Did you hear the one about the New York mom who sued the preschool for not preparing her kid for the Ivy League?

Sadly, folks, this isn't a joke.

There is, for reals, a mom (the plaintiff, Nicole Imprescia of
Manhattan) and a school (the defendant, York Avenue Preschool) and a
lawsuit (plaintiff suing defendant for a refund of the $19,000/year tuition she paid).

The New York Daily News first reported about Imprescia's beef. She
claims the school jeopardized her 4-year-old daughter Lucia's chances
of getting into an elite private school (by not preparing her for the
admissions exam you have to take to get into top notch/top dollar
elementary schools in the city) and, therefore – wait for it, wait for
it – ruined her chances of being a future Ivy Leaguer.

The lawsuit claims that the school put Imprescia's "very smart"
4-year-old in a class with kids half her age – a class where the focus
was on shapes and colors. (The York School's website says 4-year-olds
work "with one alphabet letter each week creating connections between
the letter, the sound and the children's lives." Students are also
"introduced to the works of artists represented in the many museums
found within New York City.")

"The school proved not to be a school at all, but just one big playroom," the lawsuit says.
Again, this isn't a joke, but if it were, maybe this would be the punch
line: Imprescia pulled her daughter out of the school after just three
weeks – which means the child maybe got to the letter "C." But the
school, which has a firm no-refund policy, wouldn't give her money
back. (Nanny, nanny boo-boo.)

Where to start with this story: Paying $19,000 for a preschool? Saying
the school sucks after just three weeks? Filing a lawsuit because you
think your 4-year-old won't get into Harvard? We took to the
blogosphere to find out what bothers people the most.

In the Jewish parenting blog Kveller.com, Jordana Horn writes about what the $19K preschool price tag is really about:


It’s more about the
connections – you’re buying into the system early with the idea, as
this woman has somewhat indelicately put it, of buying a ticket for the
wild ride of Manhattan competitive education. You fight to get into a
preschool, then an elementary school, then high school, and then the
golden ticket of the decal for the back of the car that costs $19K to
put in the garage all year. Fun!



Jen Doll, in the Village Voice's Pity the Parent blog, says:


But this kind of thing has
been going on forever, as long as pushy parents and pageant moms have
existed, which is to say, always. Imprescia is only of interest,
really, due to her gall in announcing to the world her high-minded
expectations for her child, and then actually suing for her money back
based on the premise that those expectations could have been destroyed
in a mere three week's time.



And we love how Babble's Strollerderby blog tucks the story into bed. Writes Meredith Carroll:


Here’s hoping mademoiselle
Lucia (and her mom) recovers from the trauma of preschool and goes on
to bigger and better schools. Or at least marries well.



What do you think is the most bizarre part of this story? Is little Lucia's mom justified in bringing the lawsuit?