How safe is the school, really?
Based on the school’s own page and press coverage, Dalton describes a Health & Wellness team of counselors, psychologists, health educators and nurses, and publishes no safety or emergency plan that we could find; the two public matters we found are a 2018 federal lawsuit by a former student against a former headmaster and the school, over events alleged in 1986, and a May 2024 report that a high school English teacher resigned after allegations covering 2020 to 2022, and neither has a reported ruling or charge.
| Signal | What is reported | Who reports it |
|---|---|---|
| Health & Wellness team | Counselors, psychologists, health educators and nurses; one psychologist in the First Program and two clinicians each in the Middle and High Schools; nurses at both campuses | The school’s Health & Wellness page |
| Safety or emergency plan | None published on the pages we read; the contact page lists a Building Services/Security line, (212) 423-5521 | The school’s pages |
| 2018 federal lawsuit | A former student sued a former headmaster, who led the school until 1997, and the school in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, alleging abuse in fall 1986; he denied the allegations, and the school said it learned of the suit that day and takes “these issues very seriously”; no ruling, settlement or further court action was reported | Associated Press, 7 June 2018 |
| May 2024 resignation | A high school English teacher resigned on 6 May 2024 after allegations made on 2 May of misconduct between 2020 and 2022; the school said it “consulted with legal counsel and filed a report with law enforcement”; no charge or finding was reported | East Side Feed, 28 May 2024, quoting a school email |
| Crime statistics, incident or discipline data | None found | — |
Both items are allegations reported in the press, not findings, and the 2018 suit concerns events alleged to have occurred forty years ago; neither says how safe the school is today. We looked for later developments in both and found none, which does not show there were none. The Health & Wellness page states no emergency or safeguarding policy, so ask the school for it; the main switchboard, (212) 423-5200, is the reliable check.
What's the true total cost, including fees — and how has it moved over the last few years?
Tuition for 2026–27 is $70,800, one figure that the school says includes lunch, books and supplies, a personal device, class field trips, instrument rental and more; Parents’ Association dues of $100 per family are not included, and the school shows no earlier year, so how the tuition has moved is not shown.
| Item | Amount or term | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition, 2026–27 | $70,800 | Covers lunch (K–12) and snacks (K–5), books and supplies, iPads (K–5) or MacBooks (6–12), class and grade-level trips, instrument rental (3–12), athletics uniforms and game transport (7–12), yearbooks, selected Global Online Academy classes (9–12) and senior events |
| Parents’ Association dues | $100 per family | Not included in tuition or financial aid |
| Not in tuition | After-school programming, summer camp, club and academic-team tournament travel, Dalton Global Initiatives travel, athletic footwear | Aid recipients receive assistance for these at the same percentage as their aid award |
| Application | $75 fee; ISEE or SSAT testing $140 to $200 | Fee waivers available for eligible families |
| Financial aid | About 21% of students; more than $15 million of need-based aid | All aid is need-based and in the form of grants; the school “commits to meeting 100% of financial need”; deadlines 1 December 2026 (new) and 1 November 2026 (renewal) |
| Tuition trend | Not shown by the school | A secondary source reports $67,480 for 2025–26 and $64,300 for 2024–25 |
The Apply page gives $14.5M of financial assistance awarded annually where Affording Dalton says more than $15 million, so the aid total depends on the page. The page mentions no payment plan or tuition insurance. The Financial Aid Office, (212) 423-5261, is the reliable check on a specific family’s award.
How qualified and stable are the teachers?
Based on the school’s pages, 88% of Dalton’s faculty hold advanced degrees and the faculty numbers more than two hundred and twenty, and the federal survey for 2023–24 counts 218.6 full-time-equivalent teachers for 1,330 students (a ratio of 6.1 to 1); we found no turnover, tenure or certification data, so how stable the teachers are cannot be settled from public sources.
| Signal | What is reported | Who reports it |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced degrees | 88% of faculty | The school’s Apply page |
| Faculty size | “more than two-hundred-and-twenty” faculty; Computer Science, Engineering, Math and Science are faculty departments in the Middle and High Schools, and Engineering, Math, Science and Technology in the First Program | The school’s faculty page |
| Teachers, 2023–24 | 218.6 full-time equivalents for 1,330 students, a ratio of 6.1 to 1; the school gives 6:1 and an average high school class of 11 | NCES; the school’s Apply page |
| Robotics coaching | “dedicated Engineering faculty serving as coaches” | The school’s engineering page |
| Turnover, tenure, certification | Not found | — |
The degree figure describes credentials, not how long teachers stay, and the faculty page we could read lists no names, so teacher expertise in a given STEM course could not be checked. The ratio counts all teachers, including those who do not teach the sections a student will take. The main switchboard, (212) 423-5200, is the reliable check on who teaches the courses a student wants and how large those sections run.
What's the graduation rate, and how college-ready are graduates?
Based on the school’s college-counseling page, the matriculations it lists for 2019–2024 sum to 523, led by Harvard (37), Cornell (36), Brown (28), the University of Chicago (26) and Yale and Northwestern (22 each); the school publishes no graduation rate or test scores that we could find, and the page does not say which graduates studied STEM.
| Destination group | What the page lists, 2019–2024 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Most common | Harvard 37, Cornell 36, Brown 28, Chicago 26, Yale 22, Northwestern 22, Princeton 16, Wesleyan 16, Emory 15, Columbia 14, Pennsylvania 13, Tufts 12 | Matriculation counts, not students |
| Technical schools listed | Carnegie Mellon 5; MIT 2; Case Western Reserve 2; Rochester Institute of Technology 2; Pratt 2; Georgia Tech 1; Harvey Mudd 1 | Cooper Union and Stevens do not appear |
| Graduation rate | Not published on the page | — |
| Test scores, AP | None listed; the high school page names no AP course | — |
| Counseling | A director, four associate directors and a coordinator; juniors meet with an assigned counselor, one-on-one | No counselor-to-student ratio is given |
A list of where graduates enrolled shows selectivity, not preparation, and it cannot separate students who studied engineering or computing from the rest; the 523 is our sum of the listed counts, over six graduating classes. A graduation rate is not published, and for a selective independent school it is rarely informative. The College Counseling Office, (212) 423-5523, is the reliable check on recent classes.
How strong is it in robotics, engineering and hands-on problem solving?
Based on FIRST’s event records and the school’s pages, robotics is Dalton’s strongest field (Excellent, 4.0 out of 5): robotics begins in Grade 5, and the high school has a FIRST Robotics Competition team that won the Hudson Valley Regional in 2026 and three FIRST Tech Challenge teams that won judged awards in 2023–24 and 2025–26, beside a Makerspace that spans an entire floor; advanced manufacturing is Developing (3.0).
| Team and season | Result | Who reports it |
|---|---|---|
| Event Horizon (FRC 10229), 2026 | Hudson Valley Regional: Regional Winners and the Excellence in Engineering Award sponsored by Littelfuse; New York City Regional: Rising All-Star Award; FIRST Championship, Daly Division: Rising All-Star Award | FIRST event records |
| Event Horizon, 2025 (rookie year) | Rookie All Star Award (Hudson Valley); Imagery Award (New York City) | FIRST event records |
| Atomic Theory (FTC 4174), 2025–26 | Inspire, Design, Control and Reach Awards; Finalist Alliance captain; Connect Award 2nd Place at the New York City championship; the school reports a New York State record in January 2026 | FIRST event records; the school’s news |
| Standard Model (FTC 9372), 2025–26 | Control Award 2nd Place, Design Award 2nd Place, Think Award at the championship; the school reports it won the NYC FTC Super Qualifier on 5 March 2026 | FIRST event records; the school’s news |
| Uncertainty Principle (FTC 11453), 2025–26 | Design Award 2nd Place, Design Award, Connect Award, Finalist Alliance first team selected | FIRST event records |
| Provision | FIRST LEGO League in Grades 5–6, RoboSoccer in Grades 7–8, Tech Challenge and Robotics Competition teams in high school; a Makerspace with laser cutters, 3D printers, woodworking and metalworking tools and precision machinery | The school’s engineering page |
| Projects | Middle School LEGO robots navigating peer-made mazes, Sol LeWitt computational art, and a 22-hole mini-golf course built with art and engineering; in 2026, a high school furniture design class built benches, a stool, a desk and shelves for faculty and staff clients | The school’s engineering page and news |
Placings show what the best-organised groups achieved, not how many students take part or how a typical student fares. FIRST lists no school for the Tech Challenge teams, which the school’s news names as its own, and the school’s count of 15 or more robotics teams could not be traced beyond five. We found no CyberPatriot or comparable cybersecurity team.
How early does STEM begin, and does it become substantially more advanced as my child gets older?
Based on the school’s pages and our grading, STEM begins in Kindergarten (Digital License lessons, Code Lab, coding concepts in 1st grade), builds through Grade 5 robotics and Middle School engineering projects, and reaches advanced work in high school in robotics, computer science and the Dalton Science Research Program; the K–12 progression is unbroken in computer science and robotics, and empty at the advanced stages in AI, cybersecurity and clean energy.
| Stage | What we found | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure, K–5 | Code Lab, STEAM Saturday and Micro:bit; coding concepts (sequences, loops, functions) in 1st grade; Digital License lessons from Kindergarten; second-grade aerodynamics with the Rotocopter; FIRST LEGO League from Grade 5 | Technology, engineering and First Program pages |
| Foundation, 6–8 | Mixed-age FIRST Tech Challenge groups and RoboSoccer; Middle School engineering projects (maze robots, computational art, paper calculators with Makey Makey, a mini-golf course); a 3D design after-school class; Robotics and Math teams from 7th grade | Middle School and engineering pages; after-school programming |
| Application, 9–10 | Two introductory computer science courses; robotics courses; fabrication in 3D printing, laser cutting, milling and machining; the start of the Dalton Science Research Program, a four-year process | High school and research-program pages |
| Advanced, 11–12 | Computer science electives (data structures and algorithms, databases, simulations, web engineering, Python, interface design); Tech Challenge and Robotics Competition teams; outside research; senior electives including Biotechnology, Bioethics, Statistics and Robotics | High school and research-program pages |
| Career bridge | Summer research placements at outside laboratories; no credential, internship record or industry partner found | Research-program page |
This is the school’s own description set against our stages; the course catalog and curriculum guides are Issuu documents that could not be read, so which electives run each year is not shown. The progression is strong in robotics and computer science and thin in AI, where the pages show lessons and policy work but no course.
Does the school give a strong STEM student enough opportunities—or will ambitious students quickly outgrow it?
Based on our grading, an ambitious student has a high ceiling in robotics, computer science and biotechnology research, and would outgrow the school sooner in AI, cybersecurity and clean energy, where we found no advanced course; the high school page names no AP course, and the mathematics offering is described only as “advanced courses beyond the standard high school sequence”.
| Area | Ceiling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Robotics and engineering | High | Robotics Competition and Tech Challenge teams with regional wins and a Championship appearance in 2026, robotics courses, and a floor-wide Makerspace with machining and milling |
| Computer science | High | Six named electives after two introductory courses, and a team in the American Computer Science League; the competition results found are from 2022 |
| Biology and research | High, with a limit | A four-year research process with outside laboratories such as Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical Center and Sloan Kettering; placements depend on mentors outside the school |
| Mathematics | Not verified | Algebra, Geometry, Calculus and advanced courses are named, with independent studies and capstones; no advanced course title was found |
| AI, cybersecurity, clean energy | Low | No AI course, one competition in 2017 and no energy course; the school adds online classes through Global Online Academy |
The limit is evidence as much as content: the school publishes no section sizes or seat counts, its competition findings are team-level, and the research programme is described by the school alone. Ask which electives run this year and how a student reaches a laboratory placement.
Which future-critical STEM fields is this school genuinely strong in—and which ones are major gaps?
Based on our grading, Dalton is strong in robotics, computer science and biotechnology (4.0 out of 5 each), cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing are developing, AI & Data and clean energy are thin, Earth systems and aerospace are lacking, and battery storage is absent. The overall score is 66/100, Developing.
| Field | Our grade | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Robotics | Excellent · 4.0/5 | A Robotics Competition team and three Tech Challenge teams with judged awards, from Grade 5 up, and a Makerspace floor |
| Computer Science | Excellent · 4.0/5 | Two introductory courses and six electives, Code Lab from the First Program, and a team in the American Computer Science League; no AP course named |
| Biotechnology | Excellent · 4.0/5 | The four-year Science Research Program with outside laboratory research, and senior electives in Biotechnology and Bioethics |
| Cybersecurity | Developing · 3.0/5 | Digital License and Digital Life lessons from Kindergarten to Grade 12; no technical course; the last competition found is picoCTF in 2017 |
| Advanced Manufacturing | Developing · 3.0/5 | Laser cutters, 3D printers, wood and metal shops, milling and machining, and a furniture design class; no credential found |
| AI & Data | Weak · 2.0/5 | Data-related electives and a faculty AI Taskforce; no AI course |
| Clean Energy | Weak · 2.0/5 | A second-grade project, an Environmental Club and a student-led climate group; no energy course |
| Earth & Geospatial | Weak · 1.0/5 | Environmental activities and a rooftop weather station from 2008; no Earth-science course found |
| Aerospace | Weak · 1.0/5 | Second-grade aerodynamics and a conference keynote on space life-support; no aerospace course |
| Batteries | Weak · 0.0/5 | No coursework, club or competition record found |
The pattern is concentrated depth: three fields at Level 4 and two at Level 3, beside two at Level 2, two at Level 1 and one at Level 0. Evidence is thinner where the school publishes little, with confidence of 35 for Earth systems and aerospace and 40 for batteries and clean energy. The high school course catalog could not be read, so the grades rest on the pages and news we could read.
Will your child be ready for jobs that don’t exist yet?
Here’s what the evidence actually shows for The Dalton School — not what the brochure claims.
66/100 — Developing overall. The Dalton School’s robotics, computer science and biotechnology provision is advanced: a FIRST Robotics Competition team (10229, Event Horizon, Regional Winners in 2026) and three FIRST Tech Challenge teams that won judged awards in 2023–24 and 2025–26, beside robotics from Grade 5 and a Makerspace that spans an entire floor; two introductory computer science courses leading to electives in data structures and algorithms, relational databases, simulations, web engineering, Python and interface design, with a team in the American Computer Science League; and, in biotechnology, the four-year Dalton Science Research Program, in which students work in laboratories at institutions including Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical Center and Sloan Kettering, beside senior electives in Biotechnology and Bioethics.
But: battery storage is absent, Earth systems and aerospace are lacking, and AI and clean energy are thin.
Best positioned forRobotics, Computer Science, Biotechnology
Underdeveloped inBatteries, Earth & Geospatial, Aerospace
Future-critical exposure5/15 domains
Very strong
- None
Strong
- Robotics
- Computer Science
- Biotechnology
Limited
- Cybersecurity
- Advanced Manufacturing
Little / no pathway
- AI & Data
- Clean Energy
- Earth & Geospatial
- Aerospace
- Batteries
Best fit for
Less ideal for
Where the marketing exceeds the evidence
Where the marketing exceeds the evidence
Where the marketing exceeds the evidence
Where the school is stronger than its marketing suggests
Curriculum
- High school computer science electives that build data skills: Data Structures and Algorithms, Relational Databases, and Math and Physics Simulations (high school page)
- Algorithms and their effect on online experiences in 2nd-grade Digital Life lessons (Technology page)
Evidence seen
- The Technology page lists “Exploring the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the learning process” as an initiative, not a course
- A February 2024 professional-development day, “AI and Dalton”, with hands-on labs in generative AI writing tools, organised by New Lab, the Dalton Council, the AI Taskforce and the PD Day Committee
- A May 2025 parent panel with the Director of the New Lab for Teaching and Learning, a Microsoft Research AI Frontiers Lab manager and a senior; the school describes dialogue from the Middle School to application in high school classrooms and mentions student-led AI initiatives without naming one
- Strategic Plan 2030 goals to develop generative-AI policies for students and to evaluate AI practices for faculty and staff
- A Sports Analytics and Data Science club among high school after-school clubs; Statistics is a research-related senior elective
What's missing
- No AI or machine-learning course, student AI project or competition result found
- The AI work is policy and faculty development rather than curriculum
- The high school course catalog is an Issuu document that could not be read
Curriculum
- Digital License lessons from Kindergarten (online safety, protecting private information, online research); in 3rd grade, suspicious ads, clickbait, phishing scams and deepfakes
- Digital Life lessons through Grades 4–5, integrated into House and the core curriculum in Grades 7–8, and six high school themes including Privacy and Security and Cyberbullying and Hate Speech (Technology page)
Evidence seen
- picoCTF, May 2017: more than 50 students took part and the top team of five Class of 2019 students placed 26th among high school teams with 4,595 points (school news; outside the review window)
- Strategic Plan 2030 commits to protecting data from cyber threats and to world-class physical and technological security (institutional, not instructional)
What's missing
- No cybersecurity course, club or competition team found in the review window
- Digital safety is taught through lessons and House time, not as technical security
- No industry credential found
Curriculum
- Robotics from Grade 5: FIRST LEGO League in Grades 5–6, RoboSoccer in Grades 7–8, and FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition in high school, with robotics courses (Engineering and high school pages)
- Engineering across mechanical, electrical, computer, materials and civil disciplines, with fabrication in 3D printing, laser cutting, milling and machining (high school page)
Evidence seen
- FIRST Robotics Competition team 10229 Event Horizon (listed as The Dalton School; rookie 2025): 2025 Rookie All Star Award (Hudson Valley) and Imagery Award (New York City); 2026 Regional Winners and Excellence in Engineering Award sponsored by Littelfuse (Hudson Valley), Rising All-Star Award (New York City) and Rising All-Star Award at the FIRST Championship Daly Division (FIRST event records)
- FIRST Tech Challenge teams 4174 Atomic Theory (rookie 2010), 9372 Standard Model (2014) and 11453 Uncertainty Principle (2016), named as Dalton teams in school news, won judged awards in 2023–24 and 2025–26: Atomic Theory took Inspire Awards in 2024–25 and 2025–26 and Motivate Award 2nd Place at the 2024–25 New York City championship; Standard Model took a Control Award 2nd Place and a Design Award 2nd Place in 2025–26 (FIRST event records)
- School news: Atomic Theory set a New York State record in January 2026; Standard Model won the NYC FTC Super Qualifier on 5 March 2026; Event Horizon, a ten-student team in its second year, qualified for the Houston World Championship (spring 2026)
- Earlier: Atomic Theory placed second at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in St. Louis (27 April 2015) and the high school team won the NYC championship and went to the World Championship in April 2019 (school news; before the window)
- A Makerspace that spans an entire floor, with laser cutters, 3D printers, woodworking and metalworking tools and precision machinery, and Engineering faculty as coaches (Engineering page); the 2019 rooftop expansion on East 89th Street houses a STEAM Center with a robotics field, prototyping space and engineering lab (architect SOM)
What's missing
- No named industry robotics partner or alumni record found
- FIRST’s Tech Challenge records list no school; the three teams are tied to Dalton by school news and the Robotics Competition team lists The Dalton School
- The school’s count of 15 or more teams could not be traced beyond five
Curriculum
- Second-grade 2Sustain project: each house studies a strand of environmental conservation (recycling, reuse, waste reduction, composting) and makes a public service announcement (school news, undated)
Evidence seen
- An Environmental Club among after-school clubs and a student-led Climate Emergency Group (school news)
- April 2008 school news: wind-energy certificates covering all of the school’s energy use, a rooftop solar array that supplies a small share and a rooftop weather station; Earth Day and Earth Month activities (undated)
- The 2019 East 89th Street expansion is LEED BD+C Core & Shell Gold (architect SOM): a facility, not teaching
What's missing
- No energy-technology course, laboratory or project found
- No Middle School clean-energy provision found
- The 2008 article says the school hoped to use the solar array in science lessons; no such use was found
Curriculum
- Dalton Science Research Program: a formal four-year process; in the first year students research an area of their choice in connection with Biology, and later requirements include a lab technique and paper analysis class and a transdisciplinary collaborative projects class
- Senior electives the programme recommends: Biotechnology, Drugs and Disease in the Modern World, Statistics and Bioethics
Evidence seen
- Outside research, usually in the summer between sophomore and junior years, at institutions including Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical Center, Sloan Kettering and Yale University
- An annual Dalton Science Research Symposium with a required formal presentation; the symposium returned to the East 89th Street campus after a multi-year break, with projects on cancer, microplastics, heavy metals and DNA architecture and a keynote on synthetic biology for life-support technologies on long space missions (undated school news)
- Scholars are expected to publish some aspect of their research in Techfluence, the school’s science and technology journal, whose first print edition the Dalton Archives date to 2018
- Students are encouraged to enter outside competitions such as the Regeneron Science Talent Search; two seniors were 2014 Intel STS semifinalists and two juniors 2015 NYC Metro JSHS semifinalists (school news; before the window)
What's missing
- No iGEM team, biotechnology competition result in the window, or credential found
- No named student placement or outcome found; the programme is described by the school alone
- Biotechnology is a senior elective, not a sequence; no First Program or Middle School biotechnology provision found
Curriculum
- Two introductory courses, then electives in Data Structures and Algorithms, Relational Databases, Math and Physics Simulations, Web Engineering, Python and Interface Design (high school page)
- First Program Code Lab and 1st-grade coding concepts (sequences, loops, functions), with STEAM Saturday and Intersession; Middle School programming of LEGO robots to navigate peer-made mazes and Sol LeWitt-style computational art (Technology and Engineering pages)
Evidence seen
- A high school team in the American Computer Science League: in 2022 the Senior Division placed second nationwide among independent schools and first among New York State schools in the regular season, and two students won silver and bronze at the finals; the team also entered the Cornell high school programming contest, SpenceHacks and a Brearley contest (school news, 2022)
- High school students work with First Program students in Code Lab; a Computer Science club is among high school after-school clubs
- Computer Science and Engineering are named faculty departments in the high school, Middle School and First Program; 88% of faculty hold advanced degrees (Apply page)
What's missing
- The high school page names no AP computer science course
- Section counts and enrolment per computer science course are not published; the course catalog could not be read
- The competition results found are from 2022 and earlier; no cohort record of graduates’ computing study or work found
Creativity cannot be graded the way a course can. It can only be evidenced through what students made.
| Criterion | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art + technology | ||||
| Design | ||||
| Architecture | ||||
| Engineering design | ||||
| Media / digital production | ||||
| Maker learning | ||||
| Interdisciplinary projects |
Three strands run for three years or more. 2025 and 2026 are equally dense, at 3 of 7 criteria.
The record — 4 artefacts
Students on Atomic Theory (rookie year 2010) design, build and program a robot each season to a published game. FIRST records judged awards in every season from 2023–24 to 2025–26, among them Innovate, Design and Think Awards in 2023–24, an Inspire Award and Motivate Award 2nd Place at the New York City championship in 2024–25, and Inspire, Design, Control and Reach Awards and Connect Award 2nd Place at the championship in 2025–26; the school reports a New York State record in January 2026.
FIRST Tech Challenge event records, team 4174 · Dalton School news, 9 January 2026
Students on Standard Model (rookie year 2014) build a robot each season. FIRST records Motivate Awards and Connect Award 2nd Place at the New York City championship in 2023–24 and, in 2025–26, Control Award 2nd Place, Design Award 2nd Place and Think Award; the school reports that the team won the NYC FTC Super Qualifier on 5 March 2026. FIRST lists no school for the team, which the school’s news names as its own.
FIRST Tech Challenge event records, team 9372 · Dalton School news, 5 March 2026
Students on Uncertainty Principle (rookie year 2016) build a robot each season. FIRST records a Motivate Award and alliance selections in 2023–24, a Winning Alliance captaincy in 2024–25, and Design Award 2nd Place, Design Award and Connect Award in 2025–26; the school credits the team’s robot design for its advance to the New York City championship in 2026. FIRST lists no school for the team, which the school’s news names as its own.
FIRST Tech Challenge event records, team 11453 · Dalton School news, 5 March 2026
Students on Event Horizon (rookie year 2025), listed by FIRST as The Dalton School, built a robot for each of two seasons. FIRST records a Rookie All Star Award at the Hudson Valley Regional and the Imagery Award at the New York City Regional in 2025, which FIRST gives in honour of dedication to art and illustration; in 2026 the team were Hudson Valley Regional Winners with the Excellence in Engineering Award and took Rising All-Star Awards at the New York City Regional and at the FIRST Championship.
FIRST Robotics Competition event records, team 10229 · FIRST team awards page
Nothing found for
No student work was found evidencing these. For a school this well documented, an unrecorded programme is unlikely to be a large one.
What a family should ask about directly
- Tuition for 2026–27 is $70,800 and covers lunch, books and supplies, personal devices, many trips and instrument rental; Parents’ Association dues of $100 per family are extra. A secondary source reports $67,480 for 2025–26 and $64,300 for 2024–25, so the trend is not on the school’s own pages. The school says more than 20% of students attend with more than $15 million of need-based aid, while its Apply page gives $14.5M awarded annually. Ask for the current aid total, how aid is renewed each year, and what the tuition has been in the past three years.
- The entry grades for September 2027 are Kindergarten and Grade 9; the school says “Middle School is not a standard entry point for September 2027”, with places considered only from attrition. Preliminary applications for Kindergarten and the Middle and High School are due at noon on 13 November, with a $75 application fee and ISEE or SSAT testing at $140 to $200. Ask whether places open in other grades, and which testing dates the school accepts.
- AI & Data is graded thin and cybersecurity developing. AI at Dalton is faculty development and policy (a February 2024 professional-development day, the AI Taskforce, a May 2025 parent panel and Strategic Plan 2030 goals) and no AI course was found, and Digital Life teaches digital safety rather than technical security; the last competition found is picoCTF in 2017. Ask what a student can take in AI, machine learning or security in Grades 9–12, and whether a team competes.
- Clean energy is graded thin, Earth systems and aerospace lacking, and battery storage absent. The activity found is a club, a student group and a second-grade project, and the sustainability facts in school news date from 2008. Ask which science electives run in Earth and environmental science, and whether students do fieldwork or build energy projects.
- The high school course catalog and the curriculum guides are Issuu documents that could not be read, so the school’s “20+” engineering and computer science electives and its mathematics “beyond the standard high school sequence” could not be tested. The high school page names no AP course. Ask for the catalog, which electives run each year, and how many students take them.
- School pages disagree on who leads the high school: the high school page still names Shira Kohn as Interim High School Director and Assistant Head, and the leadership page lists Noah Rachlin as High School Director. The Tech Challenge records list no school, so three of the four robotics teams are tied to Dalton by the school’s own news. Ask who directs the high school and how many students each robotics team has.
- No school-day start and end times appear on the pages read, and the Health & Wellness page lists counsellors, psychologists, health educators and nurses (one psychologist in the First Program and two clinicians each in the Middle and High Schools) without stating an emergency or safeguarding policy. Ask for the daily schedule by division and for the safeguarding and emergency procedures.
| Domain | Evidence class | Key sources |
|---|---|---|
| AI & Data | School-reported | Technology page (AI as an initiative; 2nd-grade algorithms lessons); high school page (computer science electives); school news, 22 February 2024 and 2 May 2025; Strategic Plan 2030; no AI course found |
| Cybersecurity | School-reported | Technology page (Digital License and Digital Life lessons, K–12); school news, 8 May 2017 (picoCTF); Strategic Plan 2030; no recent competition or credential found |
| Robotics | Officially recorded · School-reported | FIRST event records for teams 10229 (Robotics Competition), 9372, 4174 and 11453 (Tech Challenge); Engineering page; Middle School page; school news, 9 January and 5 March 2026 and spring 2026 |
| Clean Energy | School-reported | School news (2Sustain; Earth Day; 1 April 2008 green power purchase); after-school clubs page (Environmental Club); architect SOM project page (LEED Gold); no energy-technology provision found |
| Computer Science | School-reported | High school page (two introductory courses and six named electives); Technology page (Code Lab, 1st-grade coding); Engineering page (Middle School projects); school news, 2022 (American Computer Science League) |
| Earth & Geospatial | School-reported | After-school clubs page (Environmental Club); Engineering page (projects with Black Rock Forest); school news, 1 April 2008 (rooftop weather station); no geospatial provision found |
| Aerospace | School-reported | First Program page (2nd-grade Rotocopter aerodynamics); school news on the Dalton Science Research Symposium (space life-support keynote); no aerospace course or competition found |
| Advanced Manufacturing | School-reported · Corroborated | Engineering page (Makerspace: laser cutters, 3D printers, woodworking and metalworking tools, precision machinery; high school milling and machining); school news, 22 May 2026 (furniture design class); architect SOM project page (prototyping space); no manufacturing credential found |
| Batteries & Energy Storage | Unsubstantiated | No coursework, club or competition record found |
| Biotechnology | School-reported | Dalton Science Research Program page; school news on the Dalton Science Research Symposium; Dalton Archives record for Techfluence (2018); school news, 2014 and 2015 (Intel STS and JSHS semifinalists); no outcome record found |
Academics
Kindergarten through Grade 12
Below is how we describe our program: our three divisions, the engineering, computer science and research work our students do, and the people who lead them. Our high school course catalog is published as a separate document, so ask us below to confirm a course before you plan around it.
First Program
Our First Program is at 53 East 91st Street. The Dalton Plan rests on House, Assignment and Lab, and our youngest students begin technology and engineering in Kindergarten.
- Code Lab, where high school students work with our First Program students, and coding concepts such as sequences, loops and functions in 1st grade
- STEAM Saturday and Micro:bit
- Digital License lessons on online safety from Kindergarten
- Second graders investigate the aerodynamics of the Rotocopter; chess begins in Kindergarten
Middle School
Our Middle School is at 108 East 89th Street. Robotics begins in Grade 5, and our students build as well as study.
- FIRST LEGO League in Grades 5–6 and RoboSoccer in Grades 7–8, with mixed-age FIRST Tech Challenge groups that design, build and program robots
- Programming LEGO robots to navigate mazes made by peers, Sol LeWitt computational art, and paper calculators with origami and Makey Makey
- 7th graders build a mini-golf course on the 13th floor with our art and engineering departments
- Math team and Robotics team from 7th grade; 3D design after school
High School
Our average high school class has 11 students. Our students take two introductory computer science courses, then electives, and may enter the Dalton Science Research Program, a formal four-year process.
- Engineering, with robotics courses and competitions and fabrication in 3D printing, laser cutting, milling and machining, in a Makerspace that spans an entire floor
- Outside research, usually in the summer between sophomore and junior years, at institutions such as Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical Center, Sloan Kettering and Yale University
- The annual Dalton Science Research Symposium, and Techfluence, our science and technology journal
- Global Online Academy classes, of which we are a founding member
Computer science, research and language electives
Courses named on our high school page and our science research program page; which run in a given year can change.
Academic leadership
Gillian Todd
Leads our First Program. Reach the First Program office on (212) 423-5431.
Eve Andrias
Leads our Middle School. Reach the Middle School office on (212) 423-5332.
Noah Rachlin
Leads our High School. Reach the High School office on (212) 423-5527.
John Neiers
Leads the New Lab for Teaching and Learning, which supports our faculty with technology and our Digital Life curriculum.
Tiffani Hooper
Leads our College Counseling Office. Reach it on (212) 423-5523.
Ask about academics
Calendar
School year 2026–2027
The dates below are the upcoming dates from our 2026–27 academic calendar, together with our admissions and financial aid dates and the date of our Spring Benefit. Our academic calendar page links a PDF version, so ask below if you need us to confirm a date before you plan around it.
October 2026
November 2026
December 2026
January 2027
February 2027
March 2027
April 2027
May 2027
June 2027
Ask about the calendar
Our Story
Founded in 1919
We are The Dalton School, an independent, gender-inclusive day school for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Our mission is to provide “an education of excellence”, and guided by the Dalton Plan, we prepare students to “Go Forth Unafraid.”
How we teach and what we value
House
House serves as a home base where students discover their community and develop a sense of belonging.
Assignment
Assignments represent a partnership between student and teacher designed to inspire growth, curiosity, and independence.
Lab
Lab time is built into every student’s daily schedule for one-to-one and small group sessions.
Truth
Valuing truth, learning, and authenticity.
Empathy
Acting with empathy and compassion.
Integrity
Practicing and promoting integrity and responsibility.
Justice
Insisting upon justice.
Milestones
Helen Parkhurst’s Laboratory Plan was first put in place at the high school in Dalton, Massachusetts.
Helen Parkhurst founded us as the Children’s University School on West 74th Street.
We were renamed The Dalton School.
Our High School building opened at 108 East 89th Street.
We merged with the Todhunter School.
Our Physical Education Center opened at 200 East 87th Street.
Our Performing Arts Center opened.
Atomic Theory, our FIRST Tech Challenge team 4174, played its rookie season.
In September we opened new facilities at 108 East 89th Street, including a STEAM Center.
José De Jesús became our Head of School on July 1.
Event Horizon, our FIRST Robotics Competition team 10229, played its rookie season.
Leadership
José De Jesús
Became our Head of School on July 1, 2022. Reach us on the 89th Street switchboard, (212) 423-5200.
Michael Hwang
Leads our operations and finances.
Shira Kohn
Serves on our senior leadership team.
Christopher Nichols
Leads our communication and strategy.
1,330 students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 · A student-teacher ratio of 6:1 · 51 interscholastic teams in Grades 7–12, more than 75 high school clubs and more than 50 middle school clubs · A Health & Wellness team of counselors, psychologists, health educators and nurses
Ask about our story
Give
Support Dalton
Gifts to Dalton help us provide an education of excellence to students from Kindergarten through Grade 12, and they support the financial aid that lets families from many backgrounds join us.
Annual Fund
Your unrestricted, tax-deductible gift makes an immediate, tangible impact on our students’ daily lives. Each year Senior Class parents are asked to contribute to both the Annual Fund and the Senior Class Gift, and the seniors vote on how the collective gift is used. Write to giving@dalton.org or call (212) 423-5458.
Centennial Campaign
Our campaigns support the priorities of our Strategic Plan and enhance many aspects of school life. Write to giving@dalton.org or call (212) 423-5255.
Endowment and the Parkhurst Society
Gifts to the endowment are permanent assets that give us the power to respond to long-term needs. We welcome all members of our community who have included Dalton in their estate plans or created an endowment into the Parkhurst Society. Call (212) 423-5316.
Spring Benefit
Save the date for our Spring Benefit 2027 on Thursday, April 15, 2027. Write to events@dalton.org or call (212) 423-5392.
Ways to give
We accept American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Checks are payable to The Dalton School and mailed to 108 East 89th Street, New York, NY 10128, Attn.: Advancement Office. A donor-advised fund gift goes to “Dalton Schools, Inc.” (EIN 13-2751872). For appreciated securities, call (212) 423-5254; for wire transfers and matching gifts, write to giving@dalton.org. All gifts are tax-deductible.
Ask about giving
News
From the Dalton news page
Recent posts from our news page, newest first.
Dalton celebrates the Class of 2026 at graduation
We held our Class of 2026 commencement on June 11 at Rose Hall in Jazz at Lincoln Center. A student speaker and commencement speaker Jodi Kantor, an investigative reporter and author, addressed the graduates, and Kantor urged them to “enjoy the not knowing” rather than rushing to build a single-track résumé.
New furniture design class leaves a lasting mark on campus
In a new high school class taught by Dan Musick and Dustin Atlas, our students designed furniture on paper and in CAD software and then built it for the school community, choosing requests from faculty, staff and administration and refining the designs with their clients. Completed work includes benches, a stool, a computer table, a lending library, office shelves and an admissions desk, with two podiums nearing completion.
Chess team has impressive performance at national middle school championship
We sent 10 middle schoolers to the National Middle School Chess Championship in Round Rock, Texas, where our team placed 3rd nationally among more than 1,200 competitors. A seventh grader finished 9th individually with 5½ points, and the team was led by WIM Beatriz Marinello with guest coach GM Gregory Kaidanov.
Championship bound: high school robotics dominates super qualifiers
Three of our high school robotics teams, 4174 Atomic Theory, 9372 Standard Model and 11453 Uncertainty Principle, advanced to the NYC FTC Championship at Francis Lewis High School. Team 9372 finished qualifications 9th, joined the 5th-seed alliance and won the double-elimination bracket, its third tournament win of the season; teams 4174 and 11453 advanced through community outreach and robot design.
Luyen Chou ’85 presents to faculty and staff on AI in education
We welcomed back Luyen Chou ’85, an educator, entrepreneur and technology leader and a former Dalton history teacher, to speak to our faculty and staff about learning science and the growing role of AI in education, as part of the work of our New Lab for Teaching and Learning and its AI Committee.
Robotics delivers commanding performance
Teams 4174 Atomic Theory and 11453 Uncertainty Principle both performed strongly at the 5th New York City qualifier at the end of 2025. Team 4174 finished 2nd in qualifications, set a New York state record and reached the finals as captain of an alliance with 11453, where they were runners-up; 4174 won the Design Award and 11453 won the Connect Award for its outreach.
Parents explore AI in education at Parent Speaker Series
Our Parents’ Association Parent Speaker Series, with New Lab, hosted a panel on AI and its role in education and daily life. John Neiers, our Director of the New Lab for Teaching and Learning, Sid Sen of Microsoft Research’s AI Frontiers Lab and a Dalton senior discussed how we approach AI, from conversation in Middle School to practical application in High School classrooms.
Faculty and staff explore AI and Dalton on Professional Development Day
Our faculty and staff spent Professional Development Day on “AI and Dalton”, with hands-on labs in generative AI writing tools, discussion labs on how AI affects assignments, a keynote from Jerry Crisci of Scarsdale Public Schools, and a closing game of telling AI-generated images from real photos. New Lab, the Dalton Council, the AI Taskforce and the PD Day Committee organized the day.
Ask about the news
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