Students at the Marcy Lab School in Brooklyn’s Industry City started their morning sharing what they’re grateful for.

“I’m Tahj, and today I’m grateful for a healthy mind,” Tahj Amie said.

They were joined by some surprise visitors: Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

“Thank you for having us. What you guys are doing is incredible,” Harry said.

The Marcy Lab School is a one-year fellowship program that’s an alternative to college. Students get intensive training in software engineering, along with leadership and development. Administrators say they often go on to land big jobs at tech companies.

“We’re just happy to be back in New York, happy to be here with you and most grateful to, of course, be able to be here and witness what’s being created here,” the duchess told the students.

Through their Archewell Foundation, Harry and Meghan have provided funding for the program, which charges no tuition.

“They made a financial commitment to the Marcy Lab School a little less than a year ago. And along with that commitment, they also made a promise to uplift our work and to shine a light on it, and it was really cool to see the way that they did that today,” Reuben Ogbonna, a co-founder of the Marcy Lab School, told NY1.

(NY1/Jillian Jorgensen)

Tahj and other fellows in this class started the program just a few weeks ago — and she was sharing what she's grateful for as part of the school's daily rituals.

“I'm very happy that they came to see us. It means a lot, like it really gives us inspiration, honestly,” she said.

“The reminder that there are people who are cheering for them behind the scenes always means a lot — but to be able to have two of those people here, those two people to be people as special as Harry and Meghan, I think was incredible for them,” co-founder Maya Bhattacharjee-Marcantonio said.

The duke and duchess also sat down with Marcy alumni.

“Were you surprised or really confident through the process that, yes, I know I will land on my feet coming from Marcy Labs?” the duchess asked.

One grad said big tech jobs still felt a little out of reach.

“But then I got it, so… that’s new,” she said, of a job she landed at Spotify.

The school’s founders hope that support and attention from people like the duke and duchess will help them to scale up their program and find more employers open to hiring people with non-traditional backgrounds.

“This is a really important moment for Marcy right now,” Ogbonna said.