For many years, the city's specialized high schools have operated a summer program for disadvantaged students who score close to their admissions cutoff on the Specialized High School Admission Test. Successfully completing the program earns those students admission to the city's most selective schools -- and helps keep those schools socioeconomically diverse.
State law allows the schools to operate such a program but does not require them to. And so although this year's specialized high school directory promoted the program, called the Discovery Program, we're hearing rumors that most specialized schools could be axing the program this year. We've heard that only two schools, Brooklyn Tech and Brooklyn Latin, are contemplating accepting students through the Discovery Program.
But we can't figure out who in the DOE can verify — or quell — the rumor. We can't seem to find out the details of why this change is happening, and we don't know whether any students have been invited to apply. Does anyone have any information about the 2008 Discovery Program? Let us know in the comments.
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