COVID disrupted Dalton’s admissions procedures, bringing the process from in-person to Zoom. Like almost all other NYC schools, Dalton interviewed students and parents remotely during the last two years. Many families were disappointed they couldn’t get a true sense of the school except through a computer screen.
In 2022-2023, Dalton is leading the return to an in-person process with its recently announced in-person child and parent interview for kindergarten admission. They haven’t announced yet the process for middle and high school–many guess that remote and in-person elements will be merged.
The T&E test, developed during the pandemic for Zoom child assessment, has disappeared from Dalton’s site.
Other NYC private schools are starting to announce their admissions revisions for this fall. Packer, for example, currently plans in-person kindergarten interviews for children and Zoom interviews for parents.
Schools are clearly trying to balance Zoom’s convenience with the greater difficulty of assessing applicants, especially young children, through the screen.