Still haunted by the old HM abuse stories…

[Anonymous]

With my child now 2, I’m delving into the world of admissions and vigorously reading through all of the boards, threads, & groups related to private school admissions in NYC.

One thing that strikes me as odd is how much fanfare HM gets as a TT school. I’ve lived in NYC long enough to remember the horrific stories of abuse & subsequent litigation that plagued the school maybe like 10ish years ago. I am familiar with the school’s academic rigor, but what kind of culture breads such pervasive abuse? Does the passing of time heal all wounds?

I guess I’m wondering, for parents who are aware of the history, what gives you peace about applying now?

[Anonymous]

It's hardly just an HM problem, Dalton literally employed Jeffrey Epstein as a math teacher (though I understand he wasn't very good at it and was about to be fired before he quit, and I haven't heard anything to suggest he was actively pedophile'ing yet while there). And the stories broke 10 years ago, but IIRC the abuse was mostly between the '60s and '90s which were very different times.

No school is completely safe from such things, but I see no reason to be *uniquely* worried about HM this many decades later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's hardly just an HM problem, Dalton literally employed Jeffrey Epstein as a math teacher (though I understand he wasn't very good at it and was about to be fired before he quit, and I haven't heard anything to suggest he was actively pedophile'ing yet while there). And the stories broke 10 years ago, but IIRC the abuse was mostly between the '60s and '90s which were very different times.

No school is completely safe from such things, but I see no reason to be *uniquely* worried about HM this many decades later.

+1

[Anonymous]

I'd be more worried at a religious church.

And yes the Dalton thing is very horrifying.

[Anonymous]

I would look at current culture at schools and maybe the last twenty years. The only school that this is a problem for me is St. Ann’s since they’ve had problems recently. I don’t care if they’ve have a great matriculation list, it seems like their administration has poor judgement.

[Anonymous]

My DS is about to graduate and has had a great experience there.

[Anonymous]

Dalton just had a teacher sex scandal one or two years ago https://nypost.com/2024/05/26/us-news/nyc-teacher-at-posh-dalton-school-resigns-amid-accusations-by-former-student-of-sex-abuse/

[Anonymous]

There are other similar lawsuits against other schools, like Trinity, but it was not well known or publicized. Wasn’t there a scandal at Riverdale or Fieldston with a coach a year ago or so? Dalton had a teacher incident in 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would look at current culture at schools and maybe the last twenty years. The only school that this is a problem for me is St. Ann’s since they’ve had problems recently. I don’t care if they’ve have a great matriculation list, it seems like their administration has poor judgement.

I agree. The St Ann’s situation was really bad and was at least somewhat a result of them constantly virtue signaling their obsessive wokeness (I say this as a Democrat who normally hates words like “woke” but they are truly out of control).

The fact that they seem to have emerged from this largely unscathed is shocking and shows how desperate parents are to send their kids to the right schools.

[Anonymous]

HM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HM?

Horace Mann School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's hardly just an HM problem, Dalton literally employed Jeffrey Epstein as a math teacher (though I understand he wasn't very good at it and was about to be fired before he quit, and I haven't heard anything to suggest he was actively pedophile'ing yet while there). And the stories broke 10 years ago, but IIRC the abuse was mostly between the '60s and '90s which were very different times.

No school is completely safe from such things, but I see no reason to be *uniquely* worried about HM this many decades later.

True! The actual crime took place decades ago but the skeptic in me just thinks that means abuse isn’t reported/handled in real-time. I’m trying really hard not to be one of those parents spooked by every single thing, but idk that story was uniquely jarring to me given the scale of abuse.

[Anonymous]

Can any current HM parents speak to faculty turnover? Are there any hangover teachers from that era (90s) still there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With my child now 2, I’m delving into the world of admissions and vigorously reading through all of the boards, threads, & groups related to private school admissions in NYC.

One thing that strikes me as odd is how much fanfare HM gets as a TT school. I’ve lived in NYC long enough to remember the horrific stories of abuse & subsequent litigation that plagued the school maybe like 10ish years ago. I am familiar with the school’s academic rigor, but what kind of culture breads such pervasive abuse? Does the passing of time heal all wounds?

I guess I’m wondering, for parents who are aware of the history, what gives you peace about applying now?

It’s probably the equivalent to asking a catholic why they are still catholic given the amount of abuse the church hid. Some people just religiously believe in the brand of HM