A Parent's Plea for Gifted and Talented Student Program at Roosevelt Island Elementary School PS 217

12/2007 You Tube video of NYC Gifted and Talented program from Columbia TV News

The recent New York City Public School controversy over the Gifted and Talented student program has reached Roosevelt Island. As described in the NY Times City Room Page, the New York City Public School system is:

Faced with a deluge of children vying for coveted slots in gifted-and-talented programs and a shortage of top-scoring applicants, ­ Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein said that he intended to change the city’s new, standardized policy for admitting children to the programs.

The chancellor proposed today that students scoring in the top 10th percentile on admissions tests would be guaranteed a slot in kindergarten or first-grade gifted and talented programs; last fall, he announced that only those scoring in the top 5th percentile would be admitted.

The Department of Education said that more than 50,000 students had applied to the programs, up from 13,000 last year....

A Roosevelt Island parent of elementary school age children is trying to help establish a Gifted & Talented student program for P.S. 217 here on Roosevelt Island. She reports:

... There is an effort underway here on Roosevelt Island to garner support for a Gifted and Talented program here at PS 217. We are trying to collect signatures of residents here on the island that would be supportive of a G&T program- and bring this data to the attention of Chancellor Joel Klein.

I do not know how much knowledge you have of the current situation at PS 217. Presently, many parents send their children to G&T schools, private schools, or public schools (courtesy of a friend's address) in Manhattan to avoid what is considered by many to be a sub-par educational experience. PS 217 currently buses in students from other over-crowded schools to fill seats that sit empty at our school. PS 217 is not currently a reflection of our island make-up. I am serving on the PTA Executive Board, and have been making an effort to try to increase enrollment by residents of Roosevelt Island. Many parents have cited the absence of a challenging academic environment, and a lack of a G&T program as reasons why they would not send their child to PS 217. I believe that the presence of a G&T program here on the island would make many residents rethink their children's educational options, especially in the wake of an upcoming tram shut-down in 2009. Most schools in Manhattan (including G&T schools) will not pick up residents here on the island. Many have buses that stop near the tram station-and it will be much more difficult for these individuals to get to Manhattan schools with an over-crowded subway as the only other option. I know for me personally, if a G&T program is not instated at PS 217 in the next two years, our family will move off-island, and into a better neighborhood school-zone.

We currently have 100+ signatures and plan to add many more....

More on the NYC Department of Education Gifted and Talented program:

... provides challenging standards-based instructional practices and highly engaging learning opportunities to children with exceptional capacity or creative talent.

Gifted and talented programs are district-based and begin in either kindergarten or first grade, depending on the district or borough. Generally, district gifted and talented programs in Manhattan and Brooklyn begin in kindergarten and programs in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island begin in the first grade. There are also three citywide gifted and talented schools, which accept students from all five boroughs.

Establishing a Gifted and Talented elementary school program at P.S. 217 on Roosevelt Island sounds like a great idea. Why would anyone object?

Image of PS/IS 217 from geocities

Here's some additional information on New York City Gifted and Talented education program.

• Basic information for Parents on G & T. (InsideSchools.org)
• Answers About Elementary School Enrollment (NY Times City Room Blog)
• Who's Gifted? (Gotham Gazette)
• Per Cent of Gifted & Talented by School District. (Eduwonkette)
• New Gifted and Talented Rules. Who wins and loses? (Eduwonkette)
• Minority enrollment in Gifted and Talented Program. (Red Orbit)

UPDATE - 12:50 PM: There is a poll regarding subject of support for a Gifted and Talented education program for Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 located on right side column. Just answer yes or no.

UPDATE - 4/24- I obviously would not pass any Gifted and Talented test based upon my typo in the poll question since I left out the "h" in established. I cannot edit and correct the typo without losing the votes tabulated to date so the poll question will remain as is, error and all. Apologies.

UPDATE: 11/10 - According to NY Times City Room blog:

The City Council will take up the Education Department’s new process for admitting children to gifted and talented programs, at a hearing scheduled for Dec. 16.

An Oct. 30 article in The Times disclosed that under the new process, which based admission to gifted programs on a citywide cutoff score on two standardized tests, the number of children entering city gifted programs dropped by half, leaving some gifted classrooms with as few as eight children....