The best private schools in NYC in 2026 include Trinity, Collegiate and Dalton on the Upper West and East Sides, Brearley, Spence and Chapin for girls, and Horace Mann, Riverdale Country School and Ethical Culture Fieldston in the Bronx. In Brooklyn, Poly Prep and Packer Collegiate lead, and Staten Island Academy serves Staten Island.
For Jewish schools, see our guide to Jewish day schools. Admissions to these schools are highly competitive, with applications typically due in the fall for the following school year.
One of the oldest schools in the country, founded in 1709.
Trinity is a coeducational K–12 school on West 91st Street with a rigorous academic program and a long history.
139 W 91st St, New York, NY 10024
The oldest school in the United States, for boys.
Collegiate, founded in 1628, is a boys' K–12 school now in a modern building on Freedom Place near Riverside Park.
301 Freedom Pl S, New York, NY 10069
A progressive, coed K–12 school known for the Dalton Plan.
Dalton is a coed K–12 school on the Upper East Side, founded on the progressive 'Dalton Plan' of education.
108 E 89th St, New York, NY 10128
A highly regarded girls' school on the East River.
Brearley is an academically rigorous K–12 girls' school on East 83rd Street, overlooking Carl Schurz Park.
610 E 83rd St, New York, NY 10028
A K–12 girls' school near Central Park.
Spence is a K–12 girls' school on East 91st Street known for strong academics and a close community.
22 E 91st St, New York, NY 10128
A K–12 girls' school on East End Avenue.
Chapin is a K–12 girls' school on East End Avenue, near Gracie Mansion, with a recently expanded campus.
100 East End Ave, New York, NY 10028
A selective coed school with a large Riverdale campus.
Horace Mann is a highly selective coed school with its upper and middle school campus in Riverdale and a lower division nearby.
231 W 246th St, Bronx, NY 10471
A coed pre-K–12 school on leafy hilltop campuses.
Riverdale Country School has two green campuses in Riverdale and is known for its character-education program and strong academics.
5250 Fieldston Rd, Bronx, NY 10471
A progressive school grounded in ethics education.
Ethical Culture Fieldston has a lower school in Manhattan and its middle and upper schools on a campus in Fieldston, with ethics woven into the curriculum.
3901 Fieldston Rd, Bronx, NY 10471
Brooklyn's leading coed school, on a 25-acre campus.
Poly Prep's main campus in Dyker Heights has playing fields and a pond, with its lower school in Park Slope.
9216 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11228
A historic coed school in Brooklyn Heights.
Packer, founded in 1845, occupies a Gothic Revival campus on Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights.
170 Joralemon St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Staten Island's independent pre-K–12 school.
Staten Island Academy, founded in 1884, is the borough's independent college-preparatory school, on a wooded Todt Hill campus.
715 Todt Hill Rd, Staten Island, NY 10304
Most open in late summer or early fall for entry the following September, with deadlines between November and January and decisions in February.
Tuition at top Manhattan private schools commonly exceeds $60,000 a year; most offer need-based financial aid.