Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

For years, New York parents have been applying to preschools even before their youngsters are born. That’s not new, but the approach one prestigious pre-school on the Upper West Side is.

At the Porsafillo Preschool Academy, all applicants must now submit a DNA analysis of their children.

The preschool is housed in a modern glass and steel building designed by IM Pei. It’s situated in a leafy corner of the Upper West Side. On a recent afternoon, Headmaster Rebecca Unsinn showed off “Porsafillo Pre,” as it’s called.

“Over here, we have computer labs, C++ learning, which of course, as I’m sure you know, is a language of computers,” she says. Wait, computer language? These preschoolers are learning C++?

“Oh, absolutely they are,” Unsinn says. “And they’re very good at it.”

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