New Yorkers are a hearty breed.  Despite the sweltering heat outside and the lack of air conditioning inside Brooklyn Tech's auditorium last night, an impressive crowd of parents and students attended the second installment of the Department of Education's series of high school admissions workshops. The latest focused on specialized high schools.

The workshop series introduces middle school parents to the high school admissions process and the  different types of schools.  Families may pick up a copy of the phone-book size 2010-11 high school directory and the slimmer specialized high school directory, get questions answered by DOE  enrollment officials and parent ambassadors, get help logging on to ARIS Parent Link, and sign up to receive email admissions updates.

Last night the audience heard from all eight  specialized exam high schoolprincipals.   LaGuardia was represented by the director of guidance.  Each  spoke for a few minutes about their school and then fielded questions from the intrepid few willing to sweat it out until the end.

For those who couldn't attend, there will be plenty of opportunities to learn about the specialized high schools in the fall at open houses, and at the city and borough-wide high school  fairs.  For specific information about open houses, college admissions, and activities, check out each school's website and our profiles in the Find a School section of Insideschools.

If you didn't make it to the workshop,  see a brief  Q&A recapping the main questions asked by parents, and the DOE's responses, after the jump.<!--more-->

Q.  What kinds of support do the schools offer new students to help them with the social and academic transition to high school?

A.  Incoming 9th and 10th graders attend orientation sessions ahead of the first day of school and meet with their guidance counselors early  in the schools year.  Several schools have "Big Sib" programs that buddy older students with incoming 9th and 10th graders to help them adjust.  Staff at the smaller schools, by virtue of their size, get to know students much better and can often spot problems or changes sooner.  All the panelists emphasized the need for parents to be proactive and let the school know if there are problems at home.

Q. How do I sign up for the SHSAT?

A.  You'll need a ticket in order to take the exam.  Speak with your current school's guidance counselor in September.  They'll register you for the exam and distribute the admissions tickets ahead of the exam date. Tickets will be distributed in mid-October.

Q.  My child attends a private or parochial school.  How do I sign her up for the SHSAT?

A.  As with public schools, speak with your child's guidance counselor, or whoever handles high school admissions.  They'll arrange for your child to get an admissions ticket.

Q.  If I want to apply to LaGuardia High School, do I need to take the SHSAT?

A.  No.  LaGuardia is the only specialized high school that does not require students to take an exam.  Instead, students are admitted based on an audition, or portfolio if applying to the art studio, as well as their middle school report card and attendance record.

Q.  How much should my child prep for the SHSAT?

A.  Everyone should prepare for the test, but don't put too much pressure on your child or set up the expectation that the only path to educational success is through a specialized high school.  As for how much prep is "too much", every child is different, so the answer is best determined by the child and parents.

Q. What is the cut-off score for each of the schools?

A.  Every year parents ask this question and every year the DOE releases only one figure, the lowest score earned among students who were offered a seat at one of the specialized high schools.  The "official" cut-off score varies each year, but tends to be in the low 470's (out of a possible 800 points).  The DOE doesn't officially release the "cut-off scores" for individual schools [although students, parents, and guidance counselors can often figure it out.]

Q.  Why are there so few black students at Stuyvesant?

A.  It's all about the test. Admission to Stuyvesant or any other of the eight,  specialized exam high schools is determined solely by the SHSAT.  The individual schools do not select students.  Instead, they are assigned students based on a combination of the student's test score, how a student ranks his preference for attending the schools and the number of seats available.  The race, religion or ethnicity of a student is never considered during the admissions process.

Q.  If I participated in the Specialized High School Summer Institute do I still have to take the SHSAT in order to get into a specialized high school?

A.  Yes.

The next admissions workshop will be held on Wednesday, July 14 at Brooklyn Tech and will cover admissions to screened (selective) and audition schools.  After that, the remainder of the workshops will be held at Stuyvesant High School, which DOES have air-conditioning!

Were you at the Wednesday workshop? If so, was it helpful and what did you learn? Please comment below.