Manhattan mother sues elite pre-school amid claims it has damaged child's Ivy League chances



A Manhattan mother is suing her four-year-old daughter's preschool amid claims it deprived the child of the edge needed to get into an elite elementary.

Nicole Imprescia, said she paid $19,000 in annual tuition fees to York Avenue Preschool and now wants it back, according to the lawsuit filed last week.



Her daughter, Lucia, was two when she was first enrolled in the elite Upper East Side neighbourhood school.

Claims: Nicole Imprescia, said she paid $19,000 in annual tuition fees to York Avenue Preschool (pictured) and now wants it back, according to the lawsuit

Imprescia said she had been caught up in New York City's 'insanely competitive' nursery school scene and had been hooked by the school's promise it would help Lucia on her E.R.B - a standardised test used for admission to the city's most competitive public and private kindergartens.

But instead of prepping Lucia to pass the test by the time she was four, York Avenue 'dumped' her with children as young as two who were learning about shapes and colours, the lawsuit said.

'Indeed, the school proved not to be a school at all, but just one big playroom,' said the lawsuit, which claims Imprescia was deceived and defrauded.

Hope: Imprescia said she had been caught up in New York City's 'insanely competitive' nursery school scene and had been hooked by the school's promise it would help her daughter on her E.R.B test (stock picture)

A toddler who takes the wrong first step could ultimately trip up his or her chances for acceptance into an Ivy League college and for earning a higher income, it said.

'There is tremendous pressure to choose the right preschool,' it said.

The lawsuit was filed in the weeks after many elite elementary schools send out their acceptances and rejections.

An attorney for Imprescia said the child was pulled out of the pre-school in October 2010, close to the start of the school year and, therefore, the full tuition should be returned.

'It's a case of theft. They promised certain things but it turned out to be another thing,' Mathew Paulose, Jr, said.



An attorney for York Avenue Preschool was contacted but was not immediately available for comment.

The 'insanely competitive' schooling scene explained



In 1987 film Baby Boom, about a New York business woman who inherits a baby, Diane Keaton's character looks agog as other mothers discuss their toddlers schooling issues during a trip to the local sandpit.



One has just been told her child failed to get into the elite Dalton school in Manhattan, while another proudly pats her bump and declares she has already signed her unborn child up.

The battle to get children into a good preschool has been raging for years. Children barely out of nappies cram for IQ tests, while parents spend thousands of dollars on top consultants to weed out any bad habits - nose picking certainly won't do.

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Stress: In 80s film Baby Boom, Diane Keaton's character witnesses the type of frenzy Manhattan mothers can whip themselves into over school places

In 2009 an average 15 to 20 sets of parents were competing for each available place. Signing up years in advance is essential and usually just getting an interview is exceptionally difficult.

Director at The Mandell School, on Manhattan's upper West Side, Gabriella Rowe, told the New York Daily News the often hilarious lengths parents will go to to secure a place for their little darling.

One mother once approached her stark-naked in the shower at the gym while another had a limo driver deliver an application in a leather wallet embossed with an embassy crest.

'They look to the tools which they might use in business, forgetting that we're dealing with the wonderful, natural qualities of children,' said Rowe.



