NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- A cultural institution that gives students an access all areas pass to the world, the United Nations International Schools (UNIS) gives students a trip around the globe in just a stroll down the school hallway.
"We've got over 60 countries represented among the staff and that diversity of cultures from within the teaching staff brings about perspectives that can only really be achieved here," Executive Director Stewart Walker told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
"Even at other international schools around the world, you don't find that diversity among the staff and that's a critical piece for us to maintain."
Nestled between the East River and Franklin D. Roosevelt highway in Manhattan, central New York City, UNIS stands at the eastern edge of midtown where it overlooks the rest of the city. As a symbol for both international heritage and cultural diversity, it's a crossroads for children and families across the globe that are looking for a unique, international educational experience.
"We've got these kids around the world who interact with each other and therefore get an international understanding that is based upon personal friendships and personal relationships, which is the strength from it," Walker said.
Established as an International Nursery School in Queens, New York, UNIS was formed by a group of UN parents in 1947 who wanted their children to maintain their cultural upbringing, as well as to receive an education that would allow them to matriculate back into their national educational system.
Quickly transforming from an enrollment of just 20 children to a fully fledged educational institution by the late 1950s that included campuses in both Queens and in Manhattan, the student admission also started to include those outside the UN community
-- families from both the non-governmental sector and local New York scene.
Today with 1,550 children from all ends of the globe attending UNIS, a little more than half of the student population has parents that are working for the UN or missions attached to the world body. A quarter of the students are internationally based, with the remaining 10-15 percent from the United States.
"It's not good enough to simply just come here and to be a privileged child who gets a wonderful education," Walker said.
