Cranleigh Abu Dhabi was officially launched this week to an audience of over four hundred people at the St Regis Hotel on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.
Headmaster of Cranleigh Prep School, Michael Wilson, began proceedings by giving a short history of Cranleigh School before a moving video was shown portraying life at present-day Cranleigh. (http://vimeo.com/79657924)
Brendan Law, Headmaster of Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, then took to the stage to explain his vision for the school: “A school like this means that we can create an atmosphere that is synonymous with Abu Dhabi: its cultural strengths and the heritage that exists here. We have a huge respect for that. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan often spoke of tolerance and mutual respect; a synergy of community.”
Cranleigh Abu Dhabi will sit at the entrance to a Cultural District on Saadiyat Island, soon to be the home of the Zayed National Museum, the Guggenheim and Louvre, Abu Dhabi – all in keeping with Cranleigh’s motto, ‘Ex Cultu Robur’ – ‘from culture comes strength’. The school will be located next to the UAE Pavilion, designed by Sir Norman Foster, and it will have world-class educational institutions such as New York University Abu Dhabi, which opens in 2014 to serve some 2,500 students, nearby.
The first pupils will arrive at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi in September 2014, at the Pre-Prep and Junior School, and the first pupils are already registered (http://www.cranleigh.ae/en/news/). The Senior School will then be delivered in phases.