Last week, the New York Times reported on a bill just passed in the House of Representatives, to protect school children from certain forms of punishment, including restraint and seclusion (as in solitary confinement). If it becomes law, this legislation will cover children at all schools receiving federal funds.

I was astonished that such legislation was not already in place. Although it obviously covers extreme cases, the bill, and the fact that it came out in the midst of the Department of Education’s Respect For All Week (see this Insideschools post), got me thinking about discipline – the everyday variety that takes place among very young students, such as kindergartners.

How does a teacher keep a room full of five- and six-year-olds under control? They can be pretty active, and I can’t imagine having to manage 20 or more of them at one time. Remember Kindergarten Cop? I’m fairly sure more than one teacher has fantasized about going military on a wild class, but most of us expect a less heavy-handed approach from our teaching professionals. (more…)

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…)

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?

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…)

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…)

Judging by the commentary on one of  Insideschools’  recent polls, heavy homework loads seem to trigger impassioned responses from both parents and students. Do nightly assignments in kindergarten fall into the “too much” category? Some parents think so. The fact that kindergarten homework was an oxymoron a generation ago may have something to do with this.

In this article from the New York Times, the author describes her quest to avoid a school where her kindergartner would spend precious after-school time on worksheets and drills, at the expense of play and fun. She laments the earlier focus on academic achievement and questions the worth of putting all this pressure on our kids.

In my own informal poll, most of the parents I talked to, at public and private schools, say their kindergartners don’t come home with much of anything regular, just the occasional project-meant to be fun and perhaps tie in with the week’s theme. From what I’ve been reading lately, though, I know there are plenty of exceptions–schools that pile the homework on the five-year olds every night. (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.

Dear Judy: 

 My daughter just started kindergarten in a public school with a very big school yard.  Her schedule is robust with no play and all academics, mostly spent in a very warm classroom.  At lunchtime, the kindergartners stay in the cafeteria watching the others play and then are lined up outside in the yard for the last five minutes (again watching the other kids play) until their teachers come to get them so they can begin the next three hours in the warm classroom.

I have spoken to the teachers, the parent  coordinator, and the principal about the “why” behind this physically unhealthy and “mean” policy.  No straight answers yet, I’m still hoping.

Am I allowed to get my child during the lunch hour and bring her back to school after lunch? When I was a kid this was allowed. I want my young child to have some physical activity during the school day.

 Kindergarten parent

Dear Kindergarten parent,

Lunch in or out?  There is no city regulation governing this question; it is the school principal who determines the policy at each school. However a principal can’t keep individual parents from taking their child out to lunch.

For years and years many children went home for lunch, escorted by their mothers. That was in the “olden days” when women did not work and kids walked back and forth from school. Today it is rare, but not unheard of. There are logistics to work out:  You will have to sign your daughter in and out of school every lunchtime.  You and the school will have to decide where you will pick her up, what happens if you are late, who will  be responsible for her until you show up, and how will you inform the staff of exceptions. Besides adding a layer of supervision, these are understandable concerns for the safety of your daughter. You must work out suitable procedures with the principal and stick to them. (more…)

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Recently, my cousin mused on her 20 years as a kindergarten teacher: “It has changed. It’s much more academic now than it was in 1989.” She loves her job but feels pressure to teach certain skills sooner, even if some children aren’t developmentally ready. This year, she opted for her son to repeat pre-Kindergarten and grow a bit, knowing firsthand the demands today’s kindergarten places on children.

The play-based kindergarten I remember is starkly different from even my daughter’s pre-K experience. Last year, “homework” began appearing in Night Owl’s mailbox some time around Thanksgiving. There were flash cards bearing her classmates’ names, so we could practice word recognition at home. Her teacher balanced the day with play and rest time, but I wondered if all this work was appropriate for four-year-olds (some still three). (more…)

Parents who plan to test their kids for Gifted and Talented programs may attend Department of Education information sessions to learn details about the G&T process, from test to placement. Evening sessions - one in each borough - are held in schools with large auditoriums. Parents generally fill up the seats quickly, so plan to go early. The sessions run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The first session is tomorrow, Oct. 14, in the Bronx at Roosevelt High School. Next week there are four sessions: In Brooklyn at MS 113 on Oct. 19, on Staten Island on Oct. 20 at New Dorp High School; in Queens on Oct. 21 at Long Island City High School; and in Manhattan on Oct. 22 at Brandeis High School. (more…)

Dear Judy,

My daughter just started kindergarten at our zoned school in Brooklyn, which has a wonderful reputation. Last week, we attended the curriculum conference for her class, where the teacher outlined what the kids will learn this year. She told us that kids will learn their letter sounds, and learn to count. Well, our daughter is already reading chapter books, and able to add, subtract, and multiply. I e-mailed the teacher asking if we could sit down to discuss my daughter’s situation. She denied me a meeting stating, “I just think that at this point my goal is to now let your daughter’s development unfold in the classroom.” I was very distraught by this response. I have a 13-year-old stepson, and have never been denied a meeting by a teacher.

-Distraught Dad

Dear Distraught Dad,

Kindergarten teachers are usually more open to parent input than you describe, but it is early in the term. Give the teacher time; she has to learn all about the 25 eager new kids who show up every day. Heed what she said in her e-mail about letting your daughter’s development unfold in the classroom.

It’s a thoughtful comment, she is going to pay attention to your child, and your child will demonstrate her skills under her watchful eye. She is going to notice the books that your daughter brings to school, and her quick response to numbers. She is going to develop a strategy for her and for other kids in the class with advanced skills, as well as work with those who need catching up. (more…)

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Last night, I read my daughters Bread and Jam for Frances. My favorite part is the end, when Frances relishes every bite of her sophisticated boxed lunch (Lobster salad! Cream of tomato soup!) and “makes it all come out even.” Alas, in my house, a steady diet of peanut butter and jelly has done nothing to make picky Night Owl beg for something new. Cafeteria lunch? Forget it! We’ve tried. Each time, she eschews the healthier options in favor of a white hamburger bun dipped in ketchup. I figure we’re better off packing lunch.

Volunteering in the lunchroom, I’ve seen an impressive variety of homemade offerings on display. There are Caribbean stews and colorful Chinese stir-fries. My friend Min, who is from Korea, makes her son freshly steamed rice, on which she arranges black beans into a letter of the day. All of these lunches look healthy and hearty, and the children devour them.

A recent New York Times article detailed the art of the bento box; some of their examples dazzlingly intricate. If I had hours to spend sculpting bunnies out of food and thought it would coax Night Owl to eat more, perhaps I would perfect this craft. And I do get the idea of the bento box: to juxtapose as many colors, textures and food groups as possible, for nutritional value and visual appeal. A friend of mine packs Laptop Lunches, westernized bento boxes she says force her to create a varied and balanced meal — and leftovers work just fine for filling the compartments. (more…)

One day this week, my daughter brought home a book from her kindergarten class entitled “A Fine, Fine School” by Sharon Creech. It is the story of a well-meaning principal who is so proud of his fine, fine students and teachers that he decides to extend school to weekends, holidays, and the summer.

At first, though miserable, no one dared to object because it was obvious that the principal only wanted the best for his fine, fine students. After all, they were learning so much in school. Eventually, one brave girl helps the principal to see that ,although they are learning a great deal, there is much that was not being learned, such as how to climb and sit in a tree for an hour.

Last week the New York Daily News reported that President Obama proposed an increase in school hours as a means to achieving significant academic gains. The article included a quote from Education Secretary Arne Duncan suggesting that children in the US are being out-performed academically because they spend less time in the classroom. (more…)

I admit it: last year, I ditched out early on our PTA meeting (my daughters were climbing on me). This year, I vowed not only to attend but to listen carefully until the bitter end — which was more than an hour and a half. Many other parents seemed to be doing the same, even those toting squirming babies. After all, we want to know how budget cuts will affect our children, what might be whisked away, how we can all help. It’s harder, this year, to take for granted that certain programs and services will magically happen on their own.

Our principal declared herself optimistic, despite the 5% cuts we’re being hit with. She opened the meeting on an upbeat note, reading friendly letters students had written to her over the summer — one, amusingly, begged for better toilet paper in the school bathrooms. As the stream of teachers and parents spoke, I realized just how much of what helps our school succeed comes from the PTA. They make many of our arts programs possible. They maintain the web site. They organize enrichment classes taught by parents (last year, a dad helped kindergartners make a movie). They pay for some of the school’s supplies. And, of course, they raise the money and recruit parent volunteers to do all of this. (more…)

School is back in session and the parks around here are a bit emptier; toddlers once again rule the swings and sandboxes. All went smoothly for us, enough for me to question my own moments of worry. Night Owl, my kindergartner, still struggles with the early-to-bed, early-to-rise routine, but she put on her game face and strode confidently into her classroom. Her old classroom. It was the only hiccup in an otherwise smooth morning at PS 29. Thanks to clear communication from the school, everyone seemed to know what to expect that first day, so the momentary congestion in the halls only seemed to produce amiable chitchat.

Many arriving kindergarten parents were pleasantly surprised to see classroom assistants alongside teachers — after being told in June we would not have them. Our school is increasingly crowded. A new kindergarten class sprouted this year to absorb the influx, but the classrooms are still full. It was a relief when news came later in the summer that the city had reversed itself, and granted permission to keep PTA-funded aides in the classroom, especially in the face of budget cuts. Our PTA leaders hired them in time for opening day, so there are an extra set of hands in the kindergarten classrooms. (more…)

My daughters have declared themselves ready to go back to school. It was too easy! I can’t take any credit for the last couple of rainy, boring days of our vacation that convinced them. But, just because there’s no apparent angst around here doesn’t mean we’ll be breezing gracefully through the school’s doors, on time, next Wednesday morning.

We’ve gotten more than a tad lax, having been out of town for August. I’m not entirely sure my daughters know how to clean up after themselves any more, not to mention follow a classroom routine. I can’t say whether any of their school shoes fit (or where they are), and there was a list around here somewhere of supplies we’re supposed to get for my daughter’s kindergarten classroom. We need updated medical forms and booster shots and, worst of all, my 5-year-old Night Owl is living up to her nickname with a vengeance, creeping around until 11 p.m. and snoozing until 10. Help! (more…)

New York City schools are featured in one chapter of best-selling author Po Bronson’s latest book “Nurture Shock,” says The New York Times. What landed our schools in the limelight?  Bronson and co-author Ashley Merriman say the city has gotten testing for gifted programs all wrong, awarding a very high a percentage of seats to very young students — with little retesting as kids get older.

As many of our readers know all too well, here in the city, kindergarten admission to gifted and talented programs is based on the results of tests taken by preschoolers. For the high-scorers who make the cut, a kindergarten seat guarantees a gifted education through the 5th grade. And for the luckiest students, like those at the Anderson School, a seat earned by a preschooler guarantees a gifted education through middle school.

In a chapter titled “The Search for Intelligent Life in Kindergarten,” Bronson and Merriman present research that suggests tests taken before kindergarten are not a good indicator of future academic success. They add that many test creators endorse retesting children at an older age to ensure fairness in gifted and talented tracking. So while a standardized admissions process with uniform cut-off scores makes acceptance to the programs more equitable, it needs improvement. (more…)

Dear Judy,

In the fall, my son will be starting kindergarten in a school where he does not know anyone and where the classes are much larger than he is used to. All his pre-K friends will be in different schools, and I fear we will lose touch. I am wondering how to ease his transition to this new experience.

Anxious mother

Judy answers:

Dear Anxious Mother,

Ah, kindergarten is a new experience for all children, whether or not they know each other on the first day. As a parent, you know it’s important to keep your concerns to yourself. Instead, talk up the positive aspects of going to a new grown-up school where your son will learn lots of new things and find new friends. (more…)

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Claiborne Williams Milde is the parent of a kindergartner at PS 29 and a three-year-old preschooler. She lives in Brooklyn and is a freelance writer and cook. We’re pleased to welcome her regular contributions to The InsideSCOOP.

On a gray day this June, my daughter—I’ll call her Night Owl—stood on a blue riser and “stepped up” to kindergarten. The teacher spoke of what an amazing group of preschoolers this had been, and I realized how much I would miss the faces I saw each day at pick-up, at lunch duty, and on field trips. Another week of school followed Stepping Up, but it barely counted; as each day passed, paintings and projects disappeared from the walls, and with them, the room’s personality.

I flash back to Night Owl’s first day at PS 29. Climbing the huge stairway, she looked comically tiny, as if trying on a grownup’s clothes. I wondered how she, newly four, would tackle life in the big school. But pre-K turned out to be a safe bubble. Sure, there was structure and discipline, ABCs and 1,2,3s. But these little kids also rested on mats, tinkered in the play kitchen to their hearts’ content, and got plenty of hugs from the assistant teacher. In the final weeks, there was an aura of excitement as they practiced for fall by visiting kindergarten classrooms and lunching in the cafeteria. (more…)

It’s the last week of school, but the questions and concerns swirling around gifted and talented program placements continue, as the hundreds of comments responding to the previous  G&T post attest.

In hopes of getting answers to some of the questions that have been raised, we’d like to hear from readers who have not yet received news of their child’s placement — as of yesterday, at least some families hadn’t yet had word — and from those who’ve had difficulty registering their children for G&T district programs.

We are gathering questions this morning for the Department of Education; please let us know your concerns.

Last week, we confirmed with Department of Education representatives that kindergarten and 1st grade gifted and talented placement letters would go out starting today.

Now, the DOE website says letters will go out starting June 19th, this Friday — which leaves exactly one week until the deadline for registration, June 26th. Reasons for the delay are, as yet, unclear. As always, we’ll post details when they’re known. But families waiting by the mailbox should bide their time for a few more days, as the June 15th deadline will not be met.

When it comes to special education, it’s not hard to find fault with the NYC public school system. But my issue this week is the City’s private schools.

Last spring, my husband and I waited anxiously for callbacks from the “Ivy League” special education schools that we fell in love with during our September tours, where we saw small classes of kindergarteners with autism sweetly and successfully reading books, doing math and maneuvering their little bodies into yoga poses like cats and candles and tables. We checked our answering machine hourly, hoping that Brooks would get one of their three or four open spots — and that we would somehow figure out how to pay the tuition.

This spring, I’ve been watching families from Brooks’s old preschool go through the same process. I’m glad to report that those who’ve secured private school placements do seem to be having an easier time with DOE funding than our contemporaries did last year (simply put, if the DOE admits that they have no appropriate public education for your child, they need to bear part or all of the cost of an alternative private setting). Of course, overall, getting that funding is still a tremendously difficult and stressful endeavor. And one particular practice within private schools greatly disturbs me.

What I’m referring to is the ubiquitous non-refundable deposit to hold the spot, which is often at least $5,000. Did I mention that it’s non-refundable? In our experience, admissions directors were not completely unreasonable — you could often negotiate stretching the deadline date, but there was no negotiating the eventual delivery of that jaw-droppingly large check. (more…)

As we await word from the Department of Education on first-grade G&T eligibility, a succinct, cogent analysis of kindergarten G&T testing, in a GothamSchools comments string, is well worth considering, especially set against DOE claims of gains in historically underserved communities. The author is Jennifer Jennings, an education blogger, grad student, and recent coauthor, with Leonie Haimson, of a report indicting the DOE for dubious high-school pushout practices.

Jennings notes that last year and this year, three districts (of 32 citywide) were the source of 40 percent of all students qualifying for gifted programs - districts 2 and 3 in Manhattan, and District 22 in Brooklyn.

Adding in districts 15, 20, and 21, all of Brooklyn, which are the next three largest contributors to the G&T student pool, 56 percent of all admissions, this year and last, went to students from just six districts.

So even though the numbers are up, the basic landscape of gifted education “has not changed in any meaningful way,” Jennings writes. She continues, “expressing the growth in number of seats in terms of percent changes is extremely misleading given that the poor districts had a tiny number of students participating to begin with.”

A Times analysis attempted to raise similar, if less pointed, questions, but DOE spokesman Andy Jacob said he couldn’t provide an official “definitive explanation.” Let’s hope that changes, and quickly, too.

The students waitlisted for kindergarten at Manhattan schools PS 3 and PS 41 will be able to register at one of these schools for class this September — but the pre-K students promised seats for next year will not be able to attend the schools. PS 3 and PS 41 have been directed to close their pre-K classes to make room for more kindergarten students.

“We canceled our pre-K,” said a staff member at PS 41, who asked not to be named. “It was a decision made with the DOE…We had no choice. The space is so limited, and the kindergarten kids needed space. That’s the decision that was made.”

Principal Lisa Siegman of PS 3 said that she did not have any official confirmation. Unlike pre-K students, who stay in their classroom, kindergarten students move to the cafeteria, gym, and other specialty classrooms. Siegman expressed safety concerns, citing crowding, a complicated split-lunch schedule, and other logistical difficulties that may result from increasing the number of kindergarten classes.

PS 41 began to make calls to parents of pre-K students, who now have to scramble for pre-K seats in nearby public schools or find scarce (and costly) spots at private pre-Ks. “We got word, and we got on the phone,” the PS 41 staffer said. “We would love to have some solution or options for our families.”

DOE sources say they plan to release more news in the next few hours with “very specific details about the wait lists in Districts 2 and 3.”  Stay tuned for updates.

Previous reports at insideschools.org and The New York Times highlighted the shortage of kindergarten seats at high-profile Manhattan schools. However, an informal Insideschools survey completed by principals across the city indicates that schools outside of Manhattan face similar challenges. Many popular schools in Brooklyn and Queens have waitlists for their kindergarten class, filled with children who live outside of the school zone.

Several of the three dozen principals we heard from said that the new kindergarten process, which allowed parents to apply to an unlimited number of schools, had caused “anxiety” and promised more school choice than it could deliver. (Many respondents elected to remain anonymous in their comments, even as they shared data and opinions with Insideschools.)

Although some schools have well-documented crunches , like PS 3, PS 41 and schools located on the Upper East Side, several other Manhattan schools we heard from, such as PS 63 in the East Village, PS 199 on the Upper West Side, and PS 112 in East Harlem, reported no kindergarten waitlist. (more…)

The Department of Education just released statistics on the current crop of students who applied for gifted and talented programs, citing a whopping 45 percent rise in qualifying students: 3,231 students who will enter kindergarten qualified for G&T programs this year, as opposed to 2,230 last year. A total of 14,822 children sat for the tests, and 22 percent qualified — another rise compared with last year, when 18 percent of 12,410 children tested qualified for G&T seats. To meet the rising demand, the DOE says it “will open as many as 24 new district gifted programs” and create “as many as 150″ new citywide kindergarten seats. On the list of G&T programs offering tours during the next two weeks, there are several schools that have never had a gifted and talented program or have had one in the past but didn’t accept a class of kindergarteners in 2008.

The overall numbers of students who qualify for citywide programs and schools, by scoring at or above the 97th percentile, has risen substantially as well: 1,345 students met or passed that high bar this year, compared with 1,026 last year. Where these students will attend school is a pressing question: The Anderson School will add 25 new seats, for a total of 75 kindergarten seats, according to the DOE, and three new citywide programs will offer 150 places. But even 225 new seats, combined with the 210 kindergarten seats the three citywide schools now offer (according to New York State accountability statistics), adds up to about 435 seats. You don’t need calculus skills to see that’s just under a third of the total of 1,345 qualifying students. It’s not known whether DOE projections estimate that two-thirds of those who qualify for citywide G&T will opt for other programs; it seems entirely possible that an awful lot of families might face disappointment. (NB: See Update below for details.)

While the numbers of children who took the test and scored at or above the 90 percentile increased in many districts, persistent trends continued, as higher numbers of District 2 and District 3 students in Manhattan — 40 and 45 percent, respectively — scores merited G&T seats, compared with 8 and 13 percent of the students’ scores in Districts 7 and 8 in the Bronx. In 31 of the city’s 32 districts, the number of students eligible for G&T programs increased, with the numbers of qualified students doubling in some districts that have had historically low participation.

Click here to see the DOE’s Excel spreadsheet, for district-by-district minutiae. (Or try this pdf version.)

Uptdate, 5pm: Andy Jacob of the DOE wrote to correct an error in the DOE’s release of information. In fact, Anderson will add only 25 new seats, for a total of 75 kindergarten seats next year — and those 25 seats are part of the 150 new seats the DOE plans for citywide G&T programs.

The adjustment makes the admissions math even less hospitable: According to the revised numbers (110 current seats plus 150 new seats), there will be approximately 260 citywide G&T kindergarten seats for more than 1300 eligible students. Basic percentages: The DOE will offer sufficient seats for 20 percent of the total number of eligible students.

Update, 6pm: The Anderson School will reportedly add an additional 25 seats to its first grade program, for a total of 75 seats on the grade.

Update, May 5th: Thanks to Robin Aronow, PhD, for correcting my math: The three citywide schools currently offer 210 seats; the DOE plans to add up to 150 new G&T citywide seats, including the 25 new kindergarten seats at Anderson, for a maximum total of 360 available seats — which tallies roughly to 30 percent of the total number of children who qualified.

Morning and afternoon rallies will bracket lawmakers’ workdays this Wednesday, May 6, with the focus squarely on kindergarten admissions. This year public school kindergarten admissions feature wait lists, overcrowding, and increasingly high demand for seats in neighborhoods where parents are being turned away from — or asked to patiently wait for — their zoned schools.

Starting with a 9  a.m. march from Battery Park, leading to a public event in City Hall Park at 10:30, “thousands” of city parents, union members and plain citizens are expected to  join AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO) organizers to protest the Bloomberg budget proposal that cuts kindergarten from New York City-administered day care centers. The proposed closures would  effectively move 3,500 (or more) youngsters from city-run day care to public-school kindergarten classrooms (or wait lists). Event organizers say that at least three dozen City Council members will be present, as will Comptroller William Thompson, at least two borough presidents – Marty Markowitz of Brooklyn and Helen Marshall of Queens — and union leaders from New York and Washington, D.C.

That afternoon at 4 p.m., education advocates and parents will rally on the steps of City Hall to protest a “Kindergarten Krisis,” charging that more than 400 schoolchildren have “no school seats” for the fall term, particularly in neighborhoods like Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Tribeca, and Greenwich Village, where high demand has met with a limited supply of desirable kindergarten space. The problems are not unique to Manhattan: Brooklyn’s District 20 faces stiff challenges in its oversubscribed elementary and middle schools, and District 24 in Queens has already been busing young children, moving entire grades to schoolyard trailers, and making do with buildings that serve twice as many children than they were built to shelter.

Insideschools.org is surveying elementary-school principals to learn more about the kindergarten admissions process this year; feel free to comment below, especially if you know of a school or a district where the problems are particularly acute.

According to Department of Education spokesperson Andrew Jacob (and the revised ‘final’ timeline on the DOE website), the DOE plans to mail results from gifted and talented testing to families starting today, May 4th.

That’s good, because some schools, like the Anderson School and NEST+M, will offer tours and open houses beginning this week for families whose children qualified as applicants. The tour protocol varies by school: Parents should call the school/s in which they’re most interested for details. In Brooklyn, PS 20, which will house one of the city’s new G&T programs, plans tours this week and next week as well.

Online applications for G&T placement will be opened on May 6th. Students who score at the 97th percentile or above are eligible to apply for citywide G&T schools and programs, although there is no guarantee of admission, especially if the numbers of applicants exceed the number of available seats. Students who score at or above the 90th percentile are guaranteed seats at a district gifted and talented program.

Only 100 parents attended the District 3 kindergarten lottery last week after the Department of Education announced that many popular schools did not have available seats.

“Parents were disappointed that they didn’t have a full range of options as they have had in the past four years since the lottery has been in operation,” said Robin Aronow, founder of School Search NYC, who attended the lottery.

The announcement, made on the Friday before the April 21 lottery, dealt a blow to the roughly 760 hopeful families seeking an alternative to their neighborhood school. A few of the most desirable schools, such as PS 87 and PS 166, had no seats available. And of the 251 openings, parents were informed that several schools, such as PS 9, would only be able to accept students with older siblings enrolled at the school. (more…)

Journalist and occasional Insideschools blogger Lauren Young comments on kindergarten admissions:

What if your child didn’t get into kindergarten at your local public school? As reported here, the waiting list for a spot at highly lauded P.S. 41 or P.S. 3 has reached 90 children. My son’s best friend Ben is among those shut out in the West Village; he’s No. 79 on the wait list. Ben’s mom is worried that he will start asking if he did something “wrong” because he wasn’t accepted to kindergarten at P.S. 41. “I so resent New York for all this,” she says. “They’ll place him ’somewhere,’ but…I just don’t want him ’somewhere,’ you know? Ugh.” The problem seems most severe on the Upper East Side, where 350 children cannot get into kindergarten at their local schools, according to Class Size Matters. and Department of Education planners are considering siting a new kindergarten in the basement of a crowded, popular East Side middle school.

On Tuesday, May 5 at 3:30 pm, Ben’s mom and other concerned parents will rally on the steps of City Hall to protest school overcrowding. (The rally is sponsored by Class Size Matters, Manhattan Task Force on School Overcrowding, Community Education Council of District 2, Parent Leaders of Upper East Side Schools, Public School Advocacy Committee, Community Board 2 and other groups.)

This madness probably feels familiar to veterans of New York City’s preschool admissions scramble. Indeed, Nursery University is a new movie about the insanity of landing a coveted spot at a desirable private-school, pre-kindergarten program. (It’s more competitive than getting accepted to an Ivy League school!) I see a sequel in the works: Kindergarten Wars, coming to theaters, and Netflix queues, all too soon.

According to the DOE, kindergarten letters were scheduled to go out to families from individual schools in mid-March. In fact, registration’s already underway: It began on Monday, March 16 and continues through April 13, which is the last day of the April vacation week. From what we’ve heard, some families have heard kindergarten news, while others have not, with worry buzzing from the corners of the city where parents haven’t yet received the official word.

There are concerns as well about registering for kindergarten while waiting for news on elementary gifted-and-talented program eligibility, because the calendars are out of synch. Kindergarten registration closes mid-April, just when G&T testing results and applications are scheduled to be mailed to parents. Even though G&T and mainstream kindergarten are entirely separate processes, parents understandably want to know where their child might attend school — do they ‘game’ the system by keeping a seat at a ’safe’ kindergarten in their back pocket while waiting for G&T news?

Schools were requested to mail kindergarten letters home this week, says DOE’s Andy Jacob. Some have, but he says that some may wait until next week, for reasons entirely unclear to Insideschools.

We’d love to hear from parents who’ve heard and those who are still waiting. Add your comments to the string below, and we’ll work to get your questions answered.

With thanks to Andy Jacob of DOE for the information below, here are answers to some questions from readers about the kindergarten admissions process, both general-ed and gifted and talented.

Siblings. For nonzoned schools like Midtown West, the Tribeca Learning Center and the Manhattan School for Children, the DOE policy of sibling preference holds — but as there’s no school zone per se, there can be no preferential enrollment for in-zone siblings. (’No zone’ means no in-zone, no out-of-zone, just no zone.) So whether the admission is by lottery or another method, first priority is to siblings within the designated district, then to siblings from outside the district, and then, to in-district children without siblings in the school. (Out-of-district nonsiblings are last in this particular line.) Citywide general-education schools give priority to siblings without regard for zone or district.

Gifted and Talented programs. There’s no news yet on new sites for proposed citywide gifted and talented schools in Brooklyn and Queens. Obviously, DOE siting decisions have to be made before admissions offers are extended — but that’s months out. (We’ll keep asking.)

Some have asked how gifted and talented programs are placed at specific schools. While a school can volunteer for G+T classes, DOE more often looks at capacity and geography — which schools have space, and where are those schools in relation to the students who’ve met g+t qualifications. A school’s desire to host a program is less of a driving force than “demand for the program among qualifying students,” according to Jacob.

A few parents of kindergarteners who declined seats at citywide gifted and talented programs in favor of zoned schools have asked whether their kids need to retake the tests to be re-considered for citywide g+t placements. The answer is, yes. Families who declined an offer for a citywide program do have to test again this year. Testing begins in January, but don’t plan on it unless you’ve put in a request for testing: The deadline for requests for testing submission was November 19th.

Chancellor Joel Klein has announced a new pilot program in 10 high-need grade schools to improve reading education, based on E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge curriculum (for reference, see his popular 1988 manifesto, Cultural Literacy, and the series of parent-focused education books that followed).

The K-2 program integrates phonics and content (no stranger to many early-grade classrooms), with an emphasis on nonfiction and classical sources, like mythology, as well as fiction. Reading gains for students in the pilot program will be compared with students in ‘control’ groups, who will participate in the current DOE reading curriculum.

Education academics and in-the-trenches teachers have long criticized the de-emphasis of phonics in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. In fact, many teachers routinely include phonics instruction, especially in classes with large numbers of students who are learning English, in addition to the mandated DOE reading curriculum.

Private funds have been raised to pay for the program, which will cost $2.4 million. New York is one of eight cities nationwide to use its classrooms as test labs for the program, which is designed to give students a foundation of knowledge along with reading mechanics and eventual proficiency. Other sites include a mix of rural and urban schools (with mixed academic needs) in Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma, and the South Shore Charter Public School in Hull, Mass., where Dr. Hirsch’s son is the principal.

It’s not known whether parents can opt in or out of the program (or the control groups) or how the 10 high-need New York schools were chosen. All are in the “outer boroughs” — four in Queens, three in the Bronx, two in Brooklyn, and one in Staten Island.

We’ve heard reports from parents across the city that some g+t programs in local schools have been shuttered for the coming school year — for a range of reasons, including low enrollment and g+t funding cutbacks by DOE planners. We’ve asked the DOE repeatedly for a current list of g+t district programs (they say it’s coming), but hear conflicting reports from parents, principals and administrators in the field. That’s why we’re asking readers to let us know of changes in their districts.

In District 6 in Washington Heights, for example, g+t programs that recently enrolled up to 80 kindergarten students have been pared back to one class (a second class, planned for a far-uptown school, was cancelled when too few families enrolled their children). We’ve heard of changes, too, in District 18 in Brooklyn and elsewhere.

Our readers are our eyes and ears on the street; please let us know what’s happening in your neighborhood.

In the end of June, we started gathering questions for the DOE on a wide range of subjects. It took a month to set up the interview, but on July 31st, we spoke with DOE administrators about gifted and talented admissions, among other issues. A short blog post gave highlights (and generated dozens of reader comments); for more, see the article in the current alert.

We still have open questions, of course, and have had assurances they will be answered. In particular, we’re waiting to hear about the sibling/non-sibling mix of each citywide g+t Kindergarten class (both in terms of seat count and test scores).

In terms of overall takeaway, the DOE heard the anger and confusion of parents stymied by gifted and talented admissions this year: They felt the heat, and they want very much to avoid similar experiences in coming years. All agree that this year’s process had flaws.
We have absolute assurances from Elizabeth Sciabarra and Anna Commitante that communication ahead of, during, and after admissions and placement decision-making will be clearer, more explicit and more frequent this year. But how these good intentions will inform actual practice can only be known as the year unfolds.

We look forward to brokering an ongoing conversation between parents and the DOE, and welcome reader responses, questions, observations and comments.

Last week, Insideschools spoke with Anna Commitante (head of DOE G+T), Elizabeth Sciabarra (OSEPO head) and Marty Barr (OSEPO’s elementary-schools head) about gifted and talented programs, enrollment, and admissions policies. Here are highlights from our conversation; a longer article in the next alert will answer some new questions, too.

Centralized admissions will still be the mode for grade-school gifted and talented programs in 2009-2010. The two exams currently used to evaluate youngsters, the OLSAT and the Bracken School Readiness Test, will continue in use; there is no plan whatsoever to add a human, subjective eye to assess the effects of, say, a suddenly tongue-tied, shy, or stubborn four-year-old. The OLSAT carries triple the weight of the Bracken, because the former looks at aptitude and the latter, at actual knowledge (letters, numbers, colors, etc.).

Sibling priority enrollment meant, this year, that applicants with older sibs in the program or in the school building (a subject of significant confusion at PS 9, which also houses the Anderson School) were eligible for citywide g+t classes at lower test scores than kids who don’t have sibs in the first-choice school. The three citywide g+t schools, Anderson, NEST+m, and TAG, accepted siblings with scores from the 99th to the 96th percentile. Non-sib applicants were admitted at the 99th percentile at NEST and Anderson, with a few exceptions at TAG.

We asked how many of the newest crop of citywide g+t Kindergarten students were younger siblings vs. non-sibs; DOE rep Andy Jacob said he would get us the numbers, and we hope he will.

The question of opening a new citywide g+t school in an outer borough is under discussion, but has not yet been resolved. (We’ll know more in a few weeks, promises Liz Sciabarra.) Ditto, for whether gen-ed Kindergarten applications will be centralized or school-based. Pre-K applications will, however, continue to be centralized again this year — but the timeframe will be earlier, and communication, everyone promises, will be better, clearer, and more consistent.

As parents learned this year, some districts start g+t programming in Kindergarten, and others in first grade. While there’s no citywide mandate to regulate when g+t ’should’ start (or, for that matter, an official, citywide g+t curriculum, above and beyond grade standards), DOE planners now recognize that their guarantee to seat every qualified student was understood by many parents to mean, starting in Kindergarten, with new classes created where none existed before.

But new K classes were never part of the plan, said Marty Barr. The decision to hold over scores — the ‘exemptions’ parents got letters about — came about in the wake of parent protest. Most kids who qualify for g+t seats will receive them, but in first grade. (Qualifying students in Districts 7 and 14, however, were offered seats in alternate districts, because no g+t programs were offered within 7 and 14, forcing parents to consider commuting challenges and other daunting logistics.)

“It’s a communication issue,” said Sciabarra, who cited ‘lessons learned’ and a desire to “take the angst out” of admissions. “We have to do better at that.”

We couldn’t agree more.

(Readers seeking nitty-gritty answers to fine-tooth questions, watch for an expanded story in the upcoming alert — too much here to bog down the blog.)

The Pre-K coverage in today’s Times brings familiar tales of woe — siblings bounced, in-zone kids displaced by out-of-zone applicants — but some semi-encouraging news: it seems that OSEPO might reconsider its plan to standardize next year’s kindergarten admissions. Other reports (and our own communication with the DOE) suggest that the DOE will be moving the middle school process earlier in the calendar year next year, to prevent bottlenecks and delays. While it’s little salve for this year’s slings and arrows, at least there’s hope that a) they’re listening and b) the process just may improve in its next iteration.

For readers waiting for answers to specific questions, we’re still waiting, too. With luck, we’ll have responses soon.

Parents of kids waiting for g+t kindergarten news, here’s a thread to continue the conversation. Anything new in the mail today?