We aim to create an extraordinary and unique school, the first truly modern institution serving children from ages three to 18 and the first global one. We want to change for the better the lives of those students who attend and, beyond our own campuses, contribute to the cause of education on every continent.
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In the fall of 2019, our first two campuses will open in Washington, D.C., and Shenzhen, China. We plan to expand to a system of 30+ major campuses in the world’s leading cities. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop of Genoa, Italy, each campus will serve approximately 2,500 students, ages 3 to 18.
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Learn more about our vision on our website.Â
Each scholarship will cover the cost of 50%-100% of tuition at Whittle School & Studios (boarding fees excluded). Each Founding Whittle Scholar will be named for global advisory members who are among the world’s most celebrated inventors, designers, scientists, athletes, artists, political leaders and social advocates. We invite you to download our brochure to learn more.
For the past 30 years, Dennis has worked at top U.S. schools, most recently as head of school at Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford, Connecticut. Dennis served on the board of the National Association of Independent Schools and previously held positions at The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, Collegiate School in New York City, and Shady Hill School in Cambridge, MA.
Born in Germany, Dennis has also lived, studied, and worked in Denmark and Canada. He holds a candidatus magisterii degree from Odense University and a master’s degree from Columbia University. He speaks English, Danish, and German, and has studied French and Latin.
Over the past two decades, Ara has held numerous leadership and teaching positions within K-12 and higher education, including his most recent role as Upper School Dean of Boys at Cranbrook Kingswood School, which he has held since 2010. Before joining Cranbrook Kingswood, Ara co-founded and developed the curriculum for a summer Chinese language program for children ages 5-12.
He received his B.S. in Psychology and Sociology from Ursinus College, and an M.A. in Organizational Psychology and M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Additionally, he earned an Ed.D. in Education Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
Born in Washington, D.C., Betsey has lived in New York for most of her life and has taught at every grade level from elementary school through graduate school. She earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University, where she now serves as a trustee, and her Ph.D. in American literature from New York University. Most recently, Betsey worked for seven years for Ascend Public Charter Schools in Brooklyn, which serves some of the lowest-income neighborhoods in New York. As chief curriculum and innovation officer at Ascend, she helped the network scale from 3 schools to 10—educating over 4,000 students—and led the development of an inquiry-based, liberal arts K-12 curriculum that helped Ascend close the racial achievement gap in New York State.
Betsey speaks French and reads Italian, and at Whittle she leads the Global Centers of Excellence initiative and works on both the Educational Design and the Studios teams.
A Baltimore native, Harrison joins Whittle School & Studios from Amerigo Education, a leading boarding provider for international students at U.S. high schools. As the third employee at Amerigo, Harrison established business-development and student-recruitment strategies and oversaw the fit-out of the three inaugural campuses. He received his B.A. in English from Dartmouth College, where he received the Research, Writing, and Information Technology Leadership Award for his oversight in hiring for the writing center.
He additionally draws on his experiences as a Junior Fellow at King’s Academy in Jordan and a boarding student at Phillips Academy, Andover. Harrison was drawn to Whittle by the promise of working with a talented, passionate team to build the preeminent education of the 21st century.
