Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC Prep Schools Want Their Students Diverse As Well As Rich
By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 12, 2011
Modified Aug 12, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 12, 2011
Modified Aug 12, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Despite the impression you may have gotten from Bravo's late "reality" show NYC Prep (has it really been two years?) the world of high end private education in New York is not all rich and white. In fact, a number of New York private schools are working quite hard to try and assure that their student bodies are increasingly diverse...and rich. Take the posh Dalton School, for instance, which happily crows to the Journal today that nearly half of its incoming kindergarten class will be students of color. Which, naturally, has given anxious parents one more thing to worry about when playing the admissions game. Is little Holden ethnic enough?
The change at Dalton (annual tuition, $36,970) has been relatively swift, though the school says the number of students receiving financial aid has remained the same. In 1995, the year before current admissions director Elisabeth "Babby" Krents assumed her position, the kindergarten class was 6 percent diverse. This year the 97-student class will be 47 percent diverse. And Dalton isn't alone. The prestigious all-girls school Brearley says its incoming kindergarten class will be 45 percent diverse.
Along with the move to a more diverse student body the school has had to rethink everything from its before and after school programs (its students now come from a much wider geographical area) to its hallway decorations and school supplies ("The pink flesh-colored crayons have been exchanged for multicultural hues; students can choose from a range of materials to mimic hair textures."). It has also given anxious wealthy white parents another thing to worry about. But, Babby says, that that was inevitable. "You just look for something to blame for why my child didn't get in," she said.
And anyway, the news is good press for the school after a period in which it saw one of its students commit very public suicide and was accused of letting a Supreme Court Justice mess with their student newspaper.
Tagged
dalton school
manhattan
private schools
rich kids
upper east side
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man found dead, police say, and injured woman is his mother, neighbors say
Police are investigating a related incident in which a 62-year-old woman was found injured beneath the Van Wyck Expressway.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 7:39 p.m. ET
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
News
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .