Kindergarten Admission

Kindergarten admission is a rat race in Manhattan and Elisabeth Krents of Dalton is queen bee!

Kindergarten admission. That’s not a typo! There’s a very amusing article out today in “The New York Times” about Elisabeth Krents (aka “Babby” Krents). If you don’t know who Elisabeth Krents is, it means you probably don’t live in Manhattan with a toddler. Because if you do live in Manhattan with a toddler, Elisabeth Krents is practically Santa Claus. The head of admission for the Dalton School, Krents holds quite a bit of power on the island of Manhattan. Some joke that you can even write “Babby, UES” on an envelope and the post office will know where to deliver the mail. She’s that powerful!

We think this is absolutely ridiculous but it is quite humorous to say the least. In the article on kindergarten admission by Jenny Anderson, the joke is that parents wonder whether to call her Elisabeth or Babby…if Babby is too informal. Others wonder whether they should write Dr. Krents or Elisabeth Krents, Ph.D on the envelope. She is, after all, the queen bee of private school admissions czars in Manhattan.

The article goes on to mention how many alumni of Dalton are upset with their alma mater because, according to them, the school isn’t treating its legacy candidates right. Instead, they’re reaching out to a broader cross-section of Manhattan in order to create a more diverse student body. No longer is the Dalton School limited to the wealthy sons and daughters of the wealthy sons and daughters of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Dalton, after all, wants its graduates to get into highly selective colleges and the school knows that highly selective colleges yearn for diverse student bodies as well. Elisabeth Krents – we’ll call her Babs for short – feels for the alumni parents and wishes there wouldn’t be so much stress associated with the kindergarten admissions process. Uh huh. Yeah right. She eats it up. And then she takes a second helping.

Check out this post on Manhattan Kindergarten Prep.