Avenues: The key quality a $56K-a-year NYC private school looks for in students

The school has campuses in Brazil and China

The characteristic an NYC private school prioritises in a student (Stock)

The admissions director of a prestigious $56,000-a-year New York City private school has revealed what trait he looks for in applicants.

According to David Buckwald, the director in charge of selecting who is accepted to Avenues: The World School, he doesn’t prioritise intelligence, but rather a student’s “curiosity”.

Speaking to Business Insider, Buckwald said: “Since we look for a variety of qualities in a candidate, it’s hard to isolate one and say it is the most important.

“However, I think a student’s curiosity is the key differentiator in our application review.”

According to the admissions director, curiosity is important because it is what leads students to “pursue their developing interests and passions” as well as make connections and eventually implement what they have learned in the real world.

In addition to curiosity, Avenues, which has campuses in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Shenzhen, China, as well as New York City, also prioritises empathy - as it “fosters community and collaboration” and ultimately helps students work together to “understand and solve global-scale problems,” according to Buckwald.

Avenues accepts children starting at age two, all the way to grade 12, with applicants required to participate in specific evaluations dependent on grade - with the youngest students accepted based on a “supervised playgroup”.

As graduates, students will be accomplished in numerous fields, according to the website, including in academic skills, fluency in a second language, writing and speaking, and art.

Students will also be “emotionally unafraid and physically fit,” leaders, humble and trustworthy and “architects of lives that transcend the ordinary”.