Top U.E.S. Private Schools
There are a lot of great public schools in Manhattan, but for parents who are wealthy enough to afford, there are also a lot of top-notch private schools. Many cater to the rich and famous, but most offer scholarships and financial aid to achieve diversity across racial and socio-economic lines. They all have student/teacher ratios well below the national average and offer small classes and personalized educational programs.
All are prestigious and academically rigorous and many send a healthy percentage of their students to Ivy League Schools. But some also specialize in certain areas, such as performing arts, culinary arts – and a few deal with children with special needs.
Many of the names on our lists are familiar, but we’ve also tried to include a few that fly under the radar.
Our list was compiled by information from the schools, their websites, news coverage and blogs. We hope our list can help parents make important educational decisions for their children – and provide a few fun facts along the way.
The Brearley School 610 E. 33rd St.
Enrollment: 699 (k-12, all girls)
Tuition: $41,900
Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1
Endowment: $131 million
The Brearley School has a diverse community – 46% of students are of color – and a rigorous and challenging curriculum that “prepares girls for active, responsible citizenship in a democratic society” – and likely a spot in an Ivy League university. The school stresses community involvement. Notable alums include Caroline Kennedy, Tea Leoni and Kyra Sedgewick.
The Spence School 22 E. 91st St.
Enrollment: 734 (k-12)
Tuition: $45,150
Student/Teacher ratio - 7:1
Endowment: $85 million
Spence claims a 100% college admission rate for graduating seniors, a diverse, close-knit student body that is 39% students of color and one that provides financial assistance to about 20% of its pupils. The school offers a “diverse curriculum” that provides “a platform for mutual discovery, understanding and respect.” Famous grads include Gwyneth Paltrow, Georgina Bloomberg, Kerry Washington and Francine du Plessix Gray.
Buckley 113 E. 73rd ST.
Enrollment: 370 (k-9 boys)
Tuition: $31,365-$36,003
Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1
Buckley is a small, selective all boy-schools that stresses sports and requires students to wear uniforms. Students are placed in small group learning modules that encourage energetic communication and confident expression. It offers six major subjects, two foreign languages, computer classes and physical education. Notable alums include former New York City Mayor John Lindsay, David Rockefeller Jr. and writer Nick McDonnel.
Ramaz 125 E. 85th ST.
Enrollment: 1,081 (k-12)
Tuition: $28,474-$36,950
Student/Teacher ratio - 5:1
Endowment: $13 million
One of the oldest Jewish day schools in America, this Modern Orthodox institution teaches Hebrew and religious tradition along with a rigorous general curriculum. Graduating seniors are required to go to Poland and Israel for 10 days. It boasts that three of its grads went on to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court justices. Famous grads include Natasha Lyonne, Michael Mukasey and Merryl Tisch.
The Hewitt School 45 E. 75th St.
Enrollment: 506 (k-12, girls)
Tuition: $44,700
Student/Teacher ratio - 7:1
Endowment: $13 million
Hewitt prides itself on preparing young women to create a life; “not to take a job but to make a job, a career and a life that suits them.” The school recently created a Diversity Steering Committee and offers special instruction on managing “microagressions,” including sexism, racism and heterosexism. Girls must wear uniforms; notable alums include Nikki Finke, Julie Harris and Lady Pamela Hicks.
The Chapin School 100 East End Ave.
Enrollment: 755 (k-12, girls)
Tuition: $41,100
Student/Teacher ratio - 7:1
Endowment $75 million
This exclusive all-girls school offers a rigorous curriculum and also stresses sports and academic competition. The wheel on school seal is the symbol of St. Catherine of Alexandria, the patron saint of philosophers, thinkers and educated women. Chapin’s motto is “Fortiter et Recte,” Bravely and Rightly. Notable graduates include Jackie Kennedy, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Vera Wang and Ivanka Trump.
Caedmon 416 E. 80th St.
Enrollment: About 280
Tuition: $22,750-$37,550
Student/Teacher ratio - 8:1
Endowment: $3.7 million
A Montessori-inspired school that stresses, intelligence, freedom and respect for oneself and the community, it accepts children through fifth grade. Many of its students go on to the best and most elite private middle- and high schools in the city. The school gets rave reviews from parents and teachers alike.
The Beekman School 220 E. 50th St.
Enrollment: 76 (9-12)
Tuition: $36,000
Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1
Beekman bills itself as Manhattan’s only boutique high school. It has a maximum class size of 10 students at its townhouse school, where it offers a core curriculum, but stresses personalized and customized courses through the Tutoring School.
Dalton 108 E. 89th St.
Enrollment: 1,300 (k-12)
Tuition: $42,960
Student/Teacher ratio - 5:1
Endowment: $40 million
A progressive school guided by the “Dalton Plan,” which values the entire child, cultivates values of respect, integrity and compassion, encourages risk-taking and places an historical emphasis on music, dance, theater and visual arts – as well as sports. Famous alums include Anderson Cooper, Claire Danes and Melissa Russo.
Nightingale-Bamford 20 E. 92nd St.
Enrollment: 171 (k-12, girls)
Tuition: $33,550
Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1
Endowment: $70 million
Founded in 1920, Nightingale is an independent K-12 girls’ school whose website says it “provides a classical curriculum to motivated students of varied backgrounds, interests, and talents.” It prides itself on being a place that develops strong, opinionated, intelligent young women. Among its notable graduates are Shoshanna Lonstein, Mandy Grunwald and Millicent Fenwick.