The first round of kindergarten applications for the 2010-2011 school year are due today, and already some schools have more applicants than seats available. However, new schools, and rezoning in some districts, may alleviate some of the overcrowding that caused 28 schools to turn 287 kindergarten students away last fall when classes were “capped.”

Parents had until 2 p.m. today to fill out applications. Final counts are not yet tallied, but at least two popular Upper East Side schools, PS 290 and PS 183, report far more applicants than slots available. By Thursday, PS 290 had 190 applications for 100 spots; PS 183 had 180 applicants for 125 spots.

Although most kindergarten classes are capped at 25 students, some accept a few more. Others, especially those with funds earmarked to lower class size, accept fewer. If there are more kindergarten applicants than slots available, a computerized lottery determines who is offered admittance. Schools will notify families of placements on March 22.

Many families hedge their bets by applying to private schools, gifted and talented programs, and unzoned schools, as well as their zoned schools. When some families eventually accept placement in other programs, their zoned slots are assigned to students on a wait list. Last year at this time, many Manhattan schools were flooded with applicants. In the end, only two had to “cap” their kindergarten classes, turning students away: PS 183 and PS 59. (more…)

Long-awaited “main round” high school acceptance letters to 8th graders MAY be delayed, according to a report in today’s Daily News.

The letters with high school matches, due to be delivered to students on March 24, are being held up by court order because of a lawsuit against the Department of Education by the NAACP and the teachers union. The lawsuit charges that the DOE acted illegally in moving to close 19 schools.

According to the Daily News, “Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Joan Lobis ruled Tuesday to temporarily ban the city from making the matches, since their process isn’t factoring in the closing schools and isn’t matching kids with them. ”

The court is encouraging both sides to work together to resolve the issue and the DOE is allowed to go ahead and prepare to send out letters — just not send them - yet.

For thousands of anxious 8th-graders and their parents, a longer wait to receive confirmation of where they will be attending school next year means more nail-biting.

Are you among the 86,000 or so families awaiting acceptance letters? How do you feel about the delay?

Q: I will be applying to universities in the U.S. from France. My English is fluent and I lived in the U.S. as a child. My father is American, my mom is Colombian, and I have an American passport. We have been living in France for the past four years. Will this allow me to apply as an “international student” or would I be considered an American applicant? If I stress my international side, could my application be rejected as an “international student” when colleges see that I am an American citizen?

A: Being an “international student” is, strictly speaking, a matter of citizenship rather than residency. In other words, what counts is the legal citizenship of the applicant and not where he or she lives or goes to school. As an American citizen, you are an American wherever you live, whether it’s in France, Colombia, England, or the U.S. On the other hand, a student who is German — for example — a German citizen whose parents work for an German company with an office in Chicago, and who has lived in the U.S. and attends an American high school, must apply as an international student.

But there is more to consider. You will bring a real international perspective to the U.S. college you attend. Your life as a dual citizen and your experiences abroad count for something! Your viewpoint will enrich your classroom life in the U.S. While the German student living in Chicago will also bring an international viewpoint to the college he attends, so will you! Your combined experiences have created the person you are, and it’s the whole person you are who will be considered for admission. (more…)

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Dear Judy,

My client wants to withdraw her child from kindergarten because of child care problems. Is this allowed?

Social Worker

Dear Social Worker,

Withdrawing a child from kindergarten has no legal obstacles, but it does have other consequences for the child. It’s hard to believe, but in New York State, like most other states, kindergarten is not mandatory. In fact, only 13 states have legislated mandatory kindergarten. Compulsory school age in New York State begins at six, but elsewhere in the US, many states start requiring school attendance at age seven, or even as old as eight ( in Pennsylvania.)

I do not recommend doing without kindergarten or withdrawing in the middle of the year. These days, most kids in New York City schools have been in day care or pre-kindergarten (which in 2010 is the equivalent of what kindergarten used to be). Today’s kindergartners learn what 1st-graders used to - how to read and write and do arithmetic. Generally kindergarten teachers pay more attention to academics and less to play than they used to.

Good kindergartens do not eliminate play, because that’s the way for young children to solidify their understanding of the world and the social relationships they encounter in school. If the child is out of school, she not only misses out academics, but on important interactions with other kids. (more…)

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Was your child born in 2005? 2006? If so, now is the time to register for a kindergarten or universal pre-kindergarten spot. If your child will be going into kindergarten, the application process began February 1^st; March 12 is the deadline to register. For upcoming pre-K’ers, registration begins today and runs through April 9. During this time, parents of prospective students can find an application, as well as a pre-k directory, online. Pre-k spots are given by lottery, with priority reserved for zoned siblings. Notifications will be sent out in early June.

Night Owl’s little sister is eligible for pre-K next year, so we’ll be first in line when the applications hit the PS29 office. As a zoned sibling, she’s supposed to be a shoe-in, but I can’t help but feel uneasy. The year we entered the lottery for Night Owl (2008) was the first year the lottery process had been centralized, and a glitch in the system caused even a few zoned siblings to fall through the cracks. I didn’t hear of any such snafus with the lottery last spring, but last year’s kindergarten registration was marked by overcrowding and kids being shut out of their own zoned schools, particularly on the Upper East Side. We can only hope the process this year goes more smoothly–at Night Owl’s school, the office does not report any unusual volume of kindergarten registrants so far.

Any reports from the registration front at your school?

A few weeks back, Insideschools attended the yearly New High Schools Fair. We were lucky enough to speak with faculty and staff from each  school about their hopes and plans for the 2010/2011 school year.

We’ve condensed all of this information into fact-packed profiles that will help you determine whether one of these new schools is right for your child:

• In Brooklyn: Academy For Health Careers.
• In the Bronx: Bronx Bridges High School.
• In Manhattan: Renaissance Charter High School For Innovation,  Frank Mccourt High School,  Hudson High School Of Learning Technologies, Murray Hill Academy, Manhattan Academy Of Arts & Language,  and International High School At Union Square.
• In Queens:  High School For Community Leadership, Queens Metropolitan High School, Cambria Heights Academy, and Hillside Arts & Letters Academy.

Three new transfer schools will open in September as well. You can find information on those schools in the Department of Education’s New High Schools Directory.  As we reported last week, the due date for high school applications has been extended to Thursday, Feb. 25.

Good luck!

There are many reasons why high school choice in New York City is so fraught and frightening for parents. In a city where parenting can resemble a competitive sport, important questions abound. But as our children age, we learn that these questions are only the beginning.

Concerns from parents who must decide on a specialized high school or other placement for their child have dominated conversation on Insideschools and in countless households. Class size, academic quality, commute time, and advanced placement offerings are all being weighed, along with the role of sports and arts.

Other pressing questions are close behind, because the inevitable and lifelong separation process is dramatically stepped up when your child enters high school. For example, what happens four years later? What percent of students graduate on time (in a city where half don’t) and how well prepared will graduates be for college? What is the quality of college counseling in city high schools, and how do college admissions officers regard graduates of say, Bronx Science vs. Eleanor Roosevelt?  Just how much should college concerns weigh upon what happens after 8th grade?

Those who have survived the intensity of New York City school admissions all the way to high school may feel like grizzled veterans when it comes time to pick a college. Still, it’s a shock to the system to consider our unformed adolescents as young adults who will, if all goes well, be out the door and making their own decisions before long.

Assumptions we make while dragging our 12 and 13-year-olds on school tours may be struck down as their interests and abilities change. I’ve always found one of the oddest and most difficult parts of school choice in New York City, starting with pre-kindergarten, can be making choices based on what I imagine my child will be like a full year later. (more…)

This week’s snowstorm forced the postponement of open houses at specialized and new high schools. Because of the delays, the Department of Education is giving 8th graders and their families a few more days to make up their minds about whether to apply to new high schools, or, for those lucky enough to have a choice after the first round of high school acceptances, which school to accept!

The due date has been changed from Tuesday, Feb. 23 to Thursday, Feb. 25. From the comments on InsideSCOOP and our forum, some families are having a tough time making a decision. If you’ve got experience to share about the schools, please chime in.

And, see the Department of Education’s website for a rundown of all weather-related schedule changes, including the new open house dates for specialized high schools, and hearings about hotly-contested school utilization plans.

Q: My son is a junior and I thought that later this spring, and over the summer, we’d start driving to see some college campuses. Now he is saying, why bother, no one gets in anyway. He is friends with a number of seniors, and some of them have already gotten rejection letters from colleges. Their disappointment is affecting him and making him think very negatively. How do I build up his interest?

A: You can’t prevent your son from hearing negative information from some of his friends, but you also need to get him to hear the positive as well. He needs to see the big picture, and the big picture shows us that pretty much every high school student who takes academics seriously and plans his/her college applications carefully will indeed get in. They may not get into their #1 choice, but they will find a college, in many cases more than one, which will accept them.

Of course, if your son’s friends are talking about Ivy League schools, where the acceptance rate is usually less than 10%, most applicants are going to be disappointed. But freshman places at Ivy league institutions account for a very small percentage of freshman places nationally. The vast majority of admissions decisions for this year’s seniors have yet to be made. I am confident that by the end of this academic year, all of your son’s friends will have been accepted to colleges where they will be happy. (more…)

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The Department of Education announced that open houses scheduled for this Wednesday, Feb. 10 for students accepted at specialized high schools, will be postponed until Feb. 22 because of predicted “inclement weather”. The forecast calls for ice and snow on Wednesday.

Students must turn in their acceptances by Feb. 23 — the day after the rescheduled  open houses at several of the specialized high schools; no word that the acceptance date will be postponed.

The affected schools are:

• The Brooklyn Latin School - 325 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn: 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
• Brooklyn Technical High School - 29 Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn: 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
• Staten Island Technical High School - 485 Clawson Street, Staten Island: Session I (for students with last names A-L): 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
• Staten Island Technical High School - 485 Clawson Street, Staten Island: Session II (for students with last names M-Z): 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm
• Stuyvesant High School - 345 Chambers Street, Manhattan: 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Open houses scheduled for other specialized schools on Tuesday and Thursday will proceed as scheduled!

Many other new high schools are holding open houses this week. Check the new schools directory and call or email the school directly to find out when.

See the DOE’s press release for details about the snow delay for Wednesday’s open houses.

Eighth-graders (and some 9th-graders) across the city learned this week whether they were offered seats at the city’s specialized high schools, including the eight schools for which students take the Specialized High School Admissions Test, and LaGuardia High School which requires auditions and a review of a student’s academic record. Nearly 6000 8th-graders — 5,898 — received an offer. (No word yet on how many 9th-graders got offers.) Close to 2000 9th graders — 1,964 –took the exam and 174 received an offer.

Of 27,000 applicants citywide for the exam schools, 5,261 were offered seats. Last year 5,246 got offers. At LaGuardia 1,000 kids got one or more offers as applicants often do multiple auditions. Of those 1,000 students, 363 also got accepted by one of the exam schools. Thirty 9th-graders received 36 offers to programs in LaGuardia. Of those, two students who received an offer to LaGuardia also received an offer to a specialized testing school.

Students who made the cut also learned about their high school placements to non-specialized high schools. But, the vast majority of students who participated in the specialized high school process — nearly 21,000 — will have to wait for March 24th, when all applicants will receive their results.

Students with offers in hand have until Feb. 23 to decide which one to accept. Feb. 23 is also the deadline for students to submit a new application to apply to one of the 16 new high schools opening next fall. Families may learn about more about those at a fair this weekend.

Watch The InsideSCOOP for updates on the high school admissions process; we’ll add information as we get it. Let us know how things unfolded at your school. Share your information in comments below.

UPDATE: The lowest score for which an offer was made was 470 for the eighth grade and 480 for the ninth grade.

In our last poll, we asked how you felt about the closing of 19 city schools. It turns out that a strong majority — 61% — feel that schools should be fixed rather than shut. Another 11% felt that some deserve to be closed, but others do not. Just 16% said all 19  schools are bad and should be shut down.

Our poll results  stand in contrast to assertions by education officials and others that those who oppose the closings are just a noisy minority. An editorial in the Daily News said most of the closing opponents who attended the hearings of the Panel for Educational Policy were bused in by the teacher’s union.  It suggested that the “best measure of what mothers and fathers feel about particular schools is how many of them hope to enroll their children,” concluding that because relatively few parents ranked the schools now slated for closure as their first choice on high school applications, they “have no such backing because parents want far better.”

All parents want better schools.  In fact, many people visit Insideschools.org because they are actively seeking out good schools. And,  a clear majority of those who voted say troubled schools should be fixed not shut. What does that tell you?  Please share your thoughts below.

The Department of Education is rolling out plans to open new schools next fall across the city. The DOE announced Tuesday that it will add six schools to the list of Brooklyn schools already slated to open for the 2010/2011 school year. These elementary and middle schools will be located in Districts 17, 20, and 23. Each school will open with early grades and phase-in higher grades over time.

The DOE hopes that these  schools will alleviate growing pressures of overcrowding in these districts. Four of the proposed schools will be in District 20, where elementary school seats are especially in short supply.

For more information on these, and other,  school openings, visit the DOE’s fact sheets for each district. If you have questions concerning new schools, you can contact the Office of Public Affairs at 212-374-2437 or OPA@schools.nyc.gov.

Sixteen new high schools set to open next September are profiled in the Directory of the New High Schools, now available on the Department of Education’s website. Representatives from many of the schools will be at this weekend’s fair for 8th grade students who are still looking for a high school for next fall.

Of the schools seeking to attract incoming 9th graders, two are in the Bronx, one is in Brooklyn, five are in Manhattan, and another five are in Queens. Some will share buildings with schools whose closure has just been announced, such as Norman Thomas,  Beach Channel, and Jamaica. Most have themes.

There are three transfer schools opening, one each for the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. These are aimed at older students who are behind in their credits and who have been unsuccessful in their previous high schools.

Stay tuned….we’ll have more information after the new school fair. Prospective parents and students, please share your thoughts!

The Upper East Side will be getting a new elementary school next fall to help alleviate overcrowding which caused long wait lists for kindergarten last year in the neighborhood’s schools. The Department of Education plans to open PS 267 in the PS 158 building, occupying space which now houses the East Side Middle School. East Side Middle will move to its new building in September 2010.

The decision follows a unanimous vote by District 2’s Community Education Council to open a new school and will be voted on by the Panel for Educational Policy in its March meeting

In an email sent Tuesday night to state and local representatives, Andy Lachman of the grassroots organization, Parent Leaders of Upper East Side School, announced the DOE decision and thanked officials for helping “put a serious dent in UES overcrowding.” (more…)

This weekend, the Department of Education is hosting a fair for new high schools at Emigrant Savings Bank, across the street from DOE headquarters at 51 Chambers Street. No word yet about how many new schools, which will accept 9th-graders next fall, will be present at the fair, set to take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Officials say a handbook listing the new schools will be posted online and will be available at the fair.

Although high school applications were submitted in early December, 8th graders can request a new school application from their guidance counselor if they wish to change their application to apply to a new school for Fall 2010.

The first round of high school admissions results comes out this week, two days before the weekend fair. On Feb. 4, 8th and 9th-graders who applied for one of the city’s nine specialized high schools will learn whether they have been admitted to a specialized school.

Middle and high school guidance counselors will be distributing the results on Thursday, although some schools will mail them in an effort to forestall the upset that frequently accompanies the distribution of the acceptances. Students who are accepted at a specialized school will also find out whether they were matched to another school on their list. If not they will have to wait until the main round results are distributed on March 23. The timeline for high school admissions is posted on the DOE’s website. (more…)

Is your child turning five this year? Today, Feb. 1 is the first day to submit a kindergarten application.

Families may apply to multiple schools by going directly to the school with proof of address and date of birth, and filling out an application.You don’t need to bring your child.  Kindergarten admissions is a school-based process so the application may vary by school, with some schools using a  kindergarten application template provided by the Department of Education. This round of applications will last until March 12.

According to New York State law, kindergarten is not mandatory (although it is strongly encouraged!) but every child who applies is guaranteed a place. Priority in admissions is given to students who are zoned for the school, and to unzoned students who have a sibling enrolled in the school. For a rundown of admissions’ priorities, see the Department of Education’s page on elementary school admissions. (more…)

In a 6-4 decision, the District 2 Community Education Council approved the Department of Education’s “Option 2″ proposal for temporarily rezoning Lower Manhattan’s school boundaries.

Under the plan, Tribeca students living west of Church Street. will be zoned for the highly-regarded, but becoming-over-crowded, PS 234. PS 89, originally the zoned school for Battery Park City students, will now be zoned for students living north of Battery Park City and Gateway Plaza.

The decision also defined the zoning boundaries for Lower Manhattan’s two new public schools — PS/IS 397 Spruce Street School and PS/IS 276 — which the rapidly-growing community hopes will alleviate overcrowding while maintaining the strong reputation of its current schools. (more…)

Q: How difficult is it to transfer to another college? Is it easier or harder than getting admitted as a freshman? Also, does the college you are applying to look at your high school record or just your college record?

A: The basic answer to all your questions above is: It depends.

Openings for transfer students are made possible by other students leaving the college. A school with a high retention rate will have fewer openings. In general, the more selective a college, the fewer places it will have. On the other hand, a less selective school which is also more affordable,  may be experiencing a higher demand for places — so it may be harder to be admitted as a transfer student there this year than it was last year. (more…)

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Q: My stepson is a high school junior and lives in Puerto Rico. He really wants to go to college in New York City. Can you recommend a good website or resource for us to help him prepare for the application process?

A: New York City is one of the world’s best college towns! There are colleges and universities in every borough, for every field of study, and in a wide range of price and accessibility. The list is too long to give here, but it includes Columbia University, Barnard College, New York University, Marymount Manhattan, Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, St. John’s University, Wagner College, and the 16 campuses of the City University of New York. (Never heard of Wagner College? Check it out. It’s a “hidden gem” on Staten Island!)

Students in New York City can get a two-year Associate’s degree at a community college, a four-year bachelor’s — even go on to graduate school, law school, nursing or medical school, or business school. There are specialized schools for studying art, computers, medical technology, fashion, music, music production, aviation, merchandising, and education. The most expensive colleges can cost over $50,000 a year while others charge less than a fifth of that amount.

Your stepson might be a bit overwhelmed at first by the sheer amount of information available, but if he starts methodically he will be able to come up with a manageable shopping list. An excellent place to start is the College Board which gives basic facts about the 3500+ colleges and universities in the U.S. (more…)

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A host of parental postings on this blog in recent weeks have included the following concern: “My child has so much homework and gets so little sleep that I feel really sorry for him/her.”

Often, this has come from the parents of freshmen at schools like Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science and Stuyvesant, large, highly sought after and filled with high expectations and high achievers.

High expectations mean that students will be expected to keep up with what in some cases might feel like a daunting work load, while adjusting to huge schools filled with ambitious classmates and teachers who may not have time to get to know them. (more…)

It was hard not to feel empathy for the aspiring dancer depicted on the front page of the New York Times last week, in an excellent piece by Jennifer Medina that looked at the grueling schedule of auditions for ninth-graders hoping to snag a spot in a performing arts high school.

The endurance test had to have struck a chord with parents who are going through auditions. It for me brought back the frightening moment a year ago when I thought I heard my now 9th grade son tell me that his much practiced musical audition to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School was “awful,’ – instead of  “awesome.”

Auditions are rife with tension and drama, but lost in the piece was an ever present question for parents whose children ultimately get into a performing arts high school. What will the quality of the academic experience be, and what trade-offs, if any, will kids and parents have to make? (more…)

Q: My daughter applied Early Decision to an Ivy League school and just found out she was “deferred.” Her college counselor told her the school was a “reach,” but my daughter chose to apply anyway because she really loves this college and felt she had a good chance. Her grades and scores are very high and, frankly, she is one of the top achievers at her school. Now she is devastated. A “no” might have been easier to deal with — but “deferred”? Is this just a nicer way of saying “no”? It seems to me a kind of admissions limbo. Why do they do this?

A: A deferral is not a denial, but you are right — it is a type of limbo, where your daughter’s application is hovering, neither accepted nor rejected. It’s not a comfortable place to be, but not entirely hopeless. Your daughter is obviously an excellent student, as this Ivy League school is still interested in her — they want to keep her in the running. Her college counselor was right, though, in telling her that this college was a “reach.” Because competition for admission to Ivies is so keen, and because their acceptance rates are extremely low (many under 10%), they are all “reach” schools no matter how strongly qualified the applicants.

Going into the application process with this understanding should ward off optimism, but it’s hard not be hopeful. So of course your daughter feels tremendously let down. She might feel a bit better if she realizes that, having had the courage to take herself into a hugely competitive arena, she survived the first cut. (more…)

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I overheard a conversation this fall between a group of high school freshmen, comparing the weight of their backpacks, their teachers, and their overall adjustment.

Many spoke of going back to visit their middle school several times already, a telling clue. One described the juniors and seniors as “giants,” another said the hallways were so crowded he could barely walk. Another missed lunch because he couldn’t find the cafeteria. The number of exams seemed daunting, as did the competition to get on sports teams and in other activities. A performing arts student said she had spent so much time worrying about her tryout, she hadn’t thought about “the school part, and all the homework.”

All had a slightly glazed look in their eyes. I listened carefully (the conversation happened to take place around my kitchen table). In a suburban setting, the group would have moved together to the same local high school; here sat a group of friends who now represented five very different choices. (more…)

Eighth-graders and their families are in the final frenzy of filling out high school applications before tomorrow’s Dec. 4 due date after a fall of attending fairs, visiting schools, taking exams, and auditioning.

The process is a daunting one, despite reforms in the system and efforts by the central enrollment office to get information out to parents. It’s especially confusing for families at risk, (as described in a June 2009 Schools Watch report), parents who don’t speak English, and those who don’t have time to research all the options. No wonder many are wondering, “is there a better way?” as our High School Hustle blogger Liz Willen asked in her recent post.

DOE officials agree that parents need all the help they can get. Yesterday they announced the launch of a “High School Admissions Ambassador” program, recruiting parents to teach parents about high school admissions. (more…)

Proposed changes in District 2 zoning attracted at least 100 parents on Monday night to the first of several meetings held to hear community concerns about new catchment areas for its popular downtown and Upper East Side schools. Parents have long been concerned with overcrowding and now that two new schools — PS 276, the Battery Park City School and PS 397, Spruce Street School — have been added downtown, rezoning is needed to allocate students among them. Rezoning is a temporary fix while several plans for middle schools and other new sites are still in planning stages.

A Power Point presentation given by Elizabeth Rose of the Department of Education’s Office of Portfolio and Planning emphasized four things about the proposed rezoning of District 2. First, she said, there are enough seats. Second, current students and younger sibling priority rights are important to District 2residents and will be protected by the DOE. Third, the DOE welcomes any and all feedback before voting on a final plan. And finally, it is impossible to make everyone happy. (more…)

Q: I understand the importance of the college essay, and how admissions people use it to get a sense of the whole applicant beyond the transcript and test scores.  But what’s the point of all those short essays?  Write p 277 of your autobiography!  Write a haiku about yourself!  Why are you applying to us? These short essays are annoying and I don’t see the purpose.  Don’t they already have enough information in the application to make a decision?

A:  I am sure that every other student working to submit an application by the deadline has been similarly annoyed and wonders the same thing.  But don’t kid yourself - these “short” questions are of the utmost importance!  Admissions officers have a tremendous amount of work to do; they are not making up extra questions just to give you and them more to do!  There is a reason.  For one thing, college admissions people know that the longer essay, which is usually considered to be “the” essay, may have been tweaked and edited and corrected by mom, dad, teachers, Uncle Fred, or even a paid advisor, and may no longer represent the genuine voice of the student.  And the genuine, natural voice is what they want to hear.  Dashing off - not being thoughtless, but being a bit more spontaneous - those short answers might reveal more of the unprompted writer.

Remember that an application should give a multi-dimensional picture of the applicant.  The short answers that you might think are trivial, actually add something to this portrait.

And if a college asks the question - “why are you applying to our college?” - please take this very seriously.  They are not looking for you simply to praise their school.  Neither are they looking for you to regurgitate information easily found on their website or publications.  So if you say “I want to attend X College because it’s ranked #3 in the nation for . . .” or “I want to go to your school because it’s only 20 minutes from Boston” or “X College is for me because it offers a choice of 38 majors” you will have failed the test.  Anyone can write those things.

They want to see that you have truly reflected on your choice.  In this way they may be able to tell the difference between a sincere applicant and one who wants to use them as a safety school or back-up.  If they have two applicants whose qualifications are very similar, but one applicant sounds sincere and the other sounds not fully interested, which applicant do you think they will choose?

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about the middle school fairs. Several open houses and tours later, my family is taking on the seemingly impossible task of ranking schools. Schools that I thought would be among “our” first choices are now somewhat less impressive when viewed up close.

Although my son continues to grumble, he is learning what is important to him in a school and recognizing the signs of a potential “home.”  “J” is mainly concerned with technology and the arts. He prefers a 6-12 school so that he doesn’t have to go through this process again (until college, that is).  I am largely concerned with whether the students’ voices are heard and their input valued. A lack of student voice is the number one complaint amongst the kids that I work with.

Given your thoughtful questions and comments, I thought an update might be useful. Sonia wondered how to find unzoned schools, “Bronx Dad” asked about District 10 schools, and  “District 13 parent” lamented the lack of both true diversity and high quality citywide schools. (more…)

A new batch of future-kindergartners will be “turning 5″ soon, and the Department of Education is preparing for their arrival. The kindergarten admissions season is set to begin Feb. 1 for children who will turn five in 2010. The pre-K admissions season will open a month later, on March 1 according to the DOE’s timeline. Eligible students are those will turn four by Dec. 31, 2010.

Turning 5 Fairs  for children with special needs will begin on Nov. 30. Taking place across the city, these events acquaint parents with the public school special education admissions process. The 2009-2010 guide for “Preschool to School Age Orientation” will be available soon on the DOE’s Special Education website.

In January, a handful of schools in District 75, which serves only disabled students, will hold open houses and tours.

Many public schools are already scheduling tours and open houses for prospective parents. For dates, it’s best to check the school’s website or call the parent coordinator.

Uncertain of what is your zoned school? Visit the DOE’s School & Zone Finder or call 311. Looking for another option? Search for “unzoned”  or “charter” schools in the Insideschools Find a School section.

Q: How can I possibly make my application special when colleges are getting thousands of them? How can mine be different and get their attention?

A: How can you make your application stand out? It’s a challenge, especially when you are using the Common Application, which makes every application look the same — neat, yes, but also visually uniform and therefore potentially boring for admissions officers facing stacks of identical applications.

Of course, the contents of your application, rather than its appearance, ought to be its most outstanding aspect. Still, adding some visual spice can have the effect of making the people reading your application slow down a bit and really notice the contents.

But be careful. (more…)

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Nearly half — 45% — of all New York City public high schools are “A” schools, according to their grades on progress reports released today by the Department of Education. An additional 30% of the more than 300 high schools graded received a “B.” The high school grades lag behind those of the elementary and middle schools released in September.

High elementary and middle school grades reflected, in large part, the improvement of students’ scores on state standardized exams; high school grades are based on the school’s graduation rates and Regents scores, which did not improve as much.

The high number of elementary and middle schools receiving top grades — 84% received A’s — led some to question the validity of the grading system, while state officials vowed to toughen up its procedures.

Today’s press release, reports that 87% of the schools that received an A last year earned an A again this year; 67% of the schools that earned D’s and F’s last year earned C’s this year. (more…)

When someone asked me what high schools I might be thinking about for my 7th-grader recently, my answer came swiftly and might have sounded a bit snippy.

“I’m not thinking about it at all,” I said, which of course, isn’t true, much as I’d like it to be, since it feels like we just got him happily settled in middle school.

It is a fact of life for New York City parents: You are always thinking about schools, from pre-school (which can be a grueling ritual of its own) until high school graduation, when the focus shifts to paying for college. (more…)

Urban Word NYC is a spoken word, poetry, and hip-hop group aimed at serving New York City youth. They were “founded on the belief that teenagers can and must speak for themselves” and “provide free, safe and uncensored writing workshops to teens year round.”

I have been attending their Creatively College Bound workshop this year. The program is enormously helpful. In their words, Creatively College Bound “is a program geared towards high school juniors and seniors who want their creative critical voice to soar over the tedium of the college application process. Poetry, spoken word, and hip-hop are used as inspirations and the creative foundation for the college admissions and college preparatory process.”

Participants write four essays in four different general areas that cover all college/scholarship prompts. These essays are then read at workshops so the writer can get feedback from the other members. The leader of the workshop will give his or her own feedback as well.

I brought a draft of my common application essay to a workshop a couple of months ago. The leader made copies, passed one to everyone, and had someone read it out loud. It was a bit nerve racking, but at the end I got back 15 copies of my essay, covered in suggestions from other writers. They also gave me verbal feedback and explained their comments. I spent the next couple weeks incorporating their suggestions and my own new ideas, and ended up with an essay I was really proud of. In fact I was so happy with my essay that I applied to all my colleges two months early!

Creatively College Bound workshops take place on Monday afternoons at the Urban Word space in Midtown Manhattan.

If you think you’re doing okay on your essay, Urban Word provides a number of other workshops on topics ranging from slam poetry to social activism. Check out the website to see what Urban Word has to offer you!

Q:  My son is a junior at a high school in Queens.  He is an excellent student and would like to go to a prestigious college.  But his high school is huge and the college counselors don’t have much time for each student.  On the other hand, my cousin’s son goes to a prep school near Washington DC, and my cousin says their college counselors are known for getting kids into the best colleges.  What chance does my son have competing against applicants like that?

A:  I went to a very large high school myself, in Queens, many years ago.  There were about 1500 students in my graduating class.  Now I work at a private school, and yes, there is a vast difference in the amount of individual attention teachers and counselors are able to give to students.  But statistics confirm that students in each setting are successful in the college admissions process.

Going to a private school in itself does not guarantee acceptance to any college; nor does attending a large urban public school in itself, assure rejection.  Applicants are looked at in the context of their school environment, so your son will not be competing against his cousin.

I recently attended an admissions information session at an Ivy league university.  The admissions rep pointed out that if they accepted students who were all exactly the same in background and qualifications, the freshman class would be pretty boring.  To keep their school vigorous and stimulating, they admit students who come from a wide variety of schools, communities, and ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who bring an array of interests and talents to campus.  To do this, they recruit widely at both public and private schools.  Colleges really do reach out, some more effectively than others. (more…)

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As the high school application season heats up for 8th-graders and their families this weekend, the Department of Education is sponsoring fairs in all five boroughs. While not exactly relaxing, these fairs are much smaller than the citywide fair (held at Brooklyn Tech last month).

Students, who meet 8th or 9th-grade promotional standards, and who have not applied for high schools yet, can walk among the tables more calmly and speak to representatives from high schools in their borough. This might be the time to ask the specific questions you might not be able to ask on a school tour or at an open house.

And, it’s a good idea to tour the schools you are interested in before applying. Many schools will have flyers advertising their tour schedules, so you can collect those as well at the fair.

Check out the fair in your borough — and let us know how it goes. All fairs run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. In the Bronx, go to the Roosevelt High School building; in Brooklyn, Murrow High School; in Manhattan, the Martin Luther King building; in Queens, Frances Lewis, and on Staten Island, New Dorp High School.

If you still have questions, you can attend one of the DOE’s upcoming evening high school information sessions, running through Nov. 12.

If you’ve got an 8th-grader looking for a high school — or a 9th-grader looking to change high schools — you may want to join the throngs at the citywide high school fair this weekend at Brooklyn Tech High School in Fort Greene.

Yes, there will be a crowd, but it’s a good opportunity to meet representatives from all high schools — including students — and ask your admissions questions. You can also collect information about upcoming school tours and open houses.

If you are new to the high school admissions process, you will benefit from attending workshops and talks offered by Department of Education enrollment officials throughout the day. It’s a good chance to pin them down on specific topics.

The fair is on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. See you there!

Is your 4-year-old gifted? Talented? If so, now is the time to start thinking about having him or her tested for the public school gifted and talented programs. This week the Department of Education posted the admissions timeline, as well as an updated list of schools that currently have G&T programs.

Test information and parent handbooks for incoming kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-graders will be online as of Oct. 7, according to the DOE. Materials will be available in elementary schools the week of Oct. 13. You must register for the test by Nov. 7. There is a different process for children in older grades.

The DOE will hold information sessions to explain G&T programs and the admissions process in each borough; the first is in the Bronx on Oct. 14, and the last will be in Manhattan on Oct. 22. See the DOE’s website for details.

On the soccer field last weekend, the parent of an 8th-grader casually inquired what it takes to get into one of the city’s best high schools. I wanted to laugh, but that wouldn’t be fair, because as I started my own search with my son a year ago, I was equally curious and anxious.

“So, do you think Beacon wants straight As and4s on both tests?” the mother asked. Like many parents trying to unravel the mystery of high school choice in the nation’s largest school system, she wanted straightforward answers that would help her assess her son’s chances. If her son was not an outstanding student, (I did not ask) would his chances of being accepted at one of the top schools be diminished?

As the high school search begins for 8th-graders, the question of who gets in is especially disconcerting. The specialized high schools like Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant, and Bronx Science are not for everyone, but the criteria is at least transparent: students take an exam, and if their score is high enough, they’ll get in. Students with poor grades who don’t test particularly well can be accepted, although those who get in generally have taken test prep for the exam. (more…)

What advice can you give me for my 8th-grade son to prepare for Ivy League schools? His reply is “I’m only in 8th grade.” But I worry as he is not in honors classes and I think he should be. He did well last year in 7th grade but all of his teachers said he could do much better as he is very bright. He is focusing on his social life and he thinks school is for social activity. How can I change his mindset? Am I worrying too soon?”

Well, yes and no. First, there is a social component to school — if your son were studying all the time and had no friends at all, that would be a source of worry. But if his friends are responsible good students, who do not lure him into dangerous activities, that’s great. Make sure he knows that his friends are always welcome in your home, because if they get together at your house, you’ll know where he is! Now back to academics. You have raised a number of issues.

Let’s start with the one in your first sentence. Please substitute “a high quality collegiate experience” for “Ivy League schools!” The Ivies do not have a monopoly on providing excellent education (nor does an Ivy League degree guarantee happiness, or even a job). There are hundreds of fine colleges and universities. In addition, the Ivy League schools have an acceptance rate that averages less than 10%. Because of intense competition, it’s very, very hard to get in. If you convey to your son that only an Ivy League is acceptable, he may become demoralized and won’t even try — or he may try and not be accepted, and then feel like a failure. Please don’t set him up for that. (more…)

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Dear Judy,

My son is just starting kindergarten in a K-8 school. If he is unhappy in a K-8 school can he apply to middle school elsewhere? Or if you are unhappy in a 6-12 school can you apply to high school elsewhere?

- Apprehensive Mom

Dear Apprehensive Mom:

The beauty of schools that combine elementary and middle school grades, or middle and high school grades, is that families may not have to go through the tedious middle and high school admissions process and can continue at the same school. However, the answer to your question- are you able to switch schools if you are not happy at a K-8 or 6-12 school? — is yes, you always have the option of going through the application process at normal school entry points, including 6th or 9th grade. (more…)

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Although the first day of school is just two weeks away, some students, especially those new to the city, still don’t know where they will be going to school on Sept. 9.

Beginning next Monday, Aug. 31, the Department of Education will open special enrollment centers for high school students who are new to New York City, new to public school, or who otherwise don’t have a high school placement. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Monday to Friday from Aug. 31- Sept. 18 (closed on Labor Day). (more…)

Dear Judy,

My daughter has been attending school in another state. Now she wants to finish back in the city. She will be going into 11th grade and she’s a good student. What are her options?

-Puzzled Mom

Dear Puzzled Mom (and others who are new to the city):

Eleventh grade is a tough time to make a change, particularly for high-achieving kids who have been attending school out-of-state. The selective exam and audition high schools, known as specialized high schools, do not accept 11th-graders and many other popular schools generally don’t have available seats.

Then there are the Regents exams: kids have to pass five of them to get a diploma. Principals have some discretion on whether to waive one or two exams, based on academic records, but be sure to ask about that when your register your daughter for school. (more…)

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Donya Rhett, PhD, aka “Bronx Mom,” is a frequent commenter on The InsideSCOOP. A resident of Morris Heights, she is the parent of a 10-year-old son and an (almost) 5- year-old daughter who both attend Central Park East 1. She also surveys the New York City public school scene as a clinical psychologist working in a school-based health center at a Harlem middle/high school campus. We’re pleased to welcome her contributions to The InsideSCOOP.

“Bronx Mom” is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, I am a mom. Yes, we live in the Bronx. And yet, I often feel very disconnected from my Morris Heights neighborhood because my children have only attended Harlem schools.

I tried to make an “educational home” in the Bronx six years ago when I first began searching for kindergarten for my son. Sadly, there were few choices in my district (10) that were accessible to us and would also be a good fit for my bright, very active child. Given the beliefs of some that families should stick with their zoned school, I thought I might shed some light as to why I, self-titled Bronx Mom, crossed district lines in search of the best fit. (more…)

If you have a rising high school freshman  or sophomore and  moved to the city after Oct. 31, 2008, you still have the chance to apply to some of the city’s most sought-after schools. You teen can register now to take the specialized high school exam, or audition for LaGuardia High School for the Arts, for entrance in September.

The nine specialized high schools are highly selective: eight of them base admissions on the results of an exam while LaGuardia requires an audition to one of its six arts programs.  There is at least one specialized high school in each of five boroughs, and you may register for either an audition or the exam (or both!) at any of the Department of Education’s borough enrollment offices. The exam will be given on Monday, Aug. 31, and auditions for LaGuardia will be held on Friday, Sept. 4. The last day to register is Aug. 27.

There are also high school  seats available for rising juniors at another selective school:  Bard High School Early College II in Queens, which offers students the opportunity to graduate with a high school diploma and a two-year degree from Bard College. Bard requires applicants to take an entrance assessment and schedule an in-person interview. To find out more, call (212) 995-8479 ext. 2043, (212) 995-8479 ext. 2041, or (845) 546-0364.

Is your high school still accepting students for September 2009? Let us know whom to contact below!

Q: I am on Facebook a lot with my friends, just to, like, stay in touch, share photos, nothing serious. Sometimes we use four-letter words in our conversation, it doesn’t really mean anything. My mom saw my page and really got on my case for this. She says college admissions people read applicants’ Facebook pages and judge them on that. I think she’s over-reacting. First of all, those people probably don’t have time to search for every applicant on Facebook. But also, most of the people using Facebook are teenagers and you have to expect that language. I mean, it’s just for fun, no big deal, right?

A: Using Facebook to “stay in touch” is not wrong, of course, and it is fun. In fact, it’s so much fun that thousands of people who are far beyond their teenage years use it. (Go ahead, look me up.) But it is wrong to assume that admissions people do not take the time to check applicants’ entries on social networking sites. They do. They don’t have the time to check every applicant; but they check many. Silly, frivolous things don’t turn them off. But entries that reflect bigotry, racism, homophobia, intolerance, or a violent nature definitely set off alarms. The admissions people aren’t trying to spy; they are trying to gather any additional information that could help them decide if a person should be admitted to their academic community. (more…)

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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!

Parents of  2nd and 3rd-graders waiting to find out their gifted and talented program placement should be on the lookout! A Department of Education official confirmed that the letters were sent out last Thursday - a day earlier than expected!

Remember: you must accept your placement offer by Friday, July 17.  Let us know  if you’ve gotten news!

Dear Judy,

My son is entering 7th grade this fall. Should I be thinking about high school admissions already? What can I do to get prepared?

- Thinking Ahead Mom

Judy answers:

Dear Thinking Mom,

It’s never too soon for a middle school family to start thinking about high school. There are new choices every year as well as the popular tried-and-true schools to consider.

A smart move is to attend the high school admission process workshops that the Department of Education is holding for middle school families over the summer.The workshops are held Tuesday evenings at either Brooklyn Tech High School or Stuyvesant High School. The first session, an overview of options, is being held at Brooklyn Tech on June 30. The other sessions at Brooklyn Tech, on July 7 and 14, cover how to prepare for the specialized high school exam and how to prepare for auditions and portfolios for arts high schools. The sessions at Stuyvesant, starting on July 21 and going through August 11, will discuss large high schools, career and technical schools, new small schools, and charter schools.

You can also pick up a copy of the Directory of Public High Schools that the DOE publishes every year. It should be available at most middle schools and at the borough enrollment offices. The directory is getting fatter and fatter each year, and just browsing through the listings of more than 500 schools can be daunting. To help you narrow your search, check the Insideschools’ reviews in the Find a School section and purchase NYC’s Best Public High Schools by Clara Hemphill and the Insideschools staff.

Consider attending the citywide high school fair next October 3 and 4. At the fair, you and your son will have the opportunity to meet with representatives and often students from many high schools. It’s a hectic and crowded event, but it will help you to jumpstart your school search. Typically around February there are fairs to introduce new schools that will open the following September.

Whether or not you attend the DOE workshops, if your son plans to take the test or audition for one of the city’s nine specialized high schools you should get a copy of the Department of Education’s Specialized High Schools Student Handbook. The handbook should be available at one of the borough enrollment offices or from your guidance counselor in the fall (although most school copies will be reserved for 8th graders.) The handbooks have a sample Specialized High School Achievement Test (SHSAT) so your 7th grader can find out what he’s up against. You can get reasonably inexpensive prep books at our bookstore. I’ve also heard about students getting together in study groups to use these prep books instead of investing in expensive tutoring courses; some middle schools hold free prep courses for 7th graders.

Bottom line: The high school application, although filed in 8th grade, shows 7th grade scores, making 7th grade a very important school year. So while you and your son take some time to attend high school fairs and open houses, don’t forget about homework and attendance! With some advance knowledge, and good grades, you’ll be ready to go through the process for real next year!

You’ve got the whole summer to enjoy. Try not to let admissions anxiety get in the way!

Judy

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Q: My son is finishing his junior year, and so far he has not done that well in high school — his average is not quite an 80. He wants to study pharmacy. I don’t want him to go to a community college — I prefer that he attend a college with dorms so that he has the full campus experience. Where do we start?

A: Your question actually has many parts. You are concerned because going into his senior year, your son does not have a strong academic record, yet he is expressing interest in a field that is very difficult to enter. While it might be relatively easy for him to start at a community college, where he could build up his academic profile, you want him to have a residential college experience.

I can understand this — part of the excitement of college is living away from home, learning how to get along with a roommate, and enjoying those philosophical discussions at 2 a.m. Yet — without knowing anything about your home situation — I am concerned that if your son is struggling academically now, while living at home, how is he going to handle his studies while surrounded by all the distractions of campus life?

My suggestion for him, and you, is to take small steps. First, he has to make academics his #1 priority if he is going to have a successful senior year. Senior year grades do count! Let’s see if he can get that GPA above 80. You do not mention his other credentials, but he needs solid SAT or ACT scores, and Regents scores. He should be involved in some extra-curricular activities, too, so that he is a well-rounded college applicant. And that’s the next step, gaining admission to a school where he can develop his academic skills and explore various choices of majors.

As for pharmacy, it is a graduate program. Students work for six years, going beyond the regular time span for a BA or BS degree, until they earn a PharmD degree. Admission to pharmacy school is extremely competitive. Students need high grades, particularly in science and math, and also have to score well on a national exam. Does this mean that I think your son can never become a pharmacist? No, it could happen — but I think that aiming for it right now is premature.

Your son may well be one of those students who is “a late bloomer” — he will be successful, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. He ought to apply to schools where he has a good chance of acceptance and where he can build up his academic skills. Do you know that dorms are available at two CUNY schools? CCNY has a dorm, and a dorm is scheduled to open this coming fall at Queens College. Your son might also consider one of the smaller SUNY branches, such as New Paltz or Old Westbury. Of course, I cannot predict that he will be admitted to any of these schools, but they are suggestions of where to apply if he can get his GPA to a B average. If he adjusts well to college and proves that he can take on a challenging program, he might apply to transfer to a school offering pharmacy.

Ask him to think about why he is interested in pharmacy. Perhaps his desire to help people achieve better health — if that is what inspires him — will make him look at other fields, including social work, psychology, nursing, and health education. I would encourage him to keep his options open. Good luck!

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As readers who’ve contributed to our comments can attest, myriad questions persist regarding gifted and talented program placement for rising kindergarten and 1st grade students. This is the second year the Department of Education has administered the process, which had previously been managed by individual districts and schools.

First, for those who have not, at this late date, received word on their child’s placement status, Andy Jacob of the DOE provided an email address, giftedandtalented@schools.nyc.gov, as the best point of contact. Telephone calls and actual visits are less welcome, it seems, than email — despite the experiences of many parents whose emails have gone missing or remained unanswered. Some parents have had success by calling the individual schools to which they applied, and asking for information on their child’s placement status. It’s not the way it’s supposed to work, and it’s labor- and time-intensive, but it’s working, in some cases.

Andy Jacob also asked that we clarify that there are NO wait lists for G&T programs or schools. This is the DOE’s policy, and differs substantially from past years when the schools and the districts administered their own admissions. “There are no wait lists,” he wrote in an email message. “Students get only one placement, and if they reject that placement, they do not get another one.” (more…)