Handbook and “Request for Testing” Forms Available Online and at Elementary Schools
Information Sessions in All Five Boroughs Start This Week
The Department of Education today released information for families interested in applying for seats in elementary school gifted and talented programs for September 2010. Parents of students interested in kindergarten through third grade placements must submit a “request for testing” form by November 6 in order to register their child for the required admissions test. Like last year, students entering kindergarten or first grade will be guaranteed a placement in a district gifted program if they score at the 90th percentile or above. Students who score at or above the 97th percentile are also eligible to apply to citywide gifted programs. The test will be administered in January and February, and the results will be available in the spring. Families can learn more about the gifted and talented admissions process by attending an information session in their borough or by signing up for e-mail updates on the Department’s Web site.
The request for testing form and complete details about the admissions process are included in the 2009-10 Gifted and Talented Test Information Handbook, which is available at all public elementary schools and on the Department’s Web site. The handbook will be available in English and eight other languages. Families of public school students can return the request for testing form to their school or complete it online on the Department’s Web site. All other families can return the form to a borough enrollment office or complete it online. The deadline to submit the form is November 6.
Like last year, admission to elementary school gifted and talented programs will be based on students’ scores on two assessments—the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) and the Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA). Current public school students will take the test at their school. Non-public school students will take the test on designated weekends at one of several sites across the City.
Students will receive their test results by mail in the spring. In the same mailing, students who scored at or above the 90th percentile on the admissions test will receive an application on which they can rank their preferences for gifted programs in their district. Families will also have the option of completing the program application online.
Students entering kindergarten and first grade who score at or above the 90th percentile on the admissions test will be guaranteed a seat in a district gifted and talented program as long as they rank all the district’s programs on their application. Like last year, a gifted program placement is not guaranteed for students testing for second- and third-grade seats, even if they score at or above the 90th percentile. In those grades, seats are only open to the extent that vacancies are available in existing classes. More information about admission to programs in these grades is available in the handbook.
Students who score at or above the 97th percentile will also be able to rank the citywide gifted programs on their application; however, admission to these programs is not guaranteed in any grade. More information about admission to these programs is available in the handbook.
The Department will host information sessions for families on the gifted and talented admissions process in all five boroughs. At the sessions, Department staff will present an overview of the admissions process and answer questions from families. Each session runs from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The schedule for the information session is as follows:
- October 14 – Bronx – Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus (500 East Fordham Road)
- October 19 – Brooklyn – MS 113 (300 Adelphi Street)
- October 20 – Staten Island – New Dorp High School (465 New Dorp Lane)
- October 21 – Queens – Long Island City High School (14-30 Broadway)
- October 22 – Manhattan – Brandeis High School (145 West 84th Street)