Preschool to the Ivy League

There are some crazy moms in Manhattan, wouldn’t you say?

There is an article in today’s suing the preschool her daughter attended, the ultimate source of information that is neither interesting nor noteworthy, that focuses on a Manhattan mom who is suing the preschool her daughter attended for hurting her 4 year-old’s chances of admission to an Ivy League school because they didn’t prepare her darling child for the ERBs (the SATs for kindergarten admission). Imagine that! The suit, brought by the mother Nicole Imprescia, claims, “At age four, [York Avenue Preschool] was still teaching [Imprescia’s] daughter about shapes and colors – a two year old’s learning environment…Like many parents living in Manhattan, [Imprescia] places a priority on her child’s preschool education.” Writes Jose Martinez of the NY Daily News in his piece entitled “Manhattan mom sues $19K/yr. preschool for damaging 4-year-old daughter’s Ivy League chances,” “The suit quotes from an article that identifies elite preschools as the first step for getting children into the best elementary and high schools ‘and on to the Ivy League.'”

The mother apparently not only wants her $19,000 per year tuition refunded by York Avenue Preschool but she hopes that the suit becomes a class-action one so that other toddlers who are later denied admission to elite colleges like the Ivy League institutions can pinpoint where it all went so terribly wrong. As Martinez writes, not being “properly prepped for the standardized test that can mean the difference between Dalton and — gasp! — public school.” Oh how we love that NY Daily News humor! It always goes perfectly with morning coffee and a butter croissant.

In any case, Steve Nelson, Head of the Calhoun School in Manhattan, had the following to share on the news: “Nicole Imprescia’s daughter probably won’t apply to Calhoun for kindergarten, but we wouldn’t take her anyway. It’s not because of the lawsuit. We’re just not interested in families who think prepping for standardized tests is a good way to raise a child.” Who is he kidding — of course it’s about the lawsuit! The lawsuit that’s about to follow Imprescia’s daughter throughout her elementary, middle, and high school years…and maybe even to the attention of Ivy League admissions officers years down the road. So who exactly torpedoed her child’s chances of admission to Ivy League universities? York Avenue Preschool or Ms. Imprescia herself?