The assistant principle asked whether I would talk to a prospective parent.

I told her that I would be delighted.

Within a day, the parent called but I barely got a word in. She really just wanted to talk about her children's most recent school, in the City.

I don't think that she dropped the name but even if she had, I'm too ignorant of City schools to be impressed.

Don't they all run about the same - $30,000 / year - starting in Kindergarten¹?

Does she think she'll find something comparable in New Jersey for a third of the cost?

I almost steered her towards Princeton or Tinton Falls, for her own sake.

I almost said, "Sincerely, we'd love to have you. But if you are looking at your kids' school as some kind of a status symbol for yourself, uh, you're looking in the wrong place."

There's just no contest between a central Jersey elementary and middle school and an East Side school.

This late in the summer, her mind is already made up for the fall. Yet, she is mourning the loss of that prestigious East Side school. Speaking well of the school with others eases her grief.

¹ "Tuition Hits $26,000, and in Private School New York, That's Just for Kindergarten" - NYT, 3/10/04.