Round 2 of pre-K admissions
Looking for a slot in a public pre-Kindergarten program for September? The second round of admissions will begin on Monday, July 13, according to the Department of Education. To be eligible, children must turn four years old by Dec. 31, 2009.
A directory of schools with open seats will be available online on Monday; paper copies will be ready on Friday, July 17 at enrollment offices, according to the DOE. Some programs with open seats are full day; others are only half-day, offering morning or afternoon sessions.
Applications can be submitted online or by mail; the deadline is July 31. Letters notifying families of placement will be sent on Aug. 28 - rather late for those who are trying to figure where their four-year-olds will be attending school in the fall!
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Hi,
I don’t understand how there are still some seats available when you look at the number of applicants in the directory. For example, PS087 had above 400 applicants in round 1 and there are still 4 seats for round 2. How do they select the kids when there are so many applicants ? Is it a lottery ?
Thanks for your explanations
Severine
Comment by Severine — July 13, 2009 @ 10:43 am
i dont understand either how there can be so many spots still available.Are people offered spots and then dont take them. Its actually quite sad that some districts can have so many spots still available and other zones have a shortage of available spots.
Comment by dd — July 13, 2009 @ 11:21 am
There are many popular schools - including PS 87 in District 3 - that still have seats available for Round 2. What happens, according to parent coordinators we’ve spoken to, is that families of siblings already enrolled in the school may sign up for the pre-K program in the spring, but later decide to keep their child in a private pre-K or day care center until kindergarten. They have nothing to lose since the kindergarten seat is guaranteed, assumed the older sibling is still at the school. In many schools, most of the pre-K seats are taken up by siblings so if those families decide not to send their child to pre-K, that opens up seats late in the process. Parent coordinators also tell us that some families apply to a school without having visited. Once they are admitted, they may not like what they see, or decide to send their child to another program. As to how these open seats are allotted, the directory lists admissions priorities. After these priorities have been met, if there are still more applicants than seats available, selection is by a lottery. At least that is how it is supposed to work.
Comment by Insideschools — July 13, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
Thanks for the explanations.
Comment by Severine — July 13, 2009 @ 3:47 pm
Good luck to all of you. I remember being very upset last year when my daughter was not accepted at her brother’s school for pre-k in round 1 only to see that the school later had seats available for round 2! Gotta love the DOE!
Comment by Bronx mom — July 14, 2009 @ 6:44 am
After the first day of school and families that are awarded seats in a Pre-K program but decide not to go (moved or changed their mind), how are those seats awarded? Should I contact the schools directly or will a waiting list be generated by the DOE?
Comment by Doreen — July 14, 2009 @ 7:45 am
Our understanding is that the borough (and central) DOE enrollment offices will be handling admissions, not the schools. Last year there were still openings at some schools until the end of the calendar year (many of the available slots were half day programs or at less desirable schools).
Comment by Insideschools — July 14, 2009 @ 3:43 pm
After the first day of school and families that are awarded seats in a Pre-K program but decide not to go (moved or changed their mind), how are those seats awarded? Should I contact the schools directly or will a waiting list be generated by the DOE?
I thought it was each individual school and its respective waitlist that would govern the process after the first week of school. Is this correct? Many of the schools that I have called said that they will have autonomy after the first week of school. Naturally, I’ve started the process of calling and visiting every single day. This is painful and terribly disappointing.
Comment by Kimberly — September 9, 2009 @ 10:41 am
#8 You might want to contact the pre-K coordinator for your borough to ask how best to follow up. The DOE will eventually generate a list of pre-K programs with openings but if there are schools that you know you want your child to attend, I would contact them directly.
Here’s the link to the list of pre-K coordinators we have on Insideschools.
Let us know what you find out.
Comment by Pamela Wheaton — September 9, 2009 @ 11:20 am
Here’s the latest information about pre-K registration from Chancellor Klein’s letter to principals today:
“Schools with pre-kindergarten programs should enroll all pre-kindergarten students who have been pre-registered through the pre-k admissions process (round 1, round 2 or appeals). You should not discharge students unless they appear on the register of another school.
If you have vacant seats, you may offer them on a first-come, first-served basis to students who do not have a placement or students who moved into your school’s zone after receiving a placement. You should not offer seats that become vacant due to declinations, transfers and no-shows until September 23, when those students can be cleared from registers.
If you have no available seats and families request a placement, please keep their names on a list. After September 23, you can offer vacant seats with priority to students who have siblings at the school and students who are zoned to the school.”
Comment by Pamela Wheaton — September 10, 2009 @ 5:09 pm