NYC preschool lawsuit. Hysterical and sad.

[Veritaserum]

 

Pretty much sums it up.

 

I watched that documentary over a year ago. C.r.a.z.y. :svengo:

[LibraryLover]

Can you imagine how much she could have done if she had homeschooled with a $19K budget? :eek: She could just about have the child ready for the SAT with that kind of money!

 

 

But it still might not get a child into a NYC prep school. It's not really about scores. The mother, in that world, is lucky she even got her dd into preschool.

[LibraryLover]

Oh gosh! I forgot about that! Exactly.

 

 

Pretty much sums it up.

[JennyD]

I lived in NYC when my oldest was 4. The insanity is pernicious and horrible. I managed to avoid it not because I have wisdom or strength of character--it would take far more than both of those anyway--but because I was 1. toying with the idea of homeschooling, 2. too cheap/broke to pay outlandish tuition, and 3. on my way out of town. Had these factors not been in play I fear I would have been swept up too.

 

Among my beautiful, smart, down-to-earth, not-weird friends there was not one who managed to resist going at least a little insane trying to get her child into preschool. It was hard to watch. Six year later all the kids are fine, and the moms are too.

 

Yes, this is pretty much my experience as well, except my oldest is only coming up on 6. But I also always feel compelled to add in these sorts of discussions that it's not like there are all sorts of magically inexpensive, noncompetitive preschool options for not-crazy people. In the two neighborhoods I've lived in since having kids, if you want to send your kid to ANY preschool, of any kind, you have to (1) go through the whole application process a year in advance; and (2) expect to pay a staggering amount.

 

We didn't do it, obviously, but everyone else i know did, and like the PP said, it was insane to watch but all turned out just fine in the end.

 

One of my good friends moved to the 'burbs last year and she could not get over the idea that she could just go to a local synagogue and sign her kids up for preschool, boom, write the check, done.

[LibraryLover]

I've heard the same. There are so many children for so few spots. I don't know how people take it. I am thinking it must be a huge relief to find other hsers when people start the process. The anxiety is tremendous.

 

 

I know for many people it's the prestige of a particular school that they want, but NYC is an amazing place to hs. I am always amazed at what is going on there...every time I am amazed. lol

 

 

Yes, this is pretty much my experience as well, except my oldest is only coming up on 6. But I also always feel compelled to add in these sorts of discussions that it's not like there are all sorts of magically inexpensive, noncompetitive preschool options for not-crazy people. In the two neighborhoods I've lived in since having kids, if you want to send your kid to ANY preschool, of any kind, you have to (1) go through the whole application process a year in advance; and (2) expect to pay a staggering amount.

 

We didn't do it, obviously, but everyone else i know did, and like the PP said, it was insane to watch but all turned out just fine in the end.

 

One of my good friends moved to the 'burbs last year and she could not get over the idea that she could just go to a local synagogue and sign her kids up for preschool, boom, write the check, done.

[kalphs]

I think the lawsuit is absolutely ridiculous. My son just took the exam the ERB uses to determine kindergarten placement and its not as if kids need to be writing their letters, doing complicated math problems or reading. It's mostly vocabulary, compare and contrast and figuring out patterns. A good proctor presents the whole exam as a series of games. A classroom that the mom derided as just one big playroom is the perfect setting for developing the ERB test skills. An academic preschool isn't going to help

 

If I'm paying almost 20k for preschool then I'm going to tour the school, ask about where last year's class went to kindergarten and check in frequently with the teacher to see where my child might have deficiencies. There is no way I would wait until February, and sue the school after I didn't get the kindy placement I wanted.

 

I Won't even dignify the complaint about being in a room with 2 and three year olds. The horrors! Back in my former life, DS attended a neighborhood Montessori preschool where the classroom ages ran from 2 1/2 to 5.

 

Christine W

 

eta: we're not trying to get DS into any fancy elementary program. DS' preschool administers the WSSPI to all 4-5 year old students to assess kindergarten readiness and as a benchmark for the school to see if its meeting its own goals. I didn't know he was being tested until he began describing the "games" he was playing with his teacher and I remembered them from my education training.

Thank you for posting Christine!

[LibraryLover]

That was interesting. I've read a lot of articles, but hadn't seen the actual people ... yes, may look for it on Netflix.

 

This is good for a laugh: "Greetings, Parents"

 

 

That's great. It even says on the form , No Refunds, and no guarantee to Harvard or Stanford. lol

[dangermom]

Yes, this is pretty much my experience as well, except my oldest is only coming up on 6. But I also always feel compelled to add in these sorts of discussions that it's not like there are all sorts of magically inexpensive, noncompetitive preschool options for not-crazy people. In the two neighborhoods I've lived in since having kids, if you want to send your kid to ANY preschool, of any kind, you have to (1) go through the whole application process a year in advance; and (2) expect to pay a staggering amount.

 

 

Wait, really? I always sort of assumed that there was a top tier of insane preschools, and then all the 'normal' preschools for regular people who didn't have $20K to spend or expectations about prep schools.

 

So what do ordinary New York people do? Do they just skip preschool, or is day care a different thing, or what? Do people ever just do a little co-op group with a few friends, like folks often do here?

[Heather in Neverland]

That was interesting. I've read a lot of articles, but hadn't seen the actual people ... yes, may look for it on Netflix.

 

This is good for a laugh: "Greetings, Parents"

 

THANK YOU. After yesterday's admissions issues at my school...I REALLY needed this laugh!

[kalanamak]

 

If she paid for a level of education that was not provided - I think her claim is legit.

 

 

:iagree: If you are led to believe that there will be a 5:1 ratio of children to teachers, and that the teachers will have 2+ years of training, etc. and you find that your child, and all the others, are plopped into one classroom with 2 minimum wage workers whose job it is to separate fighting children and clean up after they are gone, I, too, would want my money back. Just because I choose not to own an expensive poodle with a pricey doo, I believe a person claiming to be expert in poodle-doos to not merely have her cousin shave the thing.

 

Prices are high in NYC. Rents and wages (the only service job I ever had that paid over minimum wage was in NYC). I think that there is an element of shock and dismay to people who wouldn't think of having a child in that environment, but thousands do, it is perfectly legal, and they have a right to get what they were led to believe they were paying for.

 

Perhaps she didn't read the contract. Perhaps she should have checked up on how the place was operating. Perhaps she makes 250K a year and the nanny was dropping the child off. However, if the school is not providing the services promised, they are open to suit. "Elite" doesn't make them above bait and switch. I saw more corruption, lying, sneaking, bilking, etc, in my 10 years in NYC than I have the rest of my life combined.

[MyLittleWonders]

Here's another look at the situation. According to the link, she took her daughter out of the school after 3 weeks and then demanded her money back, knowing there was a no-refund policy. How she can determine after three weeks that the school has failed to prepare her four year old for an Ivy League school is beyond my comprehension.

 

Oh, and thank you to whomever mentioned Nursery University - I stayed up until 1am watching last night. I could not stop! I told dh it was a whole different world, and one that I could not understand at all. Though, I have to say I was very impressed with the director of First Friends School as it was a full-inclusion preschool, and I also really liked the director of Mandell School. She seemed very down-to-earth, in contrast to some of the parents.

[nmoira]

Oh, and thank you to whomever mentioned Nursery University - I stayed up until 1am watching last night. I could not stop!

:lol: I was up almost as late.

[kchara]

Here's another look at the situation.

 

Oh, and thank you to whomever mentioned Nursery University - I stayed up until 1am watching last night. I could not stop! I told dh it was a whole different world, and one that I could not understand at all. Though, I have to say I was very impressed with the director of First Friends School as it was a full-inclusion preschool, and I also really liked the director of Mandell School. She seemed very down-to-earth, in contrast to some of the parents.

 

:lol::lol:Me too!!!