Roughly 2,300 four-year-olds were offered admission into one of the New York City’s Gifted and Talented kindergarten programs, the Department of Education announced Tuesday.
After a renewed calls for changes to the city’s select school programs, DOE officials decided to drop the single test used for kindergarten G&T admissions and instead base admissions on a lottery and teacher recommendations.
About 11,600 children had a Gifted & Talented nomination form submitted to the DOE by a parent or guardian and about 10,000 children entered the lottery for a seat in a program. The total number of seats given to students in “higher need districts” went up by 42%, according to the DOE, although an exact number of offers was not released by the department.
“This has been a year unlike any other and we are joining in with a more diverse group of families than ever before to celebrate their offers to one of the city’s Gifted and Talented programs,” said DOE spokesperson Katie O’Hanlon. “We are proud to offer an array of high-quality elementary school choices and look forward to finding a more equitable admissions method for these programs in the future.”
All kindergarten G&T seats across the city’s 32 school districts have been filled this year, a first for the program, according to the department. The eight schools participating in a “Diversity in Admissions initiative,” which include The 30th Avenue School, PS 11, TAG Young Scholars, PS 77 Lower Lab School, Brooklyn School of Inquiry, the Anderson School, and District 1’s PS 15, and PS 110, reached their goals, the DOE claims.
