A popular Brooklyn middle school, IS 234, made the news last week when it sent a few dozen newly-enrolled students to another school because of overcrowding.

IS 234, the Arthur W. Cunningham school, isn't the only school turning away zoned students who are registering this fall. As of September 22, there were 27 elementary schools and one middle school that capped at least one grade, allowing the school to send zoned students elsewhere.  An additional 50-60 schools have requested to be capped, according to Department of Education spokesperson Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld, saying they have no room for new "over the counter" admits, at least in some grades.

Most schools that can't accommodate all their  zoned students are located in severely overcrowded buildings, listed at well over 100% of capacity in the city's "Blue Book," the Enrollment and Capacity Utilization Report, which assesses space usage in school buildings.<!--more-->

"What we look at when reviewing capping requests is whether there is room in the building to start a new section," said Zarin-Rosenfeld. Last year 66 schools had to cap enrollment in at least one grade.

The Bronx was the hardest hit with eight schools across five districts forced to turn away zoned students. PS 138 in District 8 and PS 102 in District 12 had no space for new arrivals in any grade.

Likewise, two schools in  Brooklyn's District 20, PS 69and PS 160, capped several grades. PS 101 in District 21 had no room in four grades.

All five Queens schools with capped enrollment are located in overcrowded District 24, including PS 307, Pioneer Academy, which opened in 2008 to alleviate overcrowding at other neighborhood schools.  Now, some kindergartners  zoned for PS 307 along with others zoned for PS 143, will be diverted to PS 330, a new school that opened this September.  PS 14, PS 16 and PS 19, all located in Corona, are sending some zoned students to PS 199.

On Staten Island, three schools,  PS 16, PS 21 and the Staten Island School of Civic Leadership, which opened in 2009, capped kindergarten enrollment.

New school openings in Tribeca, the Upper West Side, and the Upper East Side alleviated some of the over-crowding in popular Manhattan schools, where hundreds of incoming kindergartners were waitlisted last spring. Still a handful of schools in districts 2 and 3 in Manhattan capped their  kindergarten -- PS 234, PS 290,  PS 87, and PS 199. This was the first year that there was not enough room for zoned kindergartners at those schools and most of the overflow students were sent to newly created schools.

Click here for a summary of schools with capped grades.