Complaint Alleging Child Abuse At UWS Preschool Filed In Court

A complaint filed by the firm Gottlieb & Wang LLP on behalf of Caitlin and Michael Hagerman alleges that their child–named only in the filing as C.H.–faced repeated and brutal physical abuse from his teachers at Montclare Children’s School on the UWS. Another defendant includes Cadence Education, LLC, the company operating the preschool.

The initial alleged abuse took the form of repeated elbow pulling from C.H.’s teachers in 2022, leading to what is described as a “nursemaid’s elbow,” a partial dislocation where a ligament slips out of place. Caitlin Hagerman notified the school of her concerns after C.H. suffered the injury once in May, but the complaint alleges that a teacher named Josilyn Grant yanked C.H.’s arm by pulling him to his feet during at an after-school program in September. This was despite C.H.’s protestations that his arm hurt and the likelihood that his dislocation could reoccur, the suit claims. Grant was also alleged to be dismissive of C.H. afterwards.

The complaint describes C.H. as having certain ailments known to teachers and diagnosed by the school’s “exmissions director,” such as a double ear infection and an “immature sensory apparatus.” These required C.H. to engage in physical stimulus such as rolling around on the floor to soothe his discomfort. The complaint alleges that teachers were not understanding of, and even bothered by, these “sensory needs” C.H. expressed. It also alleges that C.H. was called “the slap man” by Montclare teacher Rebecca Samuels for refusing to be picked up, and was frequently placed in time-out by teachers away from classmates until a sand timer ran out.

The plaintiffs allege that these practices contravene the marketing materials for the preschool, which are described as “disavowing rigid discipline and constraining or confining children’s movement, and prioritizing ‘open-ended play.’”

The most serious allegation points to December 22nd, 2022, when C.H. was again rolling on the floor to achieve sensory stimulus. The complaint claims that as a manner of discipline for this rolling, the teacher Camille Bowie aggressively kneed C.H. in the face and nose, “inflicting upon C.H. extreme physical and emotional anguish.” When Caitlin Hagerman went to pick her son up from Montclare, Camille reportedly told her that “C.H. walked into a wall!!” The complaint further alleges that this caused C.H. to withdraw from school activities from then on, telling Caitlin that he did not feel safe at Montclare and that, quote, “I don’t like Camille.”

After conversing with the school over multiple emails and Zooms to determine what happened to C.H. on December 5th, Montclare finally sent them an email on January 26, 2023 that laid out their version of events. Among other things, it concluded that “the day had been a normal day,” and that C.H. had “bumped his head into a fish-tank” instead of a wall. Montclare also claimed that C.H. was not distressed at all.

The plantiffs are alleging various false promises made by Montclare, including various passages in the preschool handbook such as ““[a]t Montclare, we do not believe in rigid authoritarian discipline” and “the words ‘time out’ have a negative connotation, and are never used.” The plaintiffs also feel that the upfront payment of $34,402 in tuition costs were coerced as a condition of enrolling C.H. at Montclare, with their total out-of-pocket costs to the school amounting to $54,867.

As of presstime, Montclare Children’s School could be reached for comment. In a statement to the West Side Spirit, Cadence Education said: “The safety and wellbeing of children in our care is our highest priority and Montclare takes any allegation of this nature very seriously. We have not yet been served with any legal complaint, and therefore cannot comment on it.”