Our History

Our school was founded in 1963 as The International Play Group in response to a tragedy involving the young wife of a consular staff member who felt completely isolated in her adoptive city. IPG spread to numerous locations in Manhattan and Queens before being reorganized as The International Preschools (IPS followed the form of IPG) with locations on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and Midtown East in Manhattan. Today we operate as a single location on East 86th Street.

The video below, created for our 50th anniversary and narrated by the veteran NBC News anchor and IPS grandparent Tom Brokaw, tells the story of our founding and evolution.