Dalton School

The Dalton School is a private school at 108 East 89th Street in Manhattan. Helen Parkhurst founded it in 1919 as the Children's University School, and the Dalton Plan she devised gave the school its name. Its headmaster from 1964 to 1974 was Donald Barr, the father of William Barr. From September 1974 to 1976 the school employed Jeffrey Epstein as a mathematics and physics teacher. The tax-exempt corporation that operates it is Dalton Schools Inc.

Helen Parkhurst and the Laboratory Plan

Parkhurst's own account, in the 1922 book Education on the Dalton Plan, places her first teaching experience fifteen years before September 1919 and describes drafting a "laboratory plan" for children between eight and twelve. The plan, she wrote, was perfected in 1913, when pupils were organized into groups with a free choice of laboratories, and by 1915 the school timetable had been eliminated entirely.¹ In 1914 she sought leave to study the method of Maria Montessori in Italy, and in 1915 she served as Montessori's assistant in California, where she tested her plan on a selected group of one hundred children between nine and twelve. From December 1915 to January 1918 she looked after Montessori's interests in the United States, and then resumed her own experiments with the support of the Child Education Foundation, which she directed.²

The plan was first applied in full in September 1919 in an ungraded school for disabled boys, after Mrs. W. Murray Crane, a trustee of that school and chair of its educational committee, accepted it in November 1918. Crane then proposed the plan for the high school in her home town, Dalton, Massachusetts, where it began in February 1920 under the principal, Ernest Jackman. Soon afterward the school was visited by Mrs. Anne Saunderson and Belle Rennie of London. Rennie wrote about the work after returning to England, and Parkhurst, fearing that "laboratory" would be misunderstood, named it the Dalton Laboratory Plan.³ The school's own history gives a different date, stating that the Laboratory Plan "was put into effect as an experiment in the High School of Dalton, Massachusetts, in 1916," and that the plan and the school took their names from that beginning.⁴ The school's history also describes Parkhurst's earlier work in a one-room school in Tacoma, Washington and with Montessori.⁴

Parkhurst moved to New York City in 1919 and opened her first school on West 74th Street. The Lower School later moved to West 72nd Street, and the high school opened in the autumn of 1929 in the building at 108 East 89th Street.⁴ The 1922 book states that the Children's University School was founded through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Murray Crane, and its title page gives Parkhurst's position as "Education Director, Children's University School."⁵ The book describes the method in terms of a contract. "Each pupil is classified as a member of a form, and for each form a maximum and a minimum curriculum is drawn up." The curriculum is "divided up into jobs and the pupil accepts the work assigned for his class as a contract."⁶ It names freedom as "the first principle of the Dalton Laboratory Plan," and says that under the method "there are no bells to tear him away at an appointed hour."⁷ The school's current statement of the plan describes a "triangular framework of House, Assignment, and Lab" and quotes the same passage on freedom.⁸

The Dalton Plan in England

The book carries an introduction by T. P. Nunn, professor of education at the University of London, who recounted how the plan reached Britain. Belle Rennie's account appeared in the Times Education Supplement in May 1920. A month later Rosa Bassett began a large-scale trial at the Streatham County Secondary School for girls in London, and in August 1920 her first results were discussed at the Cardiff meeting of the British Association. When Parkhurst came to England in July 1921, Nunn wrote, no hall could hold all who wished to hear her, and when Bassett opened her school to visitors for three days "the roads of Streatham were encumbered with over two thousand pilgrims."⁹ Parkhurst thanked in her foreword Sir Michael Sadler, Edmond Holmes, C. W. Kimmins and Nunn for their advice in England, and the book carries chapters by Bassett on a year at Streatham and by John Eades, headmaster of Kirkstall Road School in Leeds, on the plan in an elementary school.¹⁰ A separate book by Evelyn Dewey, published in 1922 with thanks to Bassett's school and to Jackman for information on the Massachusetts high school, devotes chapters to the Dalton high school, to Streatham and to the Children's University School.¹¹ The school's history states that schools in the Netherlands, Australia, England, Korea, the Czech Republic, Taiwan and Chile have adopted the plan, and that two schools in Japan are founded on it.¹²

Incorporation, the Todhunter consolidation and growth

The school's archive dates its organizational documents from 1921 and describes records of the incorporation of the Dalton School and its consolidation with the Todhunter School, including charters and by-laws, concentrated in the 1920s and 1930s.¹³ The archive holds a certificate of approval of the consolidation and affidavit dated July 1939 and the consolidation of Dalton Schools, Inc. and the Todhunter School, with the absolute charter of Dalton Schools, Inc. from the Regents of the University of the State of New York, dated July 28, 1939.¹³ The school's history credits Eleanor Roosevelt with promoting the 1939 merger.⁴

The same history records that the student newspaper, The Daltonian, was founded in 1933, the literary magazine Blue Flag in 1935, and the community service program in 1942, and that during the Second World War students spent summers as farm laborers in New York State.⁴ The archive's series of files on Parkhurst as head of the school covers 1924 to 1942, and a further folder of correspondence of 1971 to 1974 concerns her estate, a loan and her brother as executor.¹⁴ The First Program for kindergartners and first graders moved to 61 East 91st Street in 1964, and a physical education center opened at 200 East 87th Street in 1992.⁴

Donald Barr's headship, 1964 to 1974

Donald Barr was born in Manhattan on August 2, 1921, graduated from Columbia College in 1941, served with the Office of Strategic Services in Washington and Europe, and returned to Columbia, where he directed the Science Honors Program at the School of Engineering. In 1963 the National Science Foundation asked him to administer its Cooperative College-School Program, which he did until he became headmaster of Dalton in 1964.¹⁵ The school's archive holds a series for his headship covering 1964 to 1972, including a headmaster's report to parents of November 1965.¹⁶ His 1971 book, Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?, gave an account of the Dalton years.¹⁷

Time reported on April 5, 1971 that the trustees "picked a stubborn new headmaster in 1964" who "arrived at Dalton with a dim view of 'orthodox' progressive education's emphasis on emotional development." He carried out trustee decisions to make the all-girl high school coeducational and to more than double the school to 1,000 pupils, added tests to supplement written evaluations, and tried to ban blue jeans and long hair on boys. In 1970 he expelled five sixth-graders, four for "extortion" and one for stealing $15 from a teacher. At a November 1970 board meeting trustees asked for his removal; an evaluation committee was named, and two months later the board voted unanimously to keep him. In March 1971 a 21-page memorandum from his supporters named the president of the parents' association as a plotter against him, and a mail poll run by the Honest Ballot Association went 435 to 300 against the parents' representative.¹⁸ In 1968 he told the New York Times: "They think they can cheat on tests, steal from one another's lockers and exploit each other emotionally so long as they have the right opinions about the war or civil rights or something else. That is not morality."¹⁹

On February 20, 1974 the New York Times reported that Barr had resigned "in protest of what he considers the trustee's interference with his leadership." In a letter to faculty and parents the day before he wrote: "I am not comfortable with the definition of board-head relations that I see becoming current in schools everywhere." The board said the resignation "was not requested and not expected." Richard Ravitch, a construction executive and president of the board, said: "The issue is the prerogatives of the board and the headmaster." The article recorded that school officials had dismissed clerical and administrative staff in January 1974, that more than half a dozen teaching positions would be eliminated in the fall, that tuition would rise by about $150, and that the board had hired an outside committee to study the school. Barr said he would remain until June 7. Enrollment was 1,254 from prekindergarten through twelfth grade, and the board had 20 members.²⁰

The 2004 New York Times obituary of Barr states that his tenure ended "in 1974 with his departure after disputes with the trustees over budget priorities and his disciplinarian approach to substance abuse."²¹ Marie Brenner wrote in Vanity Fair that Ravitch told her: "I brought in the dean of the Harvard School of Education and the head of Teachers College to evaluate Barr... I fired him. It took years to get him out, but we did it." She wrote that Barr announced his resignation "as part of an arrangement."²² The next year Barr became headmaster of the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York.²¹ The Times later described him as having run "a private school in the cramped confines of Manhattan before becoming headmaster of the Hackley School on an 83-acre campus in Tarrytown."²³

Epstein at Dalton, 1974 to 1976

The school's student newspaper reported in September 1974 that Epstein was starting that year as a mathematics and physics teacher. He was 21, from Brooklyn, and arrived without a college degree, according to the New York Times.²⁴ Thomas Volscho wrote in the Daily Beast that Epstein began "after the summer of 1974," that reports of a 1973 start are incorrect because the 1973-74 yearbook has no mention of him, and that Epstein confirmed in a deposition that he taught at Dalton from 1974 to 1976.²⁵ The school archive holds a folder titled "Physics A, B, A-B, and Advanced Physics, Assignments, Epstein, 1975-1976."²⁶

The Daltonian recorded Epstein at the piano in the first parent-faculty musical "in recent memory" in April 1975, where he "proved himself to be the ivory show man." It named him as coach of the school's math team, with a February 1976 meet against Ramaz and the Manhattan Talmudic Academy and a March 5, 1976 issue reporting "Boss Epstein watching from the sidelines." The 1974-75 yearbook carries his remark, "I'm teaching a bunch of little brats next year."²⁵ The New York Times reported that he appeared in later issues as coach of the Dalton Tigers math team until the beginning of 1976.²⁴

Peter Branch, who had been upper school director, became interim headmaster after Barr. Branch, who told Volscho he was upper school director before the appointment, said that his appointment began on July 1, 1974 and that Barr's contract expired on June 30.²⁷ Branch told the New York Times that Epstein "was a young teacher who didn't come up to snuff. So, ultimately, he was asked to leave," that he had heard concerns from faculty about Epstein's teaching, and that he did not recall anyone raising concerns about Epstein's conduct with students.²⁴ Branch told the Miami Herald that Epstein "had not adequately grown as a new teacher to the standard of the school."²⁸ In the update to Volscho's article, Branch said that mathematics and science faculty asked him what he was "going to do about Jeff," that Epstein's teaching had not improved over the previous year, and that Branch then told Epstein it was time to move on. Volscho wrote that after the 1975-76 year Epstein told the school he was not returning.²⁷

Volscho wrote that he put a request under the New York Freedom of Information Law to the State Education Department and was told it had no teaching license on file for Epstein, and added that a private school such as Dalton does not require its teachers to hold a state license.²⁷

In an update to the same article, Volscho wrote that the journalist Edward Jay Epstein had recently claimed that investigators from the firm Kroll, hired by L Brands, the company of Les Wexner, to look into Jeffrey Epstein's background, told him that Epstein had faked his resume to land the Dalton job.²⁷

The hiring accounts

Accounts of who hired Epstein conflict. Law and Crime wrote on July 13, 2019 that Epstein was hired "by the school's headmaster Donald Barr in the mid 1970's."²⁹ Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director, cited press reports, as CNBC described his remarks, that Barr's father had hired a 20-something Epstein to teach math despite his having no college degree.³⁰ Brenner wrote in Vanity Fair that Barr "brought in photographers, White Russian aristocrats, anti-Castro Cuban grandees, and a group of gifted college dropouts, including one Jeffrey Epstein."²²

The New York Times wrote on July 12, 2019: "In February 1974, Mr. Barr had announced that he was resigning as headmaster, protesting the meddling by the board of trustees, but that he would stay on until the end of the school year. It is unclear whether Mr. Barr hired Mr. Epstein during that time."²⁴ Susan Semel, who taught social studies at Dalton from the 1960s into the 1980s and wrote a history of the school, told the Times: "Barr didn't care about credentials as long as you were interesting and knew your stuff." She told NPR: "Donald Barr would hire young people, and not necessarily young people who had a lot of credentials." NPR wrote that it is unclear whether Barr hired Epstein.²⁴³¹ HuffPost quoted seven former students that teachers like Epstein were not unusual at Dalton in the 1970s, and appended a clarification that an earlier version had said Barr hired Epstein at age 20 and that it is unclear whether Barr had a role in the hiring.³² Snopes concluded: "It's not clear whether Donald Barr played any part in hiring Epstein to work at Dalton School."³³

Volscho set out the timeline. Barr resigned in February 1974 (according to the March 14, 1974 Daltonian), "seven months before Jeffrey Epstein began teaching there that fall." He wrote that "it is possible that Donald Barr may have hired Epstein, if he made personnel decisions long in advance," but that the Daltonian showed the school lost four mathematics teachers before the 1974-75 year, so the school "may have hired Epstein, in part, out of an urgent need to fill vacant positions." Branch told him that he did not recall hiring Epstein, was "relatively certain Barr or possibly the head of the Math Department hired Epstein because hiring decisions were typically made in the spring," and that Barr liked to hire unconventional teachers.²⁷

William Barr, then attorney general, was asked in a deposition before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on August 18, 2025 whether his father's role as headmaster had been a consideration in the ethics analysis of his continued involvement in the Epstein matter. He answered: "I don't know whether I was aware of that at that time. Obviously not. It's not pertinent at all."³⁴ A Justice Department official told CNBC in 2019 that, because of Barr's prior association with Kirkland & Ellis, the attorney general "has and will remain recused from any retrospective review of the resolution of the earlier [Southern District of Florida] matter."³⁰

Bear Stearns and the Greenberg route

Vicky Ward wrote in Vanity Fair in March 2003 that Epstein, in his early 20s, "got a job teaching physics and math at Dalton, the elite Manhattan private school." While there, she wrote, he began tutoring the son of Bear Stearns chairman Ace Greenberg and was friendly with a daughter of Greenberg's. He went to Bear Stearns, where, under the mentorship of Greenberg and James Cayne, he became a limited partner, "a rung beneath full partner," and left abruptly in 1981.³⁵

NPR reported, citing the Miami Herald, that Epstein got the Bear Stearns job because an impressed parent told Greenberg to hire him. Greenberg's daughter told the Herald: "Give Jeff credit. He was brilliant."³¹ HuffPost reported that Epstein lasted two years at Dalton before Bear Stearns hired him after he tutored the chairman's son.³² Ward wrote that rumors circulated inside the firm that Epstein was involved in a technical infringement; Greenberg says he can't recall this, and Cayne denies it happened.³⁵ Semel told NPR that Epstein was taken with the "glitz and ritz" at Dalton, with its wealthy and influential student and parent body.³¹

Gardner Dunnan, 1975 to 1997

Gardner Dunnan headed the school after the interim period. The archive's series for his headship covers 1975 to 1997 and holds 52 folders and three DVDs, and its catalogue also lists a 1975-76 high school course, "Exploring Human Nature," taught with a colleague.³⁶ The New York Times reported that under the new leadership Dunnan "tentatively explored a rollback" of the strict rules and announced in early 1975 a policy allowing denim in the building.²⁴ The archive holds fundraising and capital campaign correspondence of Dunnan for 1988 to 1992 and alumni correspondence for 1995 to 1997.³⁷ The archive's oral history project holds his release form of May 1, 2008.³⁸

Dunnan's attorney told the Times in 2019 that Dunnan had not been aware of any concerns about Epstein's conduct at the school.²⁴ News reports in 1997 quoted Dunnan saying he was stepping down because of school officials' concerns with his leadership and personal life.³⁹ The Associated Press reported in 2018 that his LinkedIn account lists several positions at schools in the New York City area since he left Dalton.³⁹

The 2018 suit against Dunnan and the school

On June 7, 2018 a former student filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey against Dunnan and Dalton Schools, Inc., alleging that Dunnan sexually abused her in the fall of 1986 while she was a student. The complaint contended that Dalton "knew or should have known that Dunnan engaged in acts of inappropriate, abusive, and/or harmful behavior toward individuals over whom he had power or control." Dunnan denied the allegations in an email: "During a career spanning more than 55 years in education I have never mistreated a student or previously been accused of doing that, and am heartbroken about these false accusations." Through a spokeswoman the school said: "We take these issues very seriously and support any victim of sexual abuse."³⁹

The docket, No. 2:18-cv-10258 (D.N.J.), was assigned to Judge Claire C. Cecchi. An amended complaint followed on June 29, 2018. On August 3, 2018 the school moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, supported by an affidavit of Michael Hwang, and in October Dunnan moved to change venue. On January 9, 2019 the court granted the motion to change venue, transferred the action to the Southern District of New York and dismissed the jurisdictional motion as moot. The New Jersey case was terminated on January 10, 2019, and a case with the same caption was opened in the Southern District of New York as No. 1:19-cv-02099 on March 7, 2019.⁴⁰

2019 reporting and the school's response

Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors in federal court in Manhattan in July 2019. The New York Times reported on July 12, 2019 that former Dalton students recalled how he interacted with teenage girls, and that officials of the school did not respond to requests for comment.²⁴ Several former students told NPR that they remember seeing Epstein surrounded by female students, though none recalled any incident of misconduct. One described a "general circle of girls."³¹ Alumni and former teachers reconnected through email chains and Facebook comments.³²

NPR reported that none of the 2019 charges is connected to Epstein's time at Dalton, though prosecutors had raised the question in the past.³¹ In a 2009 deposition, an attorney asked Epstein whether he ever had "sexual contact" with female students he taught at Dalton. Epstein replied, "While I was a teacher?" and then answered "No." Asked about sexual encounters with students after he left the school, he answered "Not that I remember." Asked whether he had dated anyone who had previously been his student at Dalton, he invoked the Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendments.²⁵³¹

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests urged the school on July 16, 2019 to contact former students and staff who might have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Epstein.⁴¹

Trustees and the Form 990

The organization that files for the school is Dalton Schools Inc, employer identification number 13-2751872, at 108 East 89th Street. The Internal Revenue Service ruling date is November 1, 1973.⁴² ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer carries its Form 990 filings. Totals for fiscal years ending June 30 are as follows.⁴³

The filing for fiscal 2025 reports net assets of $239,346,270 and total liabilities of $57,052,152.⁴⁴

The Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 2025 lists Jose Manuel De Jesus as Head of School, with reportable compensation of $1,075,533, and Michael Hwang as assistant head for operations and chief financial officer, with $476,487. The school's own leadership page lists De Jesus as Head of School and Hwang as assistant head for operations.⁴⁵ Erica Klein is listed as president, Alexander Robinson as treasurer and Bruce Menin as secretary, each with no reportable compensation.⁴⁶ For fiscal 2022 the filing lists James Best as Head of School and Ellen C. Stein as interim head; for fiscal 2023 it lists Best as former head of school, Stein as interim head and De Jesus as head of school.⁴⁷

The filings for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025 list David Sambur as a trustee. Apollo's leadership page gives his title as "Partner, Co-Head of Private Equity and Head of Equity" and states that "Mr. Sambur serves on the Board of Trustees for the Dalton School and the Jewish Museum of New York."⁴⁸ Sambur is a partner at Apollo Global Management, which he joined in 2004.⁴⁸ The fiscal 2025 filing also lists a trustee named Alison Nathan. A judge of the same name has sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 2022; records found do not establish whether the trustee and the judge are the same person.⁴⁹