Apr 29, 2014 2 min read

One school outside New York City may or may not be doing a good job of educating its students. It does seem, however, to be doing yeoman’s work of crushing the joy and creativity out of its youngest charges.

Last week, the interim principal at the Harley Avenue Primary School in Elwood, N.Y., sent a letter to parents, which was also signed by four kindergarten teachers, explaining a kindergarten pageant scheduled for mid-May was called off so the youngsters can keep their noses firmly attached to the scholastic grindstone.

The show, according to the letter, was not part of a plan to get the class of 2026 ready for “college and (a) career.”

“What and how we teach is changing to meet the demands of a changing world,” the letter stated, which was reprinted Tuesday on the website of The Washington Post. In an exquisite example of bureaucratic-speak, it continued, “The reason for eliminating the kindergarten show is simple. We are responsible for preparing children for college and career with valuable lifelong skills and know that we can best do that by having them become strong readers, writers, coworkers and problem solvers.”

But wouldn’t a harmless pageant also teach the children a thing or two about teamwork and problem solving? Maybe reading and writing, too. And after a long school year wouldn’t it be, um, fun?

Somehow, we have a hard time envisioning a 6-year-old is going to miss out on his shot at Harvard because he was ripped away from the standard classroom regimen for a day or two.