All children in New York City are qualified to take the gifted and talented test in pre-kindergarden. If the child scores 97 or above he or she may apply to the citywide gifted and talented schools as well as multiple district programs. If your pre-kindergarten child has scored 90 or above on the city G&T (gifted and talented) test he or she is guaranteed a spot in a district gifted and talented program for kindergarten. In order to receive a guaranteed spot the parent must rank all of his or her options on the application, including citywide programs (if the child qualifies) as well as all the district programs. Parents who do not rank all the available options are not guaranteed a seat for their child in a kindergarten G&T program.
A child may also take the gifted and talented test while enrolled in kindergarten (to qualify for first grade admission) and in higher grades. However, the child has a lower chance of being admitted into a district program (due to limited number of spots opened after kindergarten) and almost no chance of being admitted into a citywide program. The city does not guarantee placement if the test is taken at the kindergarten or above levels.
Programs vary widely by district with some districts offering as few as 3 district wide programs, and some offering as many as 12. If you reside in Sheepshead Bay (district 21) depending on your actual address you may have as many as 12 programs to choose from. These include popular programs such as Manahttan Beach Gifted and Talented (PS 195) and Mill Basin Gifted and Talented (PS 236).
In Bensonhurst (district 20) at least 8 programs are available (maybe more depending on your address). A popular district program in district 20 is (at ps 200) is a bilingual english russian program called “GLOBE.”
In order to qualify for admission into a district Gifted and Talented program the child must score at least 90 on the G&T test and reside in the correct district. As with citywide schools children with the highest scores are given first priority on a lottery basis. For instance, lets say 4 year old Alfred scored a 94 and his friend John scored a 96. Because John has scored 2 points higher than Alfred he will be placed much faster (even if he pulls an unlucky number in the lottery) and therefore has a better chance of getting picked for his first or second choice program. Alfred, no matter how lucky he might get in the lottery is still going to be placed after John. The best he can hope for is to be the first of the 94s picked. When it comes to district program placement, every point counts.
This article is part 3 of a 3 part series. Part 1 is available here.
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