Red Ownership & leadership undisclosed
The lowest transparency tier in our guide. The school publishes no named owner, head of school, or director, and no staff bios or credentials. Parents and staff also report that the current head operates remotely — by phone and email only — and has not been available to meet in person.
Snapshot
⚠ Important A documented court case in this school's history
A member of the school's founding family — longtime teacher and headmistress Lina Sinha — was convicted in 2007 of sexually abusing a former student (offenses dating to the 1990s) and sentenced to a maximum of 14 years. It's a matter of public record, reported by national news at the time. Full details and sources are in School history below. The offenses are roughly two decades old and the school still operates; we report only the documented case, not unverified rumor.
School history: a documented court case
Families researching this school should be aware of a matter of public record. According to national news coverage from 2007, Lina Sinha — a longtime teacher and the school's headmistress, and a member of the family that founded the school (her parents established it in 1969) — was convicted in 2007 of sexually abusing a former student (ABC News, Fox News). Reports state the abuse of one boy began in 1996, when he was 13; she was also convicted of related charges, including attempting to bribe a second former student to lie to investigators, criminal impersonation, and falsely reporting an incident.
Timeframe and context matter here: the underlying offenses date to the 1990s and early 2000s, and the conviction is now nearly two decades old — but ownership and control of the school have remained within the Sinha family that founded it.
Sources for this section: ABC News — “NYC Headmistress Sentenced to 14 Years in Sex Case” (April 20, 2007) · Fox News — “Teacher at Exclusive Manhattan Private School Convicted of Sodomy” (2007) · Appellate Division, First Department — People v Sinha, 2018 NY Slip Op 07047 (Oct. 23, 2018) (subsequent proceedings in the case).
Sutton Place
Sutton Place is a quiet residential pocket of Midtown East along the river near the United Nations — leafy cul-de-sacs and prewar co-ops just off the bustle of Midtown, served by the 6 and E/M.
Programs & ages
An unusually long span for a Montessori — preschool through middle school (roughly ages 2 to 14) — with small classes and foreign-language and arts enrichment. Confirm which grades are running for your year.
Tuition 2026–27
Tuition isn't posted publicly; request the current schedule directly. Compare context on the tuition page.
Leadership & staff
The school publishes no named owner, head of school, or director, and no teacher bios or credentials — the basis for its Red rating. Parents and staff report that the current head operates remotely, by phone and email, and has not been available to meet in person or by video. Before enrolling, insist on meeting whoever leads the school, ask for a current staff list and lead-teacher Montessori certifications, and request the school's written child-protection / safeguarding policy.
Accreditation & authenticity
The school is a current AMS member — verified in the American Montessori Society directory (re-checked July 2026), and it displays a current AMS member badge on its own website. That is a membership, not the higher bar of AMS accreditation. See our authenticity guide for what membership does and doesn’t guarantee.
What parents say
Public review volume is limited. Current and recent families who post tend to be positive about the teachers and small classes; others researching the school specifically raise the history above. Weigh first-hand tours and current families' accounts, and verify safety through the official records linked in School history.
Heard around town
Signals from public parent forums and listservs. Forum chatter is opinion — often anonymous — so take it with a grain of salt.
We've deliberately not repeated the specific unverified claims from those threads. The one part that is documented — the 2007 court case — is covered factually and with sources under School history.
Admissions
Inquire and tour directly. Use our admissions timeline and planner to stay organized, and see School history plus the official records linked there as part of your due diligence.
Reader comments · submitted by visitors and moderated before posting. Community contributions, not part of our editorial profile — add yours in the box below.
Donna Thomas is Lina Sinha.
I have heard that Lina goes by Donna. How is this possible or allowed? I have heard she has interacted with children unsupervised/unchaperoned.
Lina Sinha is the person running the school and teaching over cameras, speakers and microphones. She uses a fake name "Donna Thomas".