Yorkers are willing to view Wetherby-Pembridge as a peer to top Manhattan and Brooklyn private schools. Having a royal connection may give this new Manhattan international school a leg up in attracting discerning families.
October 3, 2016 Update
Sophia Hollander of The Wall Street Journal profiled Wetherby School New York in the Wall Street Journal: British School That Taught Princes is Coming to Manhattan. Thank you, Sophia, for quoting me in your article.