Families of the nearly 8,000 students who qualified for kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade gifted and talented programs for next fall are busy weighing their options and ranking their choices before applications are due on May 10. The Department of Education posted a list of open houses.  There's still time to visit schools between now and Tuesday. (Note that some of the schools listed will not be accepting incoming kindergarten classes.)

Once you have visited the schools, how should you rank your choices?  The DOE says there is no gaming the system -- you should rank your top choice first, and so on down the list. "Students with higher scores are placed first, regardless of how they prioritize their options," according to Gential Falstrom, head of elementary school enrollment.

The 2010-2011 G&T Handbook stipulates that the only students who are guaranteed a G&T seat in a district program are incoming kindergartners and 1st-graders " who rank every district option listed on their application." But, in a few areas around the city, especially when a district has only one option, parents must also rank a program listed on their application that is not in their district to be guaranteed a seat.  According to an email from Falstrom, that is due to one or more of the following reasons:

  • "geographic proximity and ease of transportation between the two districts;

  • situations where the applicant pool in one district might not support the program with enough students;

  • districts that do not currently offer a G&T program; and/or

  • situations where offering the out-of-district program would add available seats to address district qualifiers."<!--more-->

Falstrom writes: "A student is only guaranteed a seat if he/she ranks all the options on the application, including options in another district."  Bottom line for parents:  make sure to rank all of the programs listed on your application. You can always turn down the seat later if you decide you'd prefer your neighborhood school.

The DOE is looking into a new test for next year's crop of G&T candidates, Falstrom confirms. The department has issued a Request for Proposals from test providers and "a new contract would be in effect starting in the 2012-2013 school year"  -- welcome news for many families who believe that the current assessments are flawed.

For families who wonder why some popular schools won't be offering a G&T kindergarten program next year, here's the DOE's explanation of how location decisions are made: "schools must have the space to accommodate students from outside of their catchment zone;  there is demand within the district requiring an additional program; and the Principal and staff have the interest and capability to offer this type of program."

The Department of Education has not yet released a list of eligible students by district, or a list of the schools at which they plan to offer programs next fall. (A final list of programs will depend on how many students rank a school on their application -- if there is not enough interest, a program may not open.) No word yet, either,  on the breakdown of students who scored between the 97th and 99th percentiles, making them eligible for citywide programs.  Last year so many students scored at the 99th percentile that lower-scoring students were mostly shut out of the citywide seats.

Got a question about your score or would you like to review the test booklet? You must file a request by May 10. The details are on the DOE's website.

We'll post new information as we get it.