Citywide gifted and talented programs will open for the first time in Brooklyn and Queens this September, according to an announcement this afternoon by the Department of Education. Until today, "citywide" meant Manhattan -- now, it seems the DOE has expanded the definition to three boroughs.

Two programs will open in Brooklyn: The Brooklyn School of Inquiry, a new G&T school in a brand-new building in Bay Ridge, and the Technology, Inquiry, Enrichment, and Research (TIER) Program, which will be part of PS 20in Clinton Hill. PS 20 also houses a middle school, the Urban Assembly School for Arts and Letters.

The third new program, the Science, Technology, Enrichment, and Math (STEM) Academy, will be part of PS 85 in Astoria.

The Brooklyn School of Inquiry is designed to span kindergarten through eighth grade, and will open with kindergarten and first-grade students in the fall. The other two schools will also enroll kindergarteners and first-graders, and are planned to grow to fifth grade.

It's not yet known how many students will be served at each school or how the new schools will share space with the already-established schools in shared buildings. (Watch the blog for updates.)

In order to be eligible for any of the six citywide programs, students must score at or above the 97th percentile on the OLSAT assessment.   The scores for students who have applied for September 2009 will be available in April. The three existing citywide schools in Manhattan are NEST+M, the Anderson School, and TAG.

UPDATE : According to Andy Jacob, a DOE press representative, the STEM program at PS 85 in Queens and the Brooklyn School of Inquiry will each be able to accommodate two kindergarten and two first grade classes. The TIER program at PS 20 in Brooklyn will only have space for one kindergarten and one first grade class. The three new programs will provide 200-250 new citywide gifted and talented seats.

The locations for the three new programs were chosen according to available space and access to public transportation, according to Jacob. The DOE anticipates opening three new programs in 2010, one in the Bronx, one in Staten Island, and one in eastern Queens.