PTA: Parent-Teacher Association.

gravitate: move towards or be attracted to a person or thing.

enrollment: registration; officially register as a member of an institution or a student on a course.

outstrips: move faster than and overtake (someone else).

ample: enough or more than enough; plentiful.

fivefold: five times as great or as numerous.

flatline: fail to increase; remain static.

nonsectarian: not involving or relating to different religious sects or political groups.

cater to: to provide what is wanted or needed by (someone or something).

affluent: (especially of a group or area) having a great deal of money; wealthy.

dispense: distribute or provide (a service or information) to a number of people.

thorough: complete with regard to every detail; not superficial or partial.

weekly basis: operational for a minimum of five (5) days per week.

dainty: delicately small and pretty.

due: suitable; of the proper quality or extent.

An extracurricular is any activity that doesn’t count towards an academic credit. These are activities that students participate in outside of class, such as activities in the arts, athletics, personal commitments and so on.

potluck: a usually the name of a meal where everyone brings something, usually unplanned.

impromptu: done without being planned, organized, or rehearsed.

frown upon: to disapprove of something.

pave the way: to make it easier for (something to happen or someone to do something).

This is a fair practice in many ways, as the teacher is not allowed to spring a poor grade on a student, but it has also enabled many parents to fight a C or a lower grade because they were not given advance warning.

spring a poor grade: to give a student a low grade without warning.

wherewithal: ready money; capital; the money or other means needed for a particular purpose.

lingo: the vocabulary or jargon of a particular subject or group of people.

intricate: very complicated or detailed.

evaluator: a person who assesses the amount, extent, or value of something.

mimeograph: a duplicating machine which produces copies from a stencil, now superseded by the photocopier.

weigh in: make a forceful contribution to a competition or argument.

jettison: throw aside, throw away, throw out. abandon.

leapfrog: to jump over (a person or thing) in.

patently: clearly; without doubt.

verbatim: word for word; in exactly the same words as were used originally.

fervently: very enthusiastically or passionately.

have a jaundiced view of something: judging everything as bad because bad things have happened to you in the past.

spring on: to suddenly tell or ask someone something when they do not expect it.

GED: a high school diploma. It’s the equivalent of A-Levels. 

An associate degree is a two-year college degree that you can obtain from a community college, junior college, online university, or some four-year institutions in the US. In terms of education, an associate degree falls between a high school diploma and a bachelor’s degree.

paraprofessional: aide; an assistant to an important person.

juxtapose: to place (different things) side by side (as to compare them or contrast them or to create an interesting effect).

toil: to work hard and long.

Adjoining rooms means the rooms are next to each other, and there is no door inside to connect them. Connecting rooms have a door on the inside that connects them, without having to step out into the hallway and then into the other room.

la dolce vita: sweet life.

cheek by jowl: close together.

precarious: not securely held or in position; dangerously likely to fall or collapse.

mandate: an official order or commission to do something.

A laurel is a type of wreath — circular, made from leaves and branches — worn on the head in ancient times. The laurel is a symbol of victory that lives on in the phrase “Resting on one’s laurels.” 

rest on your laurels: you’re happy with previous successes but not doing much to continue succeeding.

fare: to experience good or bad fortune, treatment, etc.; get on.

octogenarian: a person who is between 80 and 89 years old.

pelt: run somewhere very quickly.

arcade: an area where there are many electronic or other coin-operated games for the public.

woe: great sorrow or distress (often used hyperbolically).

academic chops: the ability, skill, or experience of the academy needed to do something well.

halcyon: characterized by happiness, great success, and prosperity.

boozy: drunken; intoxicated.

head en masse to: do it together and at the same time.

pedal off the pounds: keep fit.

indulge: allow oneself to enjoy the pleasure of.

fret over: to feel anxious or concerned about someone or something.

progeny: children; a descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring.

puny: small and weak.

mugging: an act of attacking and robbing someone in a public place.

phalanx: a body of troops or police officers standing or moving in close formation.

have/get one’s bearings: figure out one’s position or situation relative to one’s surroundings.

duck: to move quickly to a place, especially in order not to be seen.

duck through the underpass of the train track.

jump: to move or act suddenly or quickly:

He was jumped by two boys who stole his phone in under a minute.

frenetic: fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way.

The rich don’t have time to breathe, unless it’s in a hot-yoga class wearing lululemon gear.

delve into: to search in order to find a thing or information.

dripping with expensive pearls

I was that bone-tired.

afterthought: something that is thought of or added later.

get a life and go to sleep

If you tell someone to get a life, you are expressing frustration with them because their life seems boring or they seem to care too much about unimportant things.

turn out the lights: turn off.

disintegrate: break up into small parts as the result of impact or decay.

weepy: tearful; inclined to weep.

meltdown: a meltdown may look like crying uncontrollably.

Their parents allow them to stay up at night, and the kids begin to disintegrate as the week rolls on. Lily in particular gets weepy as Wednesday turns into Thursday, and Friday is a day during which there are a lot of meltdowns at school.

dissolve into tears: to suddenly start to cry or laugh.

out of sheer exhaustion: to the point of exhaustion. total exhaustion.

hygiene: conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through cleanliness.

implement: put (a decision, plan, agreement, etc.) into effect.

impossible to implement.

get a jump on: to get an advantage over other people by doing something before they do.

Their young lives have the same pace as the lives of CEOs, and sleep is a luxury that they cannot afford.

somatic issues: an extreme focus on physical symptoms — such as pain or fatigue (a feeling of constant tiredness or weakness) — that causes major emotional distress and problems functioning.

toss and turn: to move around restlessly while sleeping or trying to sleep.

Sometimes, these complaints allow them to go to the nurse for a short nap or to stay home for the day, an acceptable—perhaps the only acceptable—way for them to get off the carousel for a short time.

“Get off the carousel” means to take a break or a respite from a repetitive or monotonous situation. In this context, it refers to taking a short nap or staying home for the day as a way for someone to take a break from their usual routine or responsibilities.

take aback: to surprise or shock (someone).

angst: a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.

irate: feeling or characterized by great anger.

deem: regard or consider in a specified way.

conceal the extent of: hide the situation has reached a difficult, dangerous, or surprising stage.

The multiple choice ERB is a battery of tests designed to provide information about a student’s performance in several key areas (depending on the grade level): listening, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, reading comprehension, word analysis, writing mechanics, and mathematics.

admission: the process or fact of entering or being allowed to enter a place or organization.

held out: have a feeling of hope or optimism.

abridgment: shortened or condensed especially by the omission of words or passages.

drag out: to cause (something) to take more time than necessary.

lesser: secondary; subordinate; not so great or important as the other or the rest.

on tenterhooks: waiting nervously for something to happen.

Thus, if a score is said to be in the 90th percentile, this means that 90% of the scores in the distribution are equal to or lower than that score.

have things sewn up: to achieve something by dealing successfully with it, or by making certain that you are going to win.

striver: someone who works as hard as a slave.

woodsy: having many trees; covered with trees.

When kids grow up, their income is highly correlated with that of their parents, and the income of the top 1 percent skyrockets even from the income of those at the 97th percentile. In other words, if your parents were at the 97th percentile of income (or the top 3 percent), you are likely to earn around $60,000 as an adult, but this amount jumps to $80,000 for those raised in the top 1 percent.

septuagenarian: a person who is between 70 and 79 years old.

accompaniment: an instrumental or vocal part designed to support or complement a melody.

fumbling in the dark: for or with to grope about clumsily or blindly, esp. in searching.

facsimile: an exact copy, especially of written or printed material.

metronome: a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute.

transcendent: beyond or above the range of normal or physical human experience.

spun out: make something last for long time.

riff: a short repeated phrase in popular music and jazz, typically used as an introduction or refrain in a song.

captivate: to hold the attention of someone by being extremely interesting, exciting, pleasant, or attractive.

discern: to know, recognize, or understand something, especially something that is not obvious.

dross: something regarded as worthless; rubbish.

“Skeins of” is a way of describing a large amount of something that is twisted or wound, such as yarn or thread, and is often used in literature and poetry. In the phrase “skeins of silver,” “skeins” refers to a large amount of silver that is twisted or wound together, often used as a metaphor to describe wealth or abundance.

It takes a talented editor to discern the skeins of silver amidst the outpourings of dross.

seamstress: a woman who sews, especially one who earns her living by sewing.

scraps: a small piece or amount of something, especially one that is left over after the greater part has been used.

Even Harper Lee had an editor who searched beneath all her writing to find the story of Scout told in To Kill a Mockingbird. Her editor was like a talented seamstress who found colorful scraps to use at the bottom of the sewing basket.

precipitous: (of an action) done suddenly and without careful consideration.

masculinity: social expectations of being a man; qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of men or boys.

mangle: destroy or severely damage by tearing or crushing.

surety: the state of being sure or certain of something.

I admire the surety with which they present this complicated chain of events.

genesis: the origin or mode of formation of something.

inflict: to force someone to experience something very unpleasant.

retinue: a group of advisers, assistants, or others accompanying an important person.

massage parlour: a place where massage services are provided for a fee.

inroads: to start to have a direct and noticeable effect (on something).

triage: the procedure of assigning levels of priority to tasks or individuals to determine the most effective order in which to deal with them.

shuttle: travel regularly between two or more places.

essence: core; center; he choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience.

I want to draw the music, the essence of their work, from them, and this takes time and knowledge of who they are as people and thinkers.

“Draw the music” in this context likely means to extract or to pull out the essence or the core of the music that the individual or group creates. It implies that the speaker wants to understand the underlying creative process and inspiration behind the music, and that this understanding takes time and an understanding of the individuals or group as people and thinkers.

But this type of triage, being shuttled from kid to kid as a kind of McTutor, is not the kind of work I want to do with my students. I want to draw the music, the essence of their work, from them, and this takes time and knowledge of who they are as people and thinkers. I don’t force ideas or words on them. Their work has to be authentic to them. The problem is that the kids I work with sometimes need help finding not only words but entire subjects that they can write about. Kids who grow up on Fifth Avenue have little sense of the magic that surrounds them.

authentic: original; true.

whip: move fast or suddenly in a specified direction.

whip open her closet

sneakerhead: a sneaker collector.

adrenaline rush: a physical feeling of intense excitement and stimulation caused by the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands.

husky voice: a voice that is low and rough, often in an attractive way, or because of illness.

register: a particular part of the range of a voice or instrument.

Her voice climbs and falls a few registers as she shows me her collection.

cynic: a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons.

squirmy: to make a lot of twisting movements because you are nervous, uncomfortable, bored, etc.

squeaky-clean: completely clean—as clean as possible.

So Olivia comes to pair the pain of her mom’s visit and departure with the thrill of getting a new pair of shoes.

impulsive: acting or done without forethought.

punts the conversational ball to me

weary: feeling or showing extreme tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion.

follow through: to complete (an activity or process that has been started).

on the make: you disapprove of them because they are trying to get a lot of money or power, possibly by illegal or immoral methods.

hatch a spun-out tale

topple over: fall over.

lose quality: to deteriorate or go into decline, especially physically. fail.

restless: unable to rest or relax as a result of anxiety or boredom.

intensively: with extreme concentration or effort; very thoroughly or vigorously.

taunt: to reproach or challenge in a mocking or insulting manner.

A writer is an outsider, one who can move between worlds without being part of them, but this kid feels no alienation from her world.

alienation: isolation; refers to the feeling of being disconnected or separated from one’s surroundings or environment.

myriad: a countless or extremely great number of people or things.

enclosed: surrounded or closed off on all sides.

Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus Swietenia, indigenous to the Americas and part of the pantropical chinaberry family, Meliaceae.

fable: famous, especially by reputation.

tourney: a tournament, especially a medieval joust.

powerhouse: a person or thing of great energy, strength, or power.

take on: challenge; be willing or ready to meet an adversary or opponent.

clad in: (of people) dressed, or (of things) covered.

toss: a sudden quick movement.

well-manicured: with nails that are neatly cut and polished.

crank out: to produce especially in a mechanical manner.

orchestrate: to plan and organize something carefully and sometimes secretly in order to achieve a desired result.

Lily’s world seems effortlessly orchestrated.

descale: remove deposits of scale from.

mundane: lacking interest or excitement; dull.

A peak experience is an altered state of consciousness characterized by euphoria, often achieved by self-actualizing individuals.

coast on: (of a vehicle) to continue moving from its own forward force, without the addition of any power.

Psychologists believe that kids should not have all their peak experiences at a young age because they will have nothing to look forward to when they’re older. The children of elite New Yorkers, however, have had so many privileged experiences that there is little else they can manage to do. Peaking too early teaches kids that they don’t need to work to achieve things and makes the kids have a sense of blasé entitlement. The surfeit of privileged experiences also sets the kids up for depression, as they feel that there is nothing left to do.

blasé: unimpressed with or indifferent to something because one has experienced or seen it so often before.

entitlement: the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

surfeit: surplus; oversupply; an excessive amount of something.

conduit: someone or something that provides a way of passing something such as information or payments from one person to another.

wrestle with: to try very hard to deal with a problem or to make a difficult decision.

perennial: lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring.

with a perennial tan: with a longlasting dark-yellow skin.

patly: in an appropriate manner; fitly.

axiomatic: self-evident or unquestionable.

nunnery: a building or group of buildings in which nuns live as a religious community; a convent.

throw off the yoke: to get rid of something that has prevented you from doing what you want to do or from behaving in the way that you want.

seesawing: change rapidly and repeatedly from one position, situation, or condition to another and back again.

curl up: to sit or lie in a position with your arms and legs close to your body.

One woman even told me about how her son curled up in a fetal position while trying to write.

recursive: of, relating to, or constituting a procedure that can repeat itself indefinitely.

take the sheen off: to make something seem less perfect or less good; to partly spoil something.

There is no doubt that outsize struggle is not good for anyone, but controlled struggle, this type of recursive self-doubt, is very good for adolescents, particularly those who are restless. It slows them down a little, takes the sheen off their gilded lives. It teaches them to get beneath the surface of things.

foster: encourage the development of (something, especially something desirable).

fulsomely: in a way that expresses a lot of admiration or praise for someone, often too much, in a way that does not sound sincere

fad: an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived; a craze.

misapply: use (something) for the wrong purpose or in the wrong way.

arduous: heavy; laborious; involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.

short-circuited: shorten (a process or activity) by using a more direct (but often improper) method.

end-run: something that you do in order to avoid something.

make/do an end run around: to avoid the troubles or challenges to reach the goal.

Like most educational concepts, this one has been short-circuited. Ambitious teachers and parents want to make an end run around the difficult process of learning. The truth is that it’s hard to understand the process by which kids learn, and it can look like nothing is changing when serious, deep changes are going on. It’s not a linear process, and it’s of course not without setbacks and reversals. And yet, parents want it to look like the unfolding plot of a movie, in which children, after magically sitting down to work with a benevolent tutor, have been transformed into Jane Austen.

“Make an end-run around” means to circumvent or bypass something in order to achieve a goal. It can refer to a strategy or tactic used to avoid a obstacle or obstacle in order to achieve success. It’s often used in business or politics context.

setback: an event that delays your progress or reverses some of the progress that you have made. 

reversal: a major change in attitude or principle or point of view.

benevolent: having a desire to do good; kindly, charitable.

jagged path: having a sharply uneven edge or surface.

exact a toll: When someone exacts something, they demand and obtain it from another person, especially because they are in a superior or more powerful position.

It’s a larger educational issue in which colleges must also look beyond a strict GPA, as some do. In the meantime, the pressure on kids to be uniformly excellent exacts a large toll on them. It’s impossible to achieve a growth mindset if failure is not an option and if one’s learning curve is always supposed to reflect exponential growth.

tenor: a continuance in a course, movement, or activity.

incisive: (of a person or mental process) intelligently analytical and clear-thinking.

clementines: oranges.

mercurial: subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.

cling to: to refuse to stop believing or hoping for something.

benign: gentle and kindly.

veritable: being in fact the thing named and not false, unreal, or imaginary.