Reply to What is the most elite NYC preschool?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can anyone provide insight on pre-school exmissions for City and Country, Dwight, and IPS? I know the locations are all different and I assume they would place differently as well given their educational style differences. How do they rank and how did former families find the schools for their children?[/quote]

I think most families stay at City and Country and Dwight for kindergarten— ongoing schools like this aren’t known as being particularly helpful in finding you a spot in another school if you could stay in their school. If you want to apply more broadly for kindergarten I’d go to a standalone preschool like IPS.[/quote]

Thank you for that info. How does one go about the application process for kindergarten if you wanted to apply out to the Hill Schools + Trinity + Dalton? How well regarded are City and Country, Dwight, and IPS?
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You'd have to tell City and Country and Dwight in the early fall that you are applying out for kindergarten and ask them to fill out your ISAAGNY paperwork. You will likely not get feedback about how the process is going from the schools you're applying to, nor will C&C or Dwight schools really advocate for you at the schools you're applying to. They are expecting you to stay at their school long term and have incentive (read: tuition) to keep you. You're basically telling them they're not good enough or not fulfilling your child/family's needs. The schools you listed are some of the hardest to gain entry to (HM, Trinity, Dalton and Riverdale all likely have 5-10% acceptance rates), so if that is your entire kindergarten list, you must consider the odds of entrance and weigh that against sullying your relationship with C&C/Dwight if you don't get in and must go to kindergarten at one of those schools. It is a gamble I wouldn't have the stomach for and I would choose IPS and apply to kindergarten from there-- a school where your director will give you feedback about the kindergarten process *and* advocate for your placement in kindergarten because there is no option to stay at IPS. All that said, applying to those 5 schools and those 5 schools only for kindergarten is kind of crazy unless you have a solid backup plan for kindergarten. A school like Trinity will have about 20 spots and 600+ applications. The numbers are bad at every school you listed.

How well regarded are C&C and Dwight? Depends on what you're looking for in a school. But they are wildly different in terms of pedagogy, community, and academics compared to the other schools on your list. I cannot image a family who would be happy at C&C also being happy at Horace Mann. It is apples to oranges.[/quote]

Thank you for the transparent feedback. Can you speak more about C&C exmissions? Why do you think a C&C kid would not be happy at HM? We have been told C&C places quite well and is well regarded amongst some of the best preschools and k-8. When we toured a few months back it did seem pretty "hippy dippy" which is not a tangible metric. Any insight would be appreciated! [/quote]

I’ve been and been paying attention to NYC schools for a long time. I’ve never heard it compared to feeder preschools, likely because many who start there for preschool stay for k-8. And it never comes up as one of the heavy-hitting academic k-8 schools. I’m uptown, so part of it might be that. But I have many friends downtown— at Beginnings, Washington Market, Barrow St, First Pres and Chelsea Day— along with Grace, Friends, and Avenues.

Maybe it’s my circle, but my kids are at one of the TTs you mentioned applying to for kindergarten and there are no children that I’m aware of that came in for kindergarten from C&C (kids have come from IPS). From my understanding it is a school with a specific pedagogy that you really have to believe in. Our friend there talked about blocks for years in the early years of lower school. We just wanted a more traditional approach and I never really got it. That said her kid and family were happy and no school is one size fits all. I’d just never commit to a preschool at an ongoing school if I already knew I was going to apply out for kindergarten. If you love the model and envision staying through 8th, go for it. Just my two cents.[/quote]

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