The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.

The battle for the prestigious school: parents in New York are ready for anything

'15.01.2018'

Source: 7ya.ru

For parents whose children are going to the first grade in the next academic year, a difficult time comes long before the start of school - it is necessary not only to decide on a place, but also to “enter” the child there. Two immigrant mothers, the authors of the book, talk about how New York parents storm prestigious schools and what crimes they are ready to commit for the education of their children "Chicks in New York".

Фото: Depositphotos

Kindergarten for the elite, he is also a private school for kids

(In America, people go to study with 5 years - therefore, both the garden and the school are discussed)

If in our day Charlemagne (among other things, the patron of educational institutions) lived in New York, he would have been a multimillionaire. And although each family confesses his cult in secret, he does not use any particular veneration, since they treat him with some distrust and bias. And that's why.

One day in March, in the afternoon, two mothers watched their tomboys playing on the playground of Central Park in New York. This is one of the few places in the city where you can meet and talk heart to heart. Without taking her eyes off her baby, one of them spoke:

“Imagine this is terrible, this morning we received a thin envelope.” Trevor can never go to Harvard.

- Yes, indeed, it is terrible.

- But why?! “The mother of the failed Harvard student has given the face the appropriate expression.

Trevor himself is not worried about this and, as a healthy and normal child, runs from the slide to the swing. In short, no matter how hard his mother suffered, it was indifferent to him.

As soon as we heard this, we were immediately bewildered. What augury bears this thin envelope (the thin envelope)? After a small investigation, we finally understood why Trevor’s mother was convinced that her two-year-old offspring with blond curls would have no chance to enter one of the country's best universities. New York is a city of rituals. And one of the most sacred for New York families falls on the first Tuesday after Labor Day (Labor Day, which is celebrated on the first Monday of September).

The New York mother is a very attentive mother, pinning all her hopes on the future of posterity. After the fun and entertainment, the family (part of it) spent the whole summer in the Hamptons, from as early as half past seven in the morning excited mothers rush to the telephones to call private schools and get a blank for joining.

The chance to offer their candidature will appear in the one that will be more agile than the others and will dial the number faster. As a rule, it is useless to call after noon: all forms have already been sent. This is followed by a formal visit to the school, during which the director of the recruitment of children finds out whether the parents correspond to the general spirit of the institution.

And followed by the famous interview. I must say that the first interview in New York is taking place while the applicants are still wearing diapers. And since two years it is mandatory for admission to a private school.

How much excitement and anxiety parents have to go through before the interview! On this day, mothers say “yes” to all the requests and demands of their babies. "You want a corner store eclair (a thousand calories of fat and a ton of sugar) - yes, my love." "You want to take a bath with your teddy bear - well, of course, my dear." You need to make every effort so that the child does not get nervous, does not come into an irritated state and does not get hysterical, which is what parents fear most of all. Some mothers even give their kids Ritalin on this big day!

When you arrive at the school, the parents will already be crowded in the admissions office, whose children are also waiting for an interview. Charlotte Gould, whose daughter by the name of India has just entered a private pre-school institution, recalls:

“The pressure of the parents has reached such an extent that some grumbled at their children, although they almost cried. I tried to speak, but no one even opened his mouth.

In the first week of March, answers begin to arrive. Each family is anxiously awaiting the receipt of documents for enrollment - this is a thick dossier consisting of at least fifteen sheets - and tremble with horror at the thought that the mailbox will have the famous thin envelope in which a typical letter with refusal is attached.

If in France we all dream that our children graduate from a prestigious school, in New York, parents sleep and see their child enroll in a prestigious pre-school institution.

Preschool institutions: highly paid admission counselors and parents who are ready for anything

List of preschool institutions included in the rating Baby ivy league (the children's Ivy League), as it is called here, is published every year in the press. These institutions are proud to each other of the success of their pupils who have the highest percentage of admission to the real "Ivy League" (Princeton, Yale University, Harvard, Brown and Columbia Universities, Cornell University, Dartmouth College and University of Pennsylvania).

But the dream has its price: from 15 to 28 thousand dollars a year. Place in kindergarten refers to the little that can not be bought for money and even for big money, although their presence has not prevented anyone. I remember the scandal that erupted in December 2002 year. The famous financial analyst Jack Grubman was to produce and publish a report as favorable as possible in exchange for the protection of Sandy Weil, the head of Citibankwho promised him a place at the legendary school on the Upper East Side. In this case, two places, because the unfortunate Grubman (albeit a very rich one) - Father twins, which would facilitate his wallet on 30 thousands of dollars a year. Truly, the price doesn't matter when you have a pair of charming boys!

The marathon gained such momentum that some agencies offer help and support to parents in this difficult test. Amanda Uhri, Founder Manhattan Private School Advisors, does not hide his intentions. A small ad celebrating the agency's virtues reads: “A private school is a fourteen-year marriage that will cost you $ 300 if your child is accepted there. You need us! ”. And on her website on the Internet, she even wrote: "If you do not use our services, be sure that your rivals will not fail to do so."

Roxana Reid from Smart City Kids more attractive approach. She is next to you at every stage of this long distance race. She helps to fill in forms for joining, to prepare for the first visit to school, for an interview ...

“Sometimes I even go shopping with them to help me choose the right clothes for the occasion.” My role is to maximize the potential of the family so that the enrollment of the baby is not in jeopardy.

But if she brings a little common sense to this madness that has enveloped her parents, her services remain expensive: 2500 dollars for a child’s enrollment in a preschool institution. And one of the readers said The New York Times after an article about this new type of service appeared on the newspaper:

- The great thing is that people who have the opportunity to pay 300 thousands of dollars for the education of their own child are not so sure of themselves that they hire a consultant who explains such simple things to them as the ability to dress appropriately or follow basic decencies: turning off the mobile phone during the interview, sending a letter of thanks, etc.

You ask what the difference is between a $ 5000 school per year and a $ 12 school 000 per year. The answer is simple: for five thousand your cherub will be engaged in modeling, coloring and drawing up collages, and for twelve will devote himself without a trace - guess what? - modeling, coloring and composing collages (while his day in school can be reduced by half).

What caused such rampant inflation, affecting the molding? A place in a prestigious university, as well as the fact that your child will not have the opportunity to discover the makings of a cook or a locksmith. But the main thing is that, as long as your baby enumerates the letters of the alphabet, you, dear parents, can boast that Woody Allen, Michael D. Fox and Calvin Klein were present at the parent meeting with you.

And finally, the last. One of our friends, a Frenchwoman, asked why not give the children to the state kindergarten? Yes, simply because in a city where nothing is impossible, in which there is everything, they simply do not exist.

Фото: Depositphotos

Adding a child to school: what to wear for an interview with the director

- My name is Nancy. My son Dylan is nine months old and I would like to enroll him in school.

The twelve pairs of parents present here have the same goal, and that is why they came here from the most prestigious and richest areas of Manhattan: Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Tribeca. The same question turns on their tongues, the same sadness gnaws at their heart.

Will Dylan, Henry, Lee and others go to school? Nine months is exactly the age when it is time to ask yourself this question, although some believe that they are already late.

Anxious moms and dads come for consolation (of course, not free) to Victoria Goldman and Roxana Reid, two presenters of a seminar called Getting in. They propose mastering a set of methods and techniques for conducting a struggle for survival, which, since they were addressed, must end in enrollment in school. For 195 dollars, these lovely women will help to clear the field where parents are sneaking in, afraid to stumble. They will make them almost memorize possible answers to the director's questions, explain how to fill out forms for admission and formulate phrases not according to a template, but so that they can feel individuality and intelligence.

- Give more examples: "When I knead the dough, he loves to help me." Or: "When we come to a museum, he is interested in many things."

And so much the worse for you if the baking of the cake ends with walls smeared with flour and dough, and among the caretakers of the museum conversations about your visit will not subside for a long time.

The strategy and tactics of combat are widely discussed. Like two Napoleon in skirts preparing their own Austerlitz, Roxana and Victoria set about deploying troops:

“If you want to go to school on the Upper East Side, submit documents to at least eight, or better, to twelve schools.” Next tuesday after Labor Day hire at least four people to call schools. Begin at exactly half past seven. And let the best school go to those who are faster than others who can press the re-dial key.

When parents realize that all this must be taken seriously, their eyebrows move with displeasure, and concern appears on their faces. Those present at the seminar, as if on cue, are hunched, their cheeks take on a greenish tint, and they take it with even more zeal to write down everything that the presenters are talking about.

One of the fathers, it seems, on the verge of despair, decided to ask:

“But how do schools differentiate children?” Look at us, we all seem to be the same. How are schools selected?

Demonstrating complete understanding and sympathy, choosing words to offend no one, Roxana replies:

- You are all different, and schools are guided by certain criteria, they want the children to be from their own quarter. They raise future leaders for the city, leaders. But protection plays a big role.

In a fit of desperate courage, one of the mothers does not stand up:

- But in the end, it's crazy! Indeed, in any case, our children will go to school, even if nothing is done.

Ten pairs of eyes stared at her in horror. With an even more understanding look, Victoria appeals to the harsh reality.

- For two thousand parents who will do everything that is needed, there will be five hundred empty seats. And you can give your daughter to a public school. She will receive a bad education and will not go to a prestigious university. And therefore, do not get a good job. But I think, since you came here, it’s because you want a better fate for her, am I not right?

The rebel with black hair and bright red lips all shrunk, decreasing in height by five centimeters. She sat down in her seat, and her face became as pale as the rest.

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