West Prep Academy is set to open on the Upper West Side in September 2009. According to school founders, it is committed to a diverse and inclusive setting featuring instruction that will meet the needs of all students from the gifted to the struggling. The aim is to help students identify how they learn best and how to use this awareness to support their areas of weakness. With this model, "students become agents of their own learning," school founder Emily Noto told Insideschools.org in a telephone interview. Noto said the challenging curriculum is premised on real world connections, so that kids can see the purpose of what they learn while they develop "21st century skills" though writing, discussion, technology, and project-based learning.