By Janon Fisher
Special to DNAinfo
MANHATTAN — An Upper East Side mom sued York Avenue Preschool last week, claiming the pricy prep failed to prepare her 4-year-old daughter for the highly-competitive world of Manhattan kindergarten.
Nicole Imprescia says she was sold a bill of goods for the $19,000 a year school when she was told it could help her daughter with the entrance test to some of the city's top kindergarten programs.
The school touts itself on its website as a feeder for Dalton, Chapin, Spence and other top schools. But according to the lawsuit, instead of test prep, the Imprescia's daughter was "dumped with 2 year olds" during her "most important year for a pre-schooler" and taught about shapes and colors.
"Indeed, the school proved not to be a school at all, but just one big playroom," Imprescia charges in court papers. She is seeking class action status for the suit.
The mom also hints that this set back in her daughter’s education has derailed chances of getting into an Ivy League school down the road.
"It’s no secret that for many Manhattan parents, getting a child into the Ivy League starts in nursery school," the suit states, citing a New York Times article.
York Avenue Preschool told Imprescia that they would "prepare her daughter for the ERB, the exam required for admission into nearly all the elite private elementary schools," the suit said.
Imprescia's daughter spent less than a month at the school before her mother yanked her and sent her to Catholic school, her lawyer said.
Imprescia claims that school administrators acknowledged they they were not preparing her for the entrance test, but still refused to refund her $19,000 tuition payment.
"Nicole is not one of these crazy Manhattan moms," said her lawyer, Mathew Palouse. "She just wants what’s best for her daughter. They were not living up to what was promised."
The 4-year-old’s education is still on track, said Paulouse. "She's going to get into an Ivy League school not withstanding what has happened here."
York Avenue Preschool and their lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
