Posted on 03/13/2026 4:06:48 PM PDT by Libloather
New Yorkers who are used to getting what they want are languishing on private school waitlists or having to make due with their bottom choice kindergartens and preschools — and they’re not happy about it.
A pandemic-era baby bump coupled with concerns about public schools made for a boom in applications for the limited number of slots at private kindergartens and preschools. When decision letters went out last month it was, according to some, a bloodbath.
Moms are “losing their minds,” right now, education consultant Sharon Decker told The Post.
Another admissions consultant, Alina Adams, notes that so-called “top tier” schools — or TTs, such as Dalton, Spence, Trinity and Brearley — have always been challenging to get into. They might field as many as 1,000 applicants for 50 seats, many of which are already taken up by the children of faculty, legacies or siblings of older students.
But this year, popular schools just outside of that elite realm — such as Ethical Culture, Avenues, Trevor Day and Brooklyn Friends — also turned away people in droves.
In years past, Adams estimates that 80 to 90% of her clients who can afford to pay full tuition — now upwards of $70,000 at many schools — would get into such institutions. This year, she said, it’s more like 50%. “I’m definitely seeing waitlists at schools that in the past a family would be a shoe-in.”
The Moms of the Upper East Side (MUES) Facebook group has been filled with woeful posts.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Exactly, if you don’t make the cut in kindergarten you can kiss the Ivies goodbye and all the right social interactions going forward.
Hey parents, the wife and I have a suggestion for you!! HOMESCHOOL!!! Yes, I guess if you did, you couldn’t afford the 200 square foot house on the 17th floor of a building, which is what kids shouldn’t be in but in a suburban area with grass and dirt. (Sorry, grass is that green things found in parks and dirt is the brown stuff that grass grows from).
Oops...I guess we are over the limit...4 kids on the planet...twins in the womb...Am I rich? Yes...being a dad. Wife and I have the same vAlues being a great mom and dad...
Did she identify as a lesbian in Kindergarten? Flunking out over kissing a girl? Your school must have been TOUGH...🤣
Don't blame them. They may be elitist. But they're not stupid.
They know how important it is to be in the "right" environment and they're right.
You have all the connections, you have it made.
If we had a chance to start over, we'll follow in their footsteps. I mean, that is sort of what Donald Trump did.
A fool and his money...
That's a ridiculous price for kindergarten.
They could always homeschool.
We did and they got a great education at a fraction of the cost.
But then again, I'm not into caring what other people think of me or my kid's "credentials".
Where did you live? Walton’s mountain?😁
You got your accounting background at Ike Godfrey’s country store😂 did you major in cow tipping and hay bailing😂 goodnight John boy, good night Mary Ellen 🤣
Wait right there, rich leftist scum, I’m sending both the Sad Trombone™ and World’s Smallest Violin™ orchestras to comfort you in your time of duress.
Guess you missed the "Do not use all caps when posting class" in college.
The article notes the real cause of this isn’t a baby boom, it’s government. The governor implements a class size maximum so the “good” schools can’t have as many kids. The mayor wants to cut talented and gifted classes, so more families opting for private schools. A lot of the “newbie” families competing with those have used private schools for longer. The increase in demand for these schools isn’t from more kids, it’s from NYC public schools getting even worse. The title is just click bait.
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