A new private school designed to teach the island’s brightest pupils will open next autumn.

Leonard Santucci, the interim chairman of the school, called Quest, said it would “serve Bermuda’s gifted and talented population” aged nine to 18.

Dr Santucci added there was a “tremendous demand” in Bermuda for the type of education the school will provide.

He said: “Parents want to be able to afford their children options in terms of curriculum offerings and opportunities.

“This is more independent learning, it could be described as accelerated learning, based on the interest and ability of the children.”

Dr Santucci added that the school would also give parents greater involvement in their child’s education.

The school will welcome Primary 5 and 6 pupils in September 2020 and additional years will be added later.

Quest will offer two streams of instruction to pupils, the Arise and Soar programmes.

The Arise programme, for Artistic Residents in Search of Excellence, will be geared towards pupils with an aptitude for the arts and athletics and offer a hands-on curriculum.

The Soar programme, for Scholars of Academic Rise, was designed for academic pupils ready for “rigorous, personalised learning experiences”.

The school will provide instruction in areas including mathematics, science, international studies and languages in line with the National Association for Gifted Children programming standards. Technology and the visual and performing arts will also be taught.

Dr Santucci, a former chairman of the board at CedarBridge Academy, said potential pupils would be assessed before admission.

He added that fees for the school would probably be comparable with other private schools.

Dr Santucci said: “There is the possibility that some students may be the beneficiary of scholarships.”

He added that information sessions to be held this autumn were designed to attract pupils and parent attention, as well as corporate interest.

Dr Santucci said that a building “in a good location” had been identified for the new school.

He added: “We’re just trying to dot ‘i’s and cross ‘t’s.

“At the same time, it would be beneficial to us if there was a degree of sponsorship and corporate interest to assist, because we are talking about a multimillion-dollar venture.

“We believe that the capital exists on island, we believe that interest exists on island, we’re just trying to marry capital interest and offering.”

Dr Santucci said that people in the public and private school system, as well as in private business, had been identified as possible teachers.

Parents interested in more information on the school can attend information sessions to be held in September, October, November and December.

• More information can be found at www.questbda.com