Dalton School

Jeffrey Epstein's two‑year stop at New York City's Dalton School is unusually well‑documented for what would otherwise be a fleeting early‑career job. Records and contemporary reporting confirm that he was recruited in the summer of 1974, taught until June 1976, left under faculty pressure, and parlayed relationships with wealthy parents into a Wall Street job that launched his fortune.

Former students remember a charismatic yet boundary‑pushing young teacher who wore fur coats, flirted with girls in the hallways, and handed out effortless A's—behavior echoed years later when lawyers asked him, under oath, about sexual contact with Dalton pupils. The dossier below distills the public evidence.

  Timeline

  Hiring Context

Donald Barr's decade‑long tenure (1964‑June 1974) was marked by "unconventional" staffing aimed at shaking up Dalton's curriculum. The math department lost four teachers before the 1974‑75 school year, and the school—free from state‑license rules—filled the gap quickly.

Epstein's résumé, later shown to be embellished, listed coursework at Cooper Union and NYU but no degree; FOIL inquiries show no teaching certificate on file.¹

Vice's review of Barr's 1973 sci‑fi novel Space Relations notes that the future attorney general's father "resigned in June 1974" and that Epstein started three months later, leaving open whether Barr personally approved the hire.³

  Classroom Presence & Student Memories

Multiple alumni interviewed by Business Insider and Town & Country recall a teacher who cultivated social proximity to pupils—standing cross‑armed against his desk, probing clique gossip, and attending at least one student party.⁴⁵

Attire was flashy ("fur coat and gold chain") and his algebra classes were known as an "easy A."⁴ Yet he could also be enthusiastic: The Daltonian covered his piano performance and math‑team victories, suggesting genuine engagement with extracurricular life.¹

  Concerns & Faculty Pushback

By spring 1976 science‑faculty evaluations labeled his teaching subpar; colleagues asked what the administration would "do about Jeff," prompting Branch to advise departure.¹

Although no formal complaints of misconduct surfaced then, Epstein's later deposition shows lawyers probing rumors of improper relationships; he flatly denied in‑school contact but equivocated about later interactions.¹

  Departure and Pivot to Finance

Epstein's networking at Dalton paid off: Bear Stearns CEO Ace Greenberg, impressed by parental word‑of‑mouth, recruited him in mid‑1976.

CBS's contemporaneous timeline places the initial connection at summer 1974, followed by Epstein's rapid rise after leaving teaching.⁶ The Dalton exit thus marks the inflection point where classroom charm translated into financial opportunity.

  Legacy Inside Dalton

Dalton alumni still debate whether warning signs were missed. Medium's 2019 retrospective quotes graduates who now view his classroom persona as early evidence of the predatory pattern exposed decades later.⁵

Time's ethics analysis of Attorney General William Barr's role in the Epstein investigation underscores the lingering relevance: Barr's father's brief overlap with Epstein continues to raise conflict‑of‑interest questions at the highest levels of government.²

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  References

  Footnotes

1. Epstein at Dalton, The Daily Beast ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. Barr and Epstein Case, TIME ↩ ↩²

3. Barr's Sci-Fi Book, Epstein, VICE ↩ ↩²

4. Epstein as Dalton Teacher, Business Insider ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Epstein at Dalton School, Medium ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. Epstein Timeline, CBS News ↩ ↩²