German School New York, White Plains
A private K-12 school with 330 students and class sizes of 14-16 students; tuition is $18,375 for K-4 and $18,875 for grades 5-12.
While most schools on this list insert foreign languages into everyday studies, the German School New York starts at the opposite spectrum, teaching most of its curriculum in German, while mixing in some English. The school, which was founded in 1980, still has a fair number of expatriates attending and it offers graduates a dual diploma from both Germany (an abitur) and New York State.
The school’s increase in students is leading it to seek to expand its enrollment cap from 375 students to 500, says Edward Schlieben, the school’s administrator. “Germany’s economy has an impact on enrollment,” he says. Plus, “German universities are still largely tuition free; that’s a very attractive incentive.”
The school’s lower tuition is partly because Germany still sends civil-service teachers to the school on loan at no cost for up to six years, Schlieben says. The school will offer individual help to young students who need more instruction in learning German.
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