Does anyone know why he left? Seems strange to leave and develop a competing school model.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is the avenues school in nyc doing?

I know zero parents who would consider this school, regardless of language interest. I agree it sounds like a Ponzi scheme.

Avenues seems to be doing very well. It has a respectable waitlist every year, even with its sky high tuition ($54,000/year!!!). The school has also graduated its first class, and its graduates are attending several highly selective universities, including Ivy League schools.

I heard Mr. Whittle is no longer affiliated with Avenues. True?

Anonymous wrote:As a for-profit school I’m lead to assume 2 points.
Firstly they will attempt to kill local competition quickly by offering generous financial aid, not being constrained initially by budgets or reporting to NAIS. Willing to make operating losses to force other area schools out of business.
Similarly, with no agreement with other AISGW schools, they can enroll students at their convenience many months before the other independent schools.
I can’t help but think that DC non-parochial fringe schools such as Burke, Field, Sheridan etc must be extremely nervous

"Generous financial aid?" The Washington Post article mentioned 10% of the students getting financial aid. That's way at the low end.

DC isn't New York -- there were many more applicants than spots for private schools in NYC so it's not surprising that a school like Avenues could succeed. Here, there are plenty of private schools. Maybe the Chinese immersion will be a magical hook, but other than that, they'll have issues with enrollment for quite some time, I'd think.

I see absolutely no market for this school other than the Chinese nationals whose parents are at the embassy next door.

I would easily send my kids to Wilson before this school.

Anonymous wrote:How is the avenues school in nyc doing?

I know zero parents who would consider this school, regardless of language interest. I agree it sounds like a Ponzi scheme.

Avenues seems to be doing very well. It has a respectable waitlist every year, even with its sky high tuition ($54,000/year!!!). The school has also graduated its first class, and its graduates are attending several highly selective universities, including Ivy League schools.

How is the avenues school in nyc doing?

I know zero parents who would consider this school, regardless of language interest. I agree it sounds like a Ponzi scheme.

I noticed that tuition is $45,000 per year for grades 1-10. That seems higher than even the most expensive privates in DC. That's more than I would pay for a school without a track record.

Without the purchase price, they're spending $185 million to renovate the old Intelsat building. They have raised $168 million from Chinese and US investors. They're in the hole in a huge way before they even get started. Wait until tuition doesn't cover expenses. Whittle was chased out of Avenues School in NY. He's not highly regarded in the education world, to say the least.

Will be fun to watch what happens......

why does the OP refer to schools of children as “fringe”?? As if every school not anointed the outdated big 3 moniker is now “fringe”?

A large-scale, for-profit school is certainly not something that this WIS family would ever consider. The size alone is not enticing, among many other factors. I doubt it will be meaningful competition for WIS.

I was interested to see two mistakes (one grammatical, one stylistic) in Whittle's full-page color ad in WaPo. Hmmmm.

An intense language immersion school might expect Chinese proficiency from students who apply for 6th, which is when Burke and Field begin. Sheridan is PK-8 so a lot of the parents are interested in that model, not PS-12. If anything, this school should draw applicants away from Washington International School who want any language or maybe wealthier families from Yu Ying PCS or Yu Ying grads from DCI.

Anonymous wrote:Why would these other private schools be nervous? They've been around for decades.

My DC is at one of the schools mentioned in this post and we (and all of the other parents we know there) purposely chose it becuase of its small size and educational philosophy.The families at Field, Burke, Sheridan and similar schools aren't likely to be looking for a school with 2500 students and a focus on language immersion.

Why would these other private schools be nervous? They've been around for decades.

As a for-profit school I’m lead to assume 2 points.
Firstly they will attempt to kill local competition quickly by offering generous financial aid, not being constrained initially by budgets or reporting to NAIS. Willing to make operating losses to force other area schools out of business.
Similarly, with no agreement with other AISGW schools, they can enroll students at their convenience many months before the other independent schools.
I can’t help but think that DC non-parochial fringe schools such as Burke, Field, Sheridan etc must be extremely nervous