For instance, in an English practice that likely reminds many Americans of "Harry Potter," students enter the school and are allocated into one of three "houses"called Braeburn, McIntosh, and Russet.
Students develop pride in their houses and compete against the students in different houses for points and to win certain awards.
"It really marries the best of the British and the American," Bailey said.
Students are brought in for a play session before the school meets with parents, so that the final determination is based on the individual child.
There are about 15 students in each of the nursery and pre-k classes, and about 20 girls and 20 boys in the single-sex kindergarten classes. The school aims to maintain that size going forward, so open slots will be determined each year depending on how many students return.
Students eat their meals in a "family-style model" and they learn table manners right from the start. Their food is served in courses, and they learn that the first course is cleared away before they are served the next course.
They "respond really well to it," Bailey said, noting they have well-developed tastes already. Kids ask for kale and greens with their lunch meals.
While there are some British families at the school, the majority are New Yorkers, according to Bailey.
The children work off the rest of their energy during weekly trips into Central Park, across the street. They also go to the 92nd Street Y to take swim lessons and other gym-type classes. Fencing is offered to students, and the school hopes to bring in cricket soon.
Wetherby-Pembridge believes kids learn best in single-sex classes and points to results seen back in the UK to strengthen its argument.
It is the only school that offers single-sex kindergarten classes in Manhattan, to Bailey's knowledge.
"Three values underpin the entire school: respect, resilience, and responsibility," Bailey said.
But manners might be the most unique aspect of Wetherby-Pembridge's culture. The school stresses "pleases," "thank yous," and "good mornings," according to Bailey.
"Children are exposed to letters and phonics and numeracy a little earlier than they might be in other American preschools," Bailey said.
In addition to their core curriculum, all students at the school take music classes and learn Spanish as a foreign language.
The building was originally constructed as the mansion residence of influential American architect Ogden Codman in 1913.
Codman had "wanted to turn 96th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues into an elegant Parisian ensemble," and his own home was no exception. He designed the building in neo-French Renaissance "Beaux-Arts" style, inspired by his childhood in Paris, according to Bailey.
We soon saw the signature uniform that all students wear. Girls wear plaid grey dresses and boys wear grey blazers. Boys wear a polo shirt under their blazers and then graduate to a shirt and tie in kindergarten.
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