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Expat Exchange - International Schools in NYC 2024
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International Schools in NYC

By Betsy Burlingame

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Summary: Expats living in NYC have many international and bilingual school choices -- international schools, bilingual schools, language immersion schools, IB World schools, British Schools and more. Here's a list of the most well-known international schools in NYC.

If you're moving to New York with school-aged children, finding an international school in NYC is a big decision. There are many public and private schools in New York City for expat kids -- international schools, bilingual schools, language immersion schools, IB World schools, British Schools and more.

British International School of New York

British International School of New York is an IB World School that welcomes students from age 3 through Upper School. Located in Kips Bay, Manhattan on East 23rd Street directly overlooking the East River, which makes it accessible to residents living in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

Locations:

20 Waterside Plaza
New York, New York 10010

Telephone: +1-1212-481-2700

Lyceum Kennedy International School

Lyceum Kennedy International School has two distinct schools. The original school, Lyceum Kennedy French American School, is a bi-lingual French and English School (nursery through 12th grade) with campuses in midtown Manhattan (2 locations in the East 40s) and one in the suburb of Ardsley (through grade 5). The second school is Lyceum Kennedy Japanese School located on East 43rd Street that has a nursery school and Japanese School for young children through Junior High Students on Saturdays. Lyceum Kennedy is partially accredited by the French government. For information on the Ardsley Campus, see the suburb section below.

Locations:

Manhattan 225 Campus (Lower School)
225 E 43rd Street
New York, New York 10017

Telephone: +1-212-681-1877

Manhattan 815 Campus (Upper School)
815 Second Avenue
New York, New York 10017

Telephone: +1-212-661-1916

Ardsley Campus (Lower School)
1 Cross Road
Ardsley, New York 10502

Telephone: +1-914-479-0722

United Nations International School

The United Nations International School welcomes students from pre-K through high school. UNIS has students from over 125 countries. The main campus is located right next to the British International School on East 23rd and the FDR drive. A second campus in Jamaica Estates, Queens welcomes students from K through 8th. UNIS modern language program stresses the importance of multilingualism and students begin studying French or Spanish in Kindergarten -- adding a 2nd language in middle school. UNIS is partially accredited by the French government.

Locations:

Manhattan Campus
24-50 FDR Drive
New York, New York 10010-4046

Telephone: +1-212-684-7400

Queens Campus
173-53 Croydon Road
Jamaica Estates, New York 11432

Telephone: +1-718-658-6166

Lycee Francais New York

Lycee Francias NYC

Lycee Francais New York (Pictured Above) is a bi-lingual French and English school that welcomes students from nursery though 12th grade. It's located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on East 75th Street off of York Avenue. Lycee Francais is fully accredited by the French government.

Location:

505 E 75th Street
New York, NY 10021

Telephone: +1 212-369-1400

International School of Brooklyn (ISB)

International School of Brooklyn offers pre-K through 8th grade French and Spanish language immersion IB programs. ISB is partially accredited by the French government.

Location:

192 Luquer Street
Brooklyn, New York 11231

Telephone: +1-718-369-3023

Avenues, The World School

Avenues World School

Avenues, The World School welcomes students from nursery through 12th grade. It is located adjacent to the High Line in Manhattan on 10th Avenue at 26th Street. Avenues has schools in London, Mumbai, Shenzhen and Sao Paulo with plans for campuses to be opened in 15 more cities around the world. The school's innovative philosophy and curriculum have a global orientation that focuses on language proficiency, international experience and their World Course. Avenues offers Spanish and Mandarin language immersion programs.

Location:

259 10th Avenue
New York, New York 10001

Telephone: +1-212-524-9000

The Dwight School

The Dwight School is one of a network of schools with locations in London, Shanghai, Seoul and Dubai. This global network offers Dwight Students unique travel and exchange programs. Dwight is an IB World School that welcomes students from nursery through grade 12. The main campus is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on 89th Street and Central Park West. There are three buildings in within a block of one another that house grades 1-12. Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten are also on the Upper West Side but on Riverside Drive between 66th and 68th Street.

Locations:

Riverside Campus, Preschool & Kindergarten
144 Riverside Boulevard
New York, New York 10069

Telephone: +1-212-362-2350

Main Campus (1-12th)
18 West 89th Street
New York, New York 10024

Telephone: +1-212-724-6360

Nord Anglica International School

Nord Anglica International School, formerly World Class Learning Academy, welcomes students from ages 2 through Middle School (8th grade). It's located on East 2nd Street off of 2nd Avenue (Bowery) in Manhattan. Nord Anglica follows the National Curriculum of England, The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) for K-5 students and the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) for middle school students.

Location:

44 East 2nd Street
New York, New York 10003

Telephone: +1-212-600-2010

Leman Manhattan Preparatory School

Leman Manhattan Preparatory School is an IB World School that welcomes children from 16 months through 12th grade. The school has students from 50 different nationalities. Leman has two campuses on Broad Street and Morris Street.

Locations:

Broad Street Campus (16 mos. - 5th)
41 Broad Street
New York, New York 10004

Morris Street Campus (6th - 12th)
1 Morris Street
New York, New York 10004

Telephone: +1-212-232-0266

The International Academy of New York

The International Academy of New York offers a bilingual Mandarin or Spanish curriculum for students from pre-K through 5th grade. 40% of the class time is spent interacting in the chosen language.

Location:

4 East 90th Street
New York, New York 10128

Telephone: +1-?212-641-0260

Guidepost Montessori

Guidepost Montessori is a new school on the Upper East Side that has Mandarin immersion classrooms for students of all ages from pre-school through 5th. The immersion classrooms are optional (not all classrooms at Guidepost are Mandarin language immersion).

Location:

12 East 79th Street
New York, New York 10075

Telephone: +1-917-388-1710

La Scuola d’Italia

La Scoula d'Italia

La Scuola d’Italia is a bi-lingual Italian, English school with two campuses on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It welcomes students from pre-K through 12th grade.

Locations:

Lower School (Pre-K–5th Grade)
12 East 96th Street
New York, New York 10128

Telephone: +1-212-369-3290

Upper School (Middle and High Schools)
406 East 67th Street
New York, New York 10065

Telephone: +1-212-452-4813

Pine Street School

The Pine Street School in Manhattan offers the IB Primary Years Program (early childhood and elementary) with dual language immersion options for native Mandarin Chinese and Spanish speakers. In 2020, the Pine Street School will be opening a middle school.

Location:

25 Pine Street
New York New York 10005

Telephone: +1-212-235-2325

French Schools in NYC

French families moving to New York City may be interested in a bi-lingual or French dual language program. There are a number of public and private schools throughout the city that fit the bill.

Some of these schools are included on this page. For a more extensive list of the public and private schools in New York City (including suburban NYC) for French-speaking students, see our article, French Schools in New York.

Public Schools in New York City with Programs for English Language Learners

There are three types of programs in the New York City public school system for students who are learning English:

  • Dual Language Program (DLP) is similar to a typical bilingual program. The student is taught in English and their home language equally. The goal is for the student to learn to read, write and speak in both languages fluently.
  • Transitional Bilingual Education offers instruction in English and the student's home language. As the student's English improves, they spend more and more time learning in English than in their home language. Eventually, the instruction is fully in English.
  • English as a New Language (ELN) was called English as a Second Language or ESL. Students are instructed in English with the support of their home language in a classroom of students with different home languages. The goal is to use the support of their home language until they become proficient in English.

New York City Public Schools

There are a number of public schools with dual language programs (DLP) in the New York City public school system. Many of them are elementary and middle schools and all are located in Manhattan and Brooklyn. For more information, read this article: French Dual Language Programs In Nyc Public Schools.

The list of public schools offering these programs is long. Here are some notable schools:

Manhattan International High School (Alternative School with Multiple Languages, District 2)

Manhattan International High School

Manhattan International High School School is an alternative New York City public school founded to meet the needs of new immigrant English-language learners. The school admits students who have been in the country less than four years and scored below the 21st percentile on the Language Assessment Battery.

Location:

317 East 67th Street
New York, New York 10065

Telephone: +1-212-517-6728

P.S. 75 Emily Dickinson (Spanish DLP, Upper West Side, District 3)

The Emily Dickinson School is a K-5 school on the Upper West Side that offers a dual language Spanish program. They offer 2 dual language classes per grade.

Location:

735 West End Avenue
Manhattan, New York 10025

Telephone: +1-212-866-5400

M.S. 247 Dual Language Middle School (Spanish DLP, Upper West Side, District 3)

Dual Language Middle School

The Dual Language Middle School is open to eligible students in Manhattan, but gives priority to students living in District 3. It offers dual language Spanish programs.

Location:

Dual Language Middle School
William J. O'Shea Campus
100 West 77th Street
New York, New York 10024

Telephone: +1-212-496-1050

P.S. 184 and 01M 184 Shuang Wen School (District 1)

Shuang Wen School is a dual language Chinese English NYC public school in Chinatown that welcomes K-8 students. Admission to the Shuang Wen School follows the new District 1 Diversity in Admissions pilot.

Location:

327 Cherry Street
New York, New York 10002

Telephone: +1-212-602-9700

P.S. 84 The Lillian Weber School

P.S. 84 The Lillian Weber School of The Arts offers K-5 dual language programs for French and Spanish P.S. 84 is located on 92nd Street near Central Park.

Location:

32 West 92nd Street
New York, New York 10025

Telephone: +1-212-799-2534

P.S. 20 Anna Silver School (Mandarin DLP & Spanish DLP, District 1)

Located on the Lower East Side, the Anna Silver School offers Mandarin Chinese dual language and Spanish dual language programs. Anna Silver also follows the The District 1 Diversity in Admissions pilot.

Location:

?166 Essex Street
New York, New York 10002

Telephone: +1-212-254-9577

P.S. 242 The Young Diplomats Magnet Academy (Italian DLP)

Located in Harlem, The Young Diplomats Magnet Academy offers dual language Italian programs for pre-K through 5th grade students.

Location:

134 West 122nd Street
New York, New York 10027

Telephone: +1-212-678-2908

The Boerum Hill School for International Studies (French DLP & IB Programs, District 15)

The Boerum Hill School for International Studies, 6th - 12th grade public school in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, offers a French Dual Language Program and International Baccalaureate (IB) program. This school has seen a big increase in enrollment in recent years. The school is part of the D15 Diversity Plan that allots 52% of seats to students from low-income families. For more on the D15 Diversity Program, How a Brooklyn school district is integrating—with the help of urban planners. The high school is open to any NYC students.

Location:

284 Baltic Street
Brooklyn New York 11201

For more information about NYC Public Schools offering Dual Language Programs or Transitional Bilingual Education Programs, visit the NYC Department of Education's Bilingual Education information section of their website.

About the Author

Betsy Burlingame Betsy Burlingame is the Founder and President of Expat Exchange and is one of the Founders of Digital Nomad Exchange. She launched Expat Exchange in 1997 as her Master's thesis project at NYU. Prior to Expat Exchange, Betsy worked at AT&T in International and Mass Market Marketing. She graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a BA in International Business and German.

Some of Betsy's articles include 12 Best Places to Live in Portugal, 7 Best Places to Live in Panama and 12 Things to Know Before Moving to the Dominican Republic. Betsy loves to travel and spend time with her family. Connect with Betsy on LinkedIn.


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