Suri started school today as a 1st grader & boy, what a school! It took $75million to build and they charge $5,000 OVER what a semester at Harvard costs. It is being hailed as the TOP of the TOP schools to go to for ART. Below is some interesting reading about the school from Tara Misenheimer, he school’s art specialist:
The idea behind Avenues is simple: It’s not just the art world that is globalizing. Why not build a school with campuses worldwide, so that when Bobby’s parents have to go to London for work, their son can move with them, picking up in math class overseas right where he left off in New York?
Imagine entering your first-grade art class and learning to identify primary colors in Mandarin. At Avenues, students will take art class in either Mandarin or Spanish through fourth grade in accordance with the school’s half-day language immersion program. “I hired two art teachers at the lower level, and one had to be fluent in Mandarin, the other in Spanish, and be able to teach elementary art in a number of mediums,” Misenheimer said. (Most members of the art faculty are working artists, as is Misenheimer herself.) “Art is a really third language, a visual language, and I want that to sync with the Chinese and Spanish.”
In the future, Avenues’s boundary-breaking attitude will also extend to the relationship among the school’s many campuses. Misenheimer envisions students in different countries connecting through conversations about contemporary art. “My focus has been to identify galleries that have multiple locations and a contemporary way of thinking,” she explained. “Galleries like Pace, Gagosian, [and other] galleries that are established and have a global program… I feel like we are mimicking that in a lot of ways as a school.”
Misenheimer envisions high school students in Beijing chatting over Skype with students from New York about a new Pace Gallery show, and then writing reviews on a shared blog. To be sure, Skype will be an easy way for students to connect: every child will child will have his or hr own personal iPad and MacBook Air by middle school.
Tom and Suri have teamed back up - this is their first time seeing each other since Katie broke up the family filed for divorce. The daddy-daughter duo have plans to pal around NYC for a couple of days and get in some much needed quality time. According to TMZ, the pick-ups and drops offs of Suri will be conducted by third parties, as Tom is not going anywhere near Katie. Tom’s camp is reporting that the action star is “sad but not bitter”.
Suri: “Seriously, Dad is promising me my own line of designer lollipops if I go live with him. You said you were getting me my own pink giraffe, but nothing has happened. You need to call my agent if you want to continue with this living arrangement”
Katie: “Everything is fine…I’m smiling, right? I promise I will make it happen, just don’t hurt me with your alien powers”
Official Statement:
Please respect my privacy during this difficult time. (Just mine though — everyone else is fair game.)
I will be vacationing in the Cayman Islands for the 4th of July holiday with my financier and going over my plans to seek sole custody of myself.
I appreciate the concern and the warm wishes.
- Suri “I’m a boss” Cruise