By Kevin McCauley
DKC Public Relations is handling the New York opening of Avenues, the "world school" venture fronted by former Whittle Communications chief Chris Whittle and ex-Yale University president Benno Schmidt.
The school promises a high-tech version of the liberal education offered by the best private schools and universities. It aims to promote "critical thinking, graceful clarity of expression and intellectual autonomy," according to a statement from Schmidt.
Graduates are required to be fluent in at least one foreign language and complete the "world course," which is described as "non-western-centric combination of history, geography and issues."
Slated to open in Fall of 2012, Avenues is planned to part of a network of 20 schools to open over the next decade in cities such as London, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi.
Tuition has not yet been set, but it will be in the neighborhood of $36K, the average tab for independent schools in Manhattan.
Whittle and Schmidt have recruited top-notch academics from Phillips Exeter Academy, Hotchkiss School, Dalton School and the director of the 92nd Street Y Nursery School to lead Avenues.
The school will be housed in a 10-story, 215K sq. ft building on the High Line in Chelsea.
DKC’s Bruce Bobbins and Wallis Post pitch Avenues.
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