International school eyes former IBM center

Once envisioned as the site of a new Westchester university by a Roman Catholic religious order, IBM”™s former Thornwood Conference Center instead could be revived as a for-profit international boarding school by the same Swiss organization that runs a private school on the former Marymount College campus in Tarrytown.

At a work session of the Mount Pleasant Town Board, officials representing EF International Academy last month aired their proposal to open a second boarding school in Westchester for some 800 U.S. and foreign students on the former 265-acre IBM Corp. property at 582-590 Columbus Ave.

Legion of Christ Inc., a religious nonprofit, bought the property from IBM for $33.7 million in 1996. It serves as headquarters for the Legionaries of Christ, an order of Roman Catholic priests that has been depleted by a drop in religious vocations, financial problems and Vatican-ordered reforms since scandalous sexual revelations about the Legionaries”™ founder surfaced after his death in 2008.

The Legionaries had proposed to build a Roman Catholic liberal arts university on an undeveloped 167-acre tract on the Thornwood property. The owner completed much of a required environmental review of the project but abandoned the plan because demand for the university failed to develop, a Legion of Christ spokesman said last year.

The Legionaries a year ago hired CBRE Group Inc. to market the Thornwood property for sale either to one buyer or to separate buyers of the undeveloped area, which is zoned for housing, and a 97-acre parcel that includes the 410,000-square-foot conference center and office building.

An attorney for EF Academy reportedly told town officials that a change in zoning code language is needed to allow a private for-profit school to occupy the center.

EF International Academy President Mark Seman reportedly said the boarding school project would require only internal renovations, primarily to convert office space to dormitories and classrooms. He said the Thornwood school would hire about 100 employees.

Seman in an email to the Business Journral said EF Tarrytown has had double digit percentage increases in interest from prospective students in its language and high school programs every year since EF assumed full operation of the former Marymount campus in 2008.  “As such, we are always interested in exploring opportunities to grow and meet the educational needs of our students,” he said.

Seman said the proposal submitted to the town of Mount Pleasant “will explore the opportunity for EF to add an additional site to its operation in Westchester County.  We believe our growth is a credit to the types of programs we offer in Tarrytown, as well as to the wonderful experiences available to students who travel here.”

“We are committed to maintaining our robust presence in Tarrytown, regardless of whether another partnership in the area happens or not,” Seman added. “If we do expand to new locations in the future, we will look forward to becoming a contributing member to the business and residential communities just as we have in Tarrytown.”

Mount Pleasant Town Supervisor Joan Maybury did not return a call for comment on the school proposal.

Outside the U.S., EF Academy operates three other boarding schools that offer international baccalaureate diploma programs and other high school-level studies, two in England and one in Vancouver, Canada.

The academy business is part of EF Education First, which describes itself as the largest private educational organization in the world. Headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland, Education First operates 400 schools and offices in more than 50 countries and employs 9,000 staff workers and 25,000 teachers and guides, according to its website.