Note No. 5668

                                                                  29 May 2001

Note to Correspondents

UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL TO HOLD GRADUATION CEREMONY

AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL ON 31 MAY

The United Nations International School (UNIS) 2001 graduation will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, 31 May, in the General Assembly Hall.  Tim Russert of NBC will deliver the commencement address.  Mr. Russert is the moderator of “Meet the Press” the longest-running programme in the history of television.  He is also a political analyst for NBC’s “Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and the “Today” programme, senior vice-president and Washington bureau chief for NBC News and contributing anchor for MSNBC.

This year’s class of 110 comprises 47 nationalities and 30 languages.  They graduate to attend more than 60 of the world’s finest universities in

10 countries.  At UNIS, students have been exposed daily to all the world’s cultures through peer interaction with and a faculty drawn from more than

70 countries.  As a result, they have developed an understanding and values that will prepare them to become true citizens of the world.

UNIS was founded in 1947 by a group of United Nations parents to provide an education for their children that fostered global sensitivity.  What began modestly as a nursery school for 20 children is now a co-educational, college preparatory school enrolling more than 1,500 students from 110 countries.  The school offers nine languages and a rigorous educational curriculum that enables the students to meet the entry requirements of universities worldwide.  The

K-12 programme of study culminates in the UNIS and/or International Baccalaureate Diploma.  Community service and the value of the arts in daily life are also emphasized. 

UNIS serves a wide range of families living in the New York metropolitan area, including many affiliated with the United Nations and the city’s international community, as well as local residents.  The graduating class of 2001, 75 per cent come from an international background and 25 per cent have attended UNIS since kindergarten. 

For further information, please contact Marjorie Nieuwenhuis at

212-584-3116, mnieuwenhuis@unis.org.

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