<p>"As admissions director since 1996 at the Dalton School on the Upper East Side, Ms. Krents decides each year which of the citys supply of high-achieving 4-year-olds get the privilege of attending one of the nations best-regarded kindergartens, which costs $36,970 a year. "</p>
<p>$37,000/year is peanuts for the investment bankers and other masters of the universe whose kids attend Dalton and the other exclusive private schools in Manhattan. Mommy carries a Birkin bag, Daddy wears a Patek Phillippe watch, winter break is spent in Gstaad. The 4 years old’s high achievement is having been born into the right family!</p>
<p>I saw an ad in the Yale Alumnae quarterly for a nanny – I almost applied --hours were maybe 30/week; full medical insurance; your own room with TV, wifi, bathroom, and they were paying $30K/year. Think about – living rent free in Manhattan and all you have to do is childcare? Then you’re off duty at 5:00? Oh – I forgot the “bad” part – “nanny will be expected to fly with children to vacations.”</p>
<p>It’s cool that we live in a country where many of these privileged four year olds are the children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of people who lived in poverty here or somewhere else in the world. The fact that this type of education is achievable in even one generation is pretty amazing. Some of the students themselves at schools like Dalton come from lower income homes. The “investment bankers and other masters of the universe” donate large sums of money which makes funding possible for these kids whose parents are unable to pay. </p>
<p>Of course, I’m not sure any child needs to eat glue and cut construction paper at a cost of $37K a year. OTOH, I don’t think the Dalton’s of the world are as much about education as they are about other things.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine is an admissions director for one of these lofty institutions. She swears you can tell even by those few observation opportunities which kids have a likelihood of being a high achieving kid. I’m a little skeptical of this.</p>
<p>Not Dalton, and not NYC, but I know someone with a preschooler who attends a preschool for $16,000 per year in a suburb of a small city. It is free of charge to this family since one parent works there, but others do pay this amount of money! I suppose some parents send their kids only half day, and/or 2-3 days per week and I don’t know what the cost is when not going for the “full program”.</p>
I’m not. Have you never spoken to or interacted with a really bright 4 year old? The ones who can hold a real conversation with you? The ones who just seem to “get it”? I have. </p>
<p>Have you never spoken to or interacted with a 4 year old that doesn’t seem that bright? The ones whose conversational skills aren’t quite there? I have.</p>
<p>We believe that musical talent or artistic talent or athletic talent is innate. Why isn’t intellectual talent also inate?</p>
<p>(Oh, but they don’t necessarily need a $36K kindergarten.)</p>
<p>Here’s a lower cost option for those who can’t afford Dalton. Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten sessions are each under $20K (and the limo ride from Manhattan to New Haven isn’t all that expensive):</p>
<p>We have friends who’s children attend Dalton. Are the kids bright…extremely bright. Is the family wealthy? Yes, very. Do the parents donate a fairly large amount to scholarships to Dalton? They do. </p>
<p>And before we start saying OMG (ok, it is an OMG) remember that the property is in New York City where everything is very expensive including the cost of salaries for teachers and staff. We do want teachers to be paid well…correct? We want (or would want) poor children to be given a shot at an amazing education…right? And if we lived near the school we would want the building kept up, security (for the kids and the neighborhood) enforced.</p>
<p>I’m not a parent, and I’m from Los Angeles, but I’ve gone to a great private school since kindergarten, and while it has gone up since 2000 (right now it’s at about 27,000), it has always been expensive.</p>
<p>I have been lucky to receive a enough financial aid each year to continue attending the school, but that wasn’t always guaranteed.</p>
<p>Coming from a 16 year old who has attended such an expensive school, I don’t know if it is particularly laugh worthy. Yes, I probably could have gone to a public school until middle school or high school, but I find that I’m better prepared than many of my classmates who transferred from other schools.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles school system is really screwed up right now with the budget being the way it is, so I was lucky to be in classes of 20 people in elementary school, when I would have been in classes of 50 kids had I attended the school down the street.</p>
<p>Considering there are plenty of cases of precocious toddlers/kids who end up being quite average/mediocre later in life and late bloomers in the latter category who end up excelling later in their development despite an inauspicious start in early childhood…I’m not sure I’d agree.</p>
<p>Moreover, someone having great conversational skills is not necessarily a sign they are remarkably intelligent for their age. It could also be a sign of someone who is an outstanding BS artist with a great future in politics or ripping other people off.</p>
<p>Every consumer has a veto power that control price of everything. If nobody consumes, then price goes down or product disappears. Price is a product of demand. We consumers are to blame. In addition, kindergarten has absolutely nothing with future success. Zero!! All this hoopla with head start is just for political reasons that have nothing to do with future of the child. Zero!! You can start with blank (no reading skills, nothing) at 8, and child might be much more advanced very soon, actually in a matter of few months in comparison to another who started at 5. It is done in other countries that have great success with pre-college education.</p>
<p>The article didn’t cover the pricey consultants to help you and the child prep for the nursery school and kindergarten application processes. In my opinion, my services helping kids get into college are not cheap, but the nursery school consultants in NYC make my fees look like minimum wage.</p>
<p>I know a woman and her sister is a GC for 5th and 6th graders in a private school. I asked the woman why 5th and 6th graders require a GC. The woman responded with a giggle that they don’t, but their parents require the GC!</p>
<p>Seems that middle class families priced out of privates are forming co-ps.
“Beyond the effort was the challenge of getting different families to work together. When matters as personal as education, values and children are at stake, intense emotions are sure to follow, whether the issue is snacks (organic or not?), paint (machine washable?) o r what religious holidays, if any, to acknowledge.”</p>
<p>I would have done anything to avoid this kind of conversation with other parents!</p>
<p>I live in an area that has a heavy Scandinavian influence & we have always had strong Co-ops. REI started here, as did PCC ( a grocery chain) & both my kids attended co-op preschools for about 3-4 yrs each.</p>
<p>I really liked them, they saved me money, they were very high quality and I enjoyed the interaction with the other parents & kids ( + great staff)</p>
<p>From there both of my kids attended private schools which were " very experiential" and child focused. Incidentally Bezos & Gates also sent their kids to one of the schools ( long afterwards). It wasn’t the most " prestigious " or fancy by any means- but we are much more casual( & cheap) on the left coast than in Manhattan I imagine.</p>