Collaboration with New York University Will Bring Innovative Ross Educational
           Model to New Charter Public School: Ross Global Academy

   Ross School and Morriss Center School Agree in Principle to Consolidate

   Courtney Ross Donates $25M in Land to School, Launches Capital Campaign

    NEW YORK, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ross Institute for Advanced Study
and Innovation in Education today announced three major initiatives that will
significantly expand the reach and impact of the innovative Ross educational
model.  This model was developed at Ross School of East Hampton, New York, an
independent school founded 15 years ago by Courtney Sale Ross and her late
husband Steven J. Ross, former Chairman and CEO of Time Warner.  The
initiatives include:

    *  The establishment of the Ross Global Academy, a new public charter
       school approved by the New York State Board of Regents. In a landmark
       collaboration with New York University's Steinhart School of Education
       and New York City's Board of Education, the new school is scheduled to
       open in New York City's Lower East Side in fall 2006;

    *  The approval in principle by Ross School Board and the Board of Morriss
       Center School in Long Island to consolidate; and

    *  A substantial donation of land to Ross School by Courtney Sale Ross and
       the launch of a new capital campaign for needs-based financial aid for
       students.

    The announcements reflect the significant momentum in Courtney Sale Ross'
efforts to scale up the reach and impact of the Ross Model, which will allow
more pre-collegiate students to benefit from the major investment she has made
in this pioneering educational curriculum and approach.

    Collaboration with New York University Brings Ross Model to New Charter
Public School in New York City
    The newly-approved Ross Global Academy will extend, for the first time in
the United States, the innovations from an internationally-credentialed
independent school to a public charter school.
    The Academy will feature the innovative Ross Model of interdisciplinary
instruction designed to engage individual differences in learning, to foster
higher order meta-cognitive skills and intercultural understanding, as well as
immersion in technology.  The Academy will also focus on the whole child,
including an innovative wellness program.
    In 2002, the Ross Model was adapted by Tensta Gymnasium, a public school
with a high immigrant and refugee population in Tensta, Sweden.  Since then,
applications to Tensta have more than doubled, attracting some of Sweden's
best students, while dropout rates have plummeted. In fall 2005, Ross School
became the first in the nation to receive an International Credential from the
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
    Courtney Sale Ross said, "As the world undergoes profound changes,
education must adapt to prepare children for an increasingly interconnected,
diverse and technology-driven society.  Our work with NYU at Ross Global
Academy will allow us to help more children be better prepared for a world
made small yet exceedingly complicated by globalization.  I have always
intended that what we have learned at Ross School, with the help of some of
the best minds in the world, would one day be widely shared around the globe.
Today marks a significant milepost in our efforts to scale up what works."
    In collaboration with New York University's Steinhart School of Education,
the Academy will serve as the first "lab school" of its kind supporting public
school teachers' professional development.  NYU will also provide the Academy
with faculty research expertise, student interns and tutors in the classroom,
tuition vouchers for Academy Faculty, access to the NYU library and
opportunities for participation and collaboration on research and education
projects.
    Mary Brabeck, Dean of NYU's Steinhardt School of Education, said, "Ross
School in Long Island is at the forefront of some of the most promising
innovations in the country today: an education based on the theory of
individual differences in cognition and learning, interdisciplinary
integration and the most sophisticated use of technology in education today.
The innovative curricula reflect the mission of the Steinhardt School to
integrate knowledge, wellness and the arts. I have seen how Ross helped
transform its multi-ethnic sister school in urban Sweden. The new Academy
arrives in New York City at exactly the right time. We are delighted to be a
part of this exciting new partnership."
    The Academy will serve New York City public school students from diverse
backgrounds and with a variety of academic abilities in grades Kindergarten -
12, including students with special needs and English Language Learners
(ELLs).  It is expected to achieve a total enrollment of 500 students in four
years, and, as with all New York charter schools, a lottery will determine
admission.
    Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, said,
"Those of us in the world of education have long known that Ross School is a
beacon charting the way through ever more complex global realities in
learning.  I applaud Courtney Ross for her leadership, generosity, and
tireless dedication to education. I could not be more pleased that now there
will be a charter school in New York City that takes this proven model of
global education into the public school system. New Yorkers will all benefit
from this."

    Ross School Moves to Expand Student Body and Facilities through
Consolidation with Morriss Center School, Donation of Land and Launch of
Capital Campaign
    The Boards of Ross School and the Morriss Center School, located in
Bridgehampton New York, today approved in principle an agreement to
consolidate.   The consolidation creates a new, two-campus school that offers
Ross curriculum to students in grades Pre-nursery through 12, significantly
expanding the educational options and opportunities available to students from
both institutions and other students in the region.
    Courtney Sale Ross has also announced that as part of completing the
silent phase of a capital campaign, she has gifted and pledged to the school a
152 acre parcel of land valued at $25 million adjacent to the current Ross
School in East Hampton.  This, together with other gifts, has brought the
school halfway to its $70 million campaign goal, which will ensure the
financial sustainability of the School as well as continue to provide needs-
based financial aid for students.  Currently, approximately 50% of Ross
students receive needs-based financial aid.  The 152 acre parcel brings the
total holdings of the newly consolidated school up to 186 acres.
    Ross said, "I am delighted Boards of Ross School and Morriss Center have
approved the consolidation of our two schools, which will make the Ross
curriculum available to even more students in Long Island.  Morriss Center has
wonderful facilities, a first-rate faculty, devoted parents, a great group of
students and an orientation similar to our own.  This union fulfills a major
element of our original strategic plan to serve grades Pre-nursery through 12.
We are also very excited about our new capital campaign, which will help
ensure that more students can fully participate in our school's mission
regardless of economic circumstances."

    About the Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education
    Founded in 1996, the Ross Institute is a not-for-profit organization
dedicated to sharing the Ross Model through focused research, teacher
development and professional conferences.  The Institute is dedicated to
exploring and applying innovation in pre-collegiate education and building
links between pre-collegiate and higher education.  In particular, the
Institute focuses on the implications for education of globalization and other
fundamental changes in culture and technology.  Founded in 1996, the Institute
brings together leading scholars, educators and policy makers to incubate new
ideas and be a catalyst for educational change.

    About Ross School
    Ross School's mission is to change the way education meets the future; to
foster interdisciplinary, integrated thinking and innovative leadership; to
engage fully in the global community; and to facilitate lifelong learning.
    Ross School is committed to offering the highest quality education to the
broadest range of students and developing, as part of the Ross Institute, a
model for 21st century education that can be applied to transform education in
public school settings worldwide.  Ross School recognizes that globalization
has created enormous pressures on post-modern societies. These pressures
demand new forms of education to give students the skills that will enable
them to thrive in the shifting economic and cultural landscape of the 21st
century.
    At the core of Ross School is a unique and comprehensive curriculum that
fosters intercultural understanding, multi-disciplinary problem-solving,
collaboration, and independent pursuit of personal passions. Ross students are
instilled with the intellectual curiosity and creative energy that help them
to become life-long learners. More importantly, they develop a multifaceted
world view that enables them to understand current dilemmas in a broad
historical context and to anticipate the challenges they will encounter in the
new global era. Currently the school serves 346 students in grades 4 through
12.  Approximately half of Ross students receive financial aid; all of the
School's graduates have been accepted to college; 99 percent have gone on to
attend college; and a remarkable 33 percent of these students are the first
members of their families to go on to higher education.  Ross School is
accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and is a
member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS).

    Note to Editors:
    Following are additional comments from leading educators regarding the
Ross Model and establishment of Ross Global Academy
    Howard Gardner, Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard School
of Education, who has made significant contributions to the design and
implementation of the Ross curriculum, said, "Courtney Ross is a visionary in
the field of education. Ross School in East Hampton is widely admired for its
distinctive interdisciplinary curricula, its attention to individual
differences, its innovative use of media for student projects and assessment.
In the last few years, the Ross approach has been implemented in an inner city
school in Stockholm and now similar experiments are anticipated in American
urban settings.  Any citizen interested in the future of education in our
increasingly globalized world should be looking closely at these important new
ventures."
    John Sexton, President of New York University, said, "Our global city
needs to prepare the youngest New Yorkers with a global education.  We are
very proud to partner with Ross on this new initiative. Such an undertaking is
a particularly good fit for NYU, which, throughout its history, has charted
new ground in higher education. Our institutions clearly share a commitment to
educational innovation, as well as a devotion to the most important cause in
New York City today: the education of the next generation of New Yorkers. I
salute Courtney Ross for her vision and generosity."
    Regent Saul Cohen, Member of the New York State Board of Regents, is
available for media interviews.

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