With theJune 18 registration deadline looming for the city's elementary school gifted and talented programs, PS/IS 217 on Roosevelt Island is reaching out to eligible applicants in Manhattan and Queens urging them to apply.

The Department of Education last week told the school that it could not open a G&T kindergarten class for next year because not enough families signed up. On Friday, school officials, parents, and local politicians met with Elizabeth Rose, director of portfolio planning at the DOE, to protest that decision. Rose agreed that the program could remain open providing 18 children could be recruited.

PS/IS 217 PTA President Nikki Leopold said that admissions were hampered this year because the DOE did not list PS/IS 217 as an option for students in Queens. While the school lies in District 2, the G&T program was open last year to District 30 (including Jackson Heights and other neighborhoods in western Queens) because of its' close proximity to Roosevelt Island (two subway stops on the "F" line). Enrollment in the school's current G&T kindergarten class includes four students from Queens, one from Manhattan, and the rest from Roosevelt Island, according to Assistant Principal Jenn Bartolino.

Bartolino confirmed that the school is still taking applications. "The school is very committed to the program," she said. "It's been a long process with the Department of Education. What we've been told is to 'do the outreach'."<!--more-->

PTA President Leopold said the school asked the DOE to "send a formal letter to all families in District 30, and the surrounding Queens area, letting them know that the program is now open to them."

In a reply statement forwarded to Insideschools, Rose said: "We are planning to notify any student in D2 or D30 who did not receive an offer to another G&T program through the match process. However, in potentially opening a class at PS 217, we have to be mindful of not taking enrollment away from D30 G&T programs. Those classes also require a minimum number of students to enroll. "

The school is committed to opening a kindergarten G&T class next fall, regardless of the number of students who enroll, according to Leopold. "As it was clear that the DOE would only do minimal outreach, the PS/IS 217 administration made the decision to move forward with our G&T program even if the number of recruited students turned out to be below 18," Leopold wrote in an email. "As the program had been fully embraced in its first year, and time and money was invested in anticipation of its growth, we felt that this was an important decision to make, despite the financial implications to our school."

This year's G&T kindergarten class -- the first ever at PS/IS 217 -- has only 14 students enrolled but "enrollment went from 14 to 18 or 19 [for 1st grade next year] because it was such a successful year," the assistant principal said.

Interested parents, whose children meet the criteria (scoring above 90% on admissions exams), should contact Parent Coordinator Lauraine Rademaker at 347-563-5165. For more information on how to register, see the school's G&T Kindergarten Update flier.

While schools such as PS/IS 217 and PS 376in Brooklyn's District 32, where only seven students qualified, are lacking in applicants others have too many.

The Brooklyn School of Inquiry, a citywide G&T program that opened last fall, had 251 families listing it first on their application, for only 56 seats, making it the "city's second most coveted gifted program," according to the Wall Street Journal. Students who score at 97% or above on the assessments are eligible for five citywide programs. In reality, however, most citywide seats fill up with students scoring 99%. And at some schools, including the Brooklyn School of Inquiry, there aren't enough spaces even for the highest scorers.

We're hearing from parents, and some districts, that there were many more students scoring 99% this year than previous years, but we're still waiting to hear from the DOE exactly how many.

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