BASIS Independent Manhattan

Learning

What learning looks like

In Grade 1, the weekly Connections class follows the Ancient Egypt unit with a trading exercise. Children craft goods from provided materials and barter for what they need, imagining themselves in Egypt with merchants from other cities to deal with.

Some basic economics comes along for free.

In Grades 1–3, subject teachers teach each class while a Learning Expert Teacher stays with the children all day, co-teaching and handling progress monitoring and parent communication. In Grades 4–5, children are taught solely by subject teachers.

Grades 6–8 study biology, chemistry and physics concurrently. To graduate, every student must complete four AP courses and exams, with AP available from Grade 9.

Families follow homework and grades through a paper planner, the Communication Journal, rather than online. Reading it regularly and talking it over at home is part of the family's job.

Support

Support, hours and travel

Deans watch student performance. When a student needs more help than the classroom provides, a dean meets with them and builds a plan, which may include extra teacher time, peer tutoring and organizational support.

Weekly teacher office hours are open to students and parents.

The school says it has no dedicated special-needs team or school psychologist; faculty and administrators work one-on-one with families on accommodations.

Early Bird before school is free and brief; Late Bird, 3:35–6:00 p.m., is fee-based. Buses are a paid service, with routes planned each year for most, though not all, who sign up.

The Lower School (PreK–Grade 5) is at 795 Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side. Grades 6–12 are at 556 West 22nd Street in Chelsea.

Applying

Applying for Fall 2027

General applicants should plan on the regular round: application and required materials are due Jan. 8, 2027, with a $75 non-refundable fee. An early, non-binding round takes applications through Nov.

6, 2026.

Applications run through the Ravenna portal, where families also register for events and track progress. Grades 2–10 need English and math teacher recommendations and ISEE or SSAT scores.

PreK–Grade 1 families request a teacher recommendation and register for a play date and a family meeting.

For Grades 2–10, the current school sends transcripts for 2024–25 through 2026–27, and the applicant attends the family meeting; siblings applying share one. In PreK–Grade 1 the child need not attend it, and Grade 1 applicants add their latest report card.

If one teacher covers English and math, that teacher completes both recommendation forms.

Kindergarten applicants must turn five by September 1.

Regular-round decisions and reply deadlines in 2027:

PreK: decision February 25; reply by March 4.

Kindergarten: decision February 4; reply by February 11.

Grades 1–8: decision February 10; reply by February 26.

Grades 9–10: decision February 19; reply by March 11.

Submitting an application does not commit a family. Accepting an offer does: families sign the enrollment agreement and pay the $5,000 non-refundable deposit by the reply deadline.

After the regular deadline, rolling applications open Jan. 9.

Decisions follow within 10 business days of a complete application, and once a grade closes, qualified applicants move to a wait pool.

Cost

Cost and aid

Tuition for 2026–27 is $38,000 for PreK, $40,500 for Kindergarten, $43,135 for Grades 1–5, $46,800 for Grades 6–8 and $48,750 for Grades 9–12.

The school does not offer financial aid; its payment options of one, two or ten payments spread the bill rather than lowering it.

The 2026–27 page lists a $10,000 Wildcat merit scholarship for Kindergarten, Grade 6 and Grade 9 entrants; ask whether Fall 2027 has one.

Beyond tuition, the 2026–27 schedules add a $700 technology fee, a one-time $200 new-student fee and an activities fee: $420 in PreK, $550 from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Credit-card payments carry a 2.85% surcharge.

The ten-payment plan adds a $650 processing fee. The Tuition Refund Plan, 4% of tuition after the deposit, is required on the two- and ten-payment plans and optional with one payment.

The $5,000 deposit counts toward tuition rather than adding to it. A $5,000 sibling discount applies to each younger child when more than one child from a family is enrolled in the same year.

Books, supplies, transportation and extracurriculars cost extra.

BASIS Manhattan: support, AP access and the Fall 2027 bill

BASIS moves at a fast, defined pace, so ask how deans support your child and which courses Manhattan actually offers in your child's years.