HudsonWay Immersion School, New York | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

My son has been attending the New York campus of this school for three years, starting at age 2. As a first-time parent enrolling my child in school, I wondered initially whether I had made the right decision, whether there was somewhere else better for him, whether the grass was greener at another school. In my third year, and with some hindsight, I am very glad that I did not move him to another school. I could not be happier with HWIS, the administrative staff and especially the teachers. My son has benefited immensely from the close and nurturing attention that each of his teachers has given him since the day he started three years ago. His teachers communicate with me regularly about his development, any concerns they might have and proactive steps to support him. They seek my input and they offer theirs. They work cooperatively with me for the benefit of my son. I couldn’t ask for more. Today he is thriving socially, academically and physically.

When I toured other private schools in Manhattan before deciding to enroll my son at HWIS, I discovered that at most schools, the ratio of teachers to students (starting at the pre-K level) were approximately 1:8 or 1:9. At HWIS, it is 1:6 in the most crowded classroom. I firmly believe that this beneficial ratio, together with the great teaching staff, has been key in my son’s social-emotional and academic advancement. My son is able to speak both Mandarin and English with a fluency in both that I will never have but more importantly, he is able to converse about substantive content (math, science, music, etc.) in both languages without losing a beat. He is five years old. He is happy at drop-off every day. He talks about the projects in class, the things the kids made that day, how they made them, the colors used, he talks about science – the system of pulleys they put together, he talks about his friends, the games they played, the stories the teachers read to them. He is excited about school.

I agree that there was some turnover in staff 2 years ago shortly after the first director of the NY school resigned (for personal reasons) and some new hires either realized that they did not want to move to NYC (from the midwest) or did not work out. But the school replaced them with great people and it has been stable since then. The curriculum was revised but for the better. The school has adopted a tried-and-true language immersion model that has proven to graduate scholars that are truly fluent in their target immersion language, that are high academic achievers and that are socially adept.

No school is one-size-fits-all. Every parent should assess each school to determine whether it is the right fit for them and their child(ren). I was surprised and disappointed to read one review where a parent commented that parents who stay with the school have drunk Kool Aid or have their kids “stuck” and cannot go anywhere else and even suggested that such parents may be “ignorant”. The internet is a wonderful invention but, sadly, it has often times been misused as a medium for lashing out. The back-handed slight on the way out is uncalled for. Parents who pay tens of thousands of dollars every year for their child(ren)’s education have choices. How they choose to exercise those choices are solely within their purview. I suspect most of them don’t drink Kool Aid. Too much sugar.

We’ve been very happy with our decision, but it’s not the right school for everyone. We have two kids at the school. The oldest enrolled in the preschool pretty soon after the doors to its NY campus had opened. We seriously considered a variety of options at each juncture – when our daughter was entering preschool and then again when she was entering kindergarten. We were excited by the Mandarin immersion opportunity. We’ve stuck with the school through its growing pains because our kids have gotten a great education so far, and both are verbally fluent in Mandarin and are reading and writing Mandarin (as well as English; our older one is an avid reader in English). Some parents have griped about certain administrative issues – although we think the school is on more stable footing now – but we think that through it all, the school has consistently kept the academic curriculum its top priority, always thoughtfully seeking best practices in education as well as immersion education. They’ve spent a great deal of time searching for, interviewing and most importantly, training the right teachers. One can’t be only a language teacher to teach kids math or science in Mandarin (math/science is also taught in English in alternating weeks). Yes, there has been teacher turnover in the past, but the reasons that I’m aware of for many of them are largely beyond an administration’s control and come with the territory of native-speaking Chinese, mostly young and talented, sought-after teachers. Immersion education is also structurally challenging because in the older grades, it’s hard to replenish enrollment lost through natural attrition with kids who don’t already have some background in the language. So our oldest child has some tradeoffs by being in the “pioneer” class which is small, but their classroom is almost like semi-private tutoring. The teachers can tailor assignments to each child’s level, and they’re always available to parents for questions or communication about what’s going on in the classroom. By luck or otherwise, the children all get along well, and both of our children have formed close friendships with many of their peers. The school also has a familial feel because of its size. All the parents have gotten to know each other well, and many socialize with each other outside of school functions. We’re diverse culturally, but we all share an appreciation for the unique opportunity to have our kids benefit from a true immersion program in a difficult language and are willing to go beyond brand names to seek a strong education.

I can say with full confidence that HudsonWay Immersion School is the best Mandarin immersion school in NYC. This is our child’s second year here and we are very pleased with her academic and social development. We have been amazed that our 3 ½ year old daughter is not only completely fluent in Mandarin and starting to recognize simple Chinese characters/words but also beginning to read in English. (I should note that English is the main language spoken in our home so we are especially thrilled about the Mandarin fluency). Both the Mandarin and English Language Arts teachers that we have had have been great and very accessible. The administration is also very approachable and responsive.

The class sizes are intentionally kept small which overall is terrific as we have seen that it allows the teachers to provide individualized attention to the children and customize teaching methods to help each child excel. The one potential concern to the small class size that we had before the start of the school year was that our child might not be able to make as many friends as her class is a little smaller than the others. However, we have seen that the small class size has allowed our daughter and her classmates to form strong bonds with one another which has been wonderful to see. As a result, the parents have become friendly with one another as well and often try to get together outside of school functions.

The school is culturally diverse and for the most part I sense a shared appreciation among parents for the opportunity to have our children learn in such a unique environment. My husband and I are very grateful to be a part of the HudsonWay community. We actually used to live in LA in a neighborhood that had one of the best school districts in the country but decided to move to NYC when our daughter turned 2 years old in large part so that she could attend this school. Teaching our child to speak Mandarin was a priority and in my research I have found HudsonWay to be the benchmark for Mandarin immersion. This is what is important to us and we are glad to support and grow with the school.

Overall, if anyone is even just exploring the idea of a second language for their child, I would encourage them to visit the school, talk to the master teachers and observe the classrooms. HudsonWay may not be a fit for everyone but we are happy and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great immersion school!