Last September, when Claremont Preparatory School opened its new middle-and-high-school facility, I got a tour from Daniel Koffler, the director of business development for parent company MetSchools. I was awestruck by how different—by which I mean nicer—it was from my (public) middle and high schools. I didn’t write about it at the time because DNAinfo had just published a piece about the school (which I included in an “In the News” roundup), and there wasn’t much more to say. But I did tell Koffler that I’d love to come back and do a photo essay when the gym and theater were completed.

The new facility—MetSchools spent somewhere between $30–$40 million building it out from raw space—is in the back part of the Cunard Building at 25 Broadway, with an entrance at 1 Morris (which runs between Broadway and Trinity/Greenwich). Dedicated elevators service the school—over 200,000 square feet on the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd floors. It’s for students in 5th grade up through 12th grade, though right now the oldest grade is 10th (it’ll be the first graduating class, in 2013); the younger grades are in a building two blocks away on Broad. The maximum capacity at 1 Morris is 960 students, but this year there are only 160. “We feel strongly that class size shouldn’t exceed 18 or 19,” said director of communications Brian Kaplan, who showed me around this time. Over 25 percent of the students are on some sort of scholarship.

Enough words! Let’s get to the photos. There are no kids pictured because I have a policy not to photograph them without parental consent. And I didn’t take any photos of the classrooms because, while lovely, they’re just classrooms. Also, Kaplan said if you want to see it in person, they’re (obviously) happy to give tours to any parents of prospective students. Tuition, by the way, is $34,650 for kindergarten on up.

The cafeteria (also pictured above). I'm planning a follow-up post on the views, which are fantastic from all over the building.

See what I mean? This is an art classroom.

Hallway art: not really about the facility, but I liked it.

An art-free hallway. They left the old mail chutes—hey, maybe that's a new homework excuse. ("It fell down the mail chute....")

The library had so many books I've either read or been meaning to read—but even I don't think I'm ready for David Mitchell's "Black Swan Green."

The 350-seat theater...

...which faces this fabulous stage. (She's a teacher.)

The weight room. The gym is on the first and second floors, reachable from the building's lobby by a different elevator.

The basketball court, which also has a...

...climbing wall. There are plans to build another gym above this one.

The 25-meter pool (being refilled, obviously).

The Commodore's Apartment, where the head of Cunard used to stay (?). Claremont Prep uses it for board meetings, mock trials, etc.

Stay tuned for that post about the views....