Education entrepreneur Chris Whittle, a co-founder of Edison Schools and Avenues, is founding a new Brooklyn school this fall, named, appropriately enough, “Whittle School”. The initial description of the school sounds a lot like Avenues:
Whittle School plans capacity for 90,000 students in 15 countries, with much of its leadership from China, India and the U.S. “We were building from scratch an organization that was very intentionally bi- and tri-cultural,” Mr. Whittle said. “It’s been very challenging.”
Here at Abacus Guide, we will be waiting and seeing before recommending this new school to our clients. We certainly foresee that there may be strong demand from international students from East and South Asia, as their parents and school consultants frequently call us for help finding schools.
Whittle still owes $5.8 million to his previous start-up, Avenues. According to Leslie Brody at the Wall Street Journal:
Avenues officials said Wednesday that Mr. Whittle still hadn’t paid the debt and that they are seeking to force a sale of his estate in Long Island’s East Hampton, which they say was appraised at more than $100 million. It sits near the Atlantic Ocean with a view of Georgica Pond.
“Chris has failed to meet his commitments to Avenues,” said Jeff Clark, president of Avenues: The World School, by email.