Students at the STEM citywide G&T program at PS 85 in Queens.

UPDATE JULY 17: Placement letters to eligible students will be sent by email and mail after 6 p.m. today. A breakdown on the number of matches and placement offers by district for kindergarten and 1st grade will be available on Monday, the DOE says. If you don't get a letter, call the Help Desk between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday: 718-935-2984.

Children in poor and low-performing districts continue to qualify at much lower rates for the city's gifted and talented programs than those in middle class districts with high-performing students, according to a district breakdown of the number of incoming eligible kindergartners, reported today by the Department of Education. The information comes just a day before placement letters for elementary school G&T classes will be sent and parents must pre-register their children between June 20-24.

Anyone who follows the G&T scene will not be surprised that districts 2 and 3 in Manhattan had the highest percentage of qualifiers in the city with 44 and 43% of 4 and 5-year-old test-takers respectively qualifying for district programs and 23% qualifying for the more selective citywide slots.

The percentage of eligible students in districts 7, 10, and 12 in the Bronx declined as it did in districts 16, 18, 19, and 22 in Brooklyn. However, there were more test-takers this year -- 14,086 as compared to 12,454 in 2010 --  and only District 7 in the South Bronx had fewer than 10 students qualifying. According to DOE policy, if 10 or fewer students qualify in a district, there will be no new gifted kindergarten class.

This year, the DOE allowed students in some districts to apply to programs in neighboring districts, in an attempt to fill seats. For example, students in District 14 in Williamsburg were given an option to apply to a G&T program in District 32 in Bushwick. There were 68 qualifiers in District 14 this year, 30 more than last year, as compared to District 32 where 19 students were eligible, up from only seven last year.<!--more-->

Children must score at or above the 90th percentile on the assessments to qualify for a district program; those scoring between the 97th percentile and 99th percentile are eligible for five citywide programs, but in reality most of the citywide seats go to students who score at the 99th percentile.

Overall 4,000 children qualifiedfor kindergarten G&T slots, representing 28% of the test-takers, about the same percentage as last year, the DOE reported in late April.

The biggest gains were seen in two small districts -- District 32 and District 4 in East Harlem, which doubled the number of qualifiers, from 14 to 28, enough, apparently to open a district program. Of those, 18 were eligible for a citywide seat.  Fourteen of the 32 districts saw a decline in the number of student qualifying for citywide kindergarten G&T, with the sharpest declines coming in districts 10, which includes Riverdale, and 19, in East New York.

Parents eagerly logging on today to see if placements had been posted, today saw messages indicating that  families who filled out both online and paper applications, may receive their placement only by regular mail.

The message said: "If you submitted both a paper application and an online application, your results may not be available online. If you do not see your results, please contact the help desk at 718-935-2984."

According to an email from the enrollment office, "parents who applied online will receive an email notification and a standard mail letter. If a parent applied online and by mail, it is possible that their results will be mailed rather than emailed. "

Families must pre-register by June 24, or risk forfeiting their spot.

Click here for the spreadsheetof G&T results by district.