PUBLIC KINDERGARTEN
in district kindergartens increased by 10 percent to 3,582, and those eligible for (but not guaranteed) spots in citywide programs jumped by a third to 1,788, perhaps as a result of increased test preparation. Unfortunately, families do not learn whether their children will be offered gifted spots until June, after most private schools want down payments on tuition. Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg said in late June that the city may consider a different test for the 2012-13 school year that could yield earlier results and address other concerns about the present system’s fairness. A growing body of research suggests that test results at age four are not reliable predictors of future academic success, but so far at least there is no indication that the city may hold off G & T testing until a later grade.
This year, an unprecedented number of elementary schools have wait lists for neighborhood children ready for kindergarten. “The enrollments have been booming, particularly in Manhattan below 96th Street,” says Clara Hemphill, senior editor at the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School, the founder of Insideschools.org, and author of several guides to New York City public schools. New residential construction in some neighborhoods has brought more families with young children into some areas that already had overcrowded schools. This means parents can no longer take their neighborhood school for granted, and should identify the school for which they are zoned and learn its admissions procedure well in advance. The good news is the city’s Department of Education has started to open new schools to alleviate overcrowding. Pamela Wheaton, Director of Insideschools.org, praises new schools such as PS 276 (in Battery Park City), PS 397 (also lower Manhattan) and the re-opened PS 151 (Upper East Side) as “fabulous” places with talented principals and For now, the system incorporates two tests: the Otisgood facilities. Lenon School Ability Test (OLSAT), which counts for Wheaton says, “There’s a slight chance that in a few 75% of the total score, and the Bracken School Readiness overcrowded zones, you might get locked out of your Assessment (BSRA), covering 25%. The OLSAT is designed neighborhood school, but the chances that you will be put to measure verbal, quantitative and figural reasoning skills into another good school are also pretty good.” She adds, that are most closely related to scholastic achievement, “I think parents worry needlessly....The fact is that with a along with a child’s thinking skills (abstract thinking and few exceptions most of the schools in District 2 [below 96th reasoning). The BSRA is designed to assess a child’s concept Street on the East Side, below 59th Street on the West Side, knowledge and receptive language skills for school readiand Downtown] and District 3 [Upper West Side] in Manness. Or to put it more plainly, it looks at a child’s knowlhattan are great schools.” She also cites District 15 [Park edge of letters, numbers, colors and the like. Slope in Brooklyn] for its large number of good elementary Most of the city’s G & T programs are basically autonoschools. mous classes within neighborhood schools. There is a small Parents interested in public school Gift & Talented (G number of schools devoted exclusively to gifted education & T) programs should pay close attention to the Departthat accept city-wide applications. They include Andersen ment of Education’s website for general information and (PS 334), and NEST+m. To apply for one of the elite cityapplication deadlines. (See page 56 for a discussion of early wide programs, a student has to have scored at least in the enrichment and tutoring.) Wheaton cautions that gifted 97th percentile. The cut-off for the general G & T pool is the programs “really vary from school to school.” She says, “If 90th percentile. you are lucky to have a good neighborhood school, then the Charter schools are another viable option, especially smart kid doesn’t always need a G & T program.” for families with underperforming neighborhood schools. Many children with qualifying scores do not end up in G & T programs because there aren’t programs near enough to their home neighborMandell School, 128 West 95th Street, 212-222-2925, mandellschool.org. hood, or there aren’t spots available Speyer Legacy School, 211 West 61st Street, 212-581-4000, speyerlegacyschool.org. in the particular programs they want. Blue School, 432 Lafayette, Mezzanine, 646-602-7066, theblueschool.org. Although the number of children tested The Goddard School, 124 West 24th Street, 800-GODDARD, goddardschool.com. for this coming school year decreased Bilingual Buds, 180 Riverside Blvd., 212-787-8088, bilingualbudsnyc.com. 16 percent from the previous year to World Class Learning Group, wclgroup.com. 12,454, those qualifying for gifted spots
“I think parents worry needlessly... The fact is that most of the schools in District 2 and District 3 in Manhattan are great schools.”
A Few Of The City’s New And Notable Private Schools
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New York Family | August 2010
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