Monday, May 4, 2009

A Parent's Plea Answered - Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 To Get A Gifted & Talented Program Next School Year- Tours On May 7 & 14

Image of PS/IS 217 From Geocities

In April of 2008, I wrote about a Parent's Plea for a Gifted & Talented Program to be established at PS/IS 217 on Roosevelt Island. The parent wrote:
...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....
Another reader just informed me that a Gifted & Talented Program will be established at Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 in the upcoming school year. According to the NYC Dept. of Education's web site, tours of PS/IS 217 are scheduled for May 7 and 14. Call the school to RSVP.

Maybe East Side Manhattan Parents won't complain now about the possibility of having their kids shipped off to Roosevelt Island as the NY Sun explained was the case last year.
...One possibility being raised at a meeting tonight on the Upper East Side would have families living in the new luxury condominiums rising in Midtown East being sent to a school on Roosevelt Island or to a school for the deaf, rather than to the coveted P.S. 116 boasted about in brochures for the condo....

..."Frankly, telling a kindergarten parent that you're going to ship their kid to Roosevelt Island is not going to help you make friends and influence people," Ms. Silver said. "Why don't you send them to Princeton? It's crazy....
This is good news for Roosevelt Island kids and their parents. Could also help Hudson/Related sell some Riverwalk Condos.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Of course it still depends if enough families will sign up for the G&T at PS217. If that is not going to happen the G&T will not happen. I wonder how many island children qualified. Maybe some parents can chime in tomorrow when the test scores are in the mail.

Anonymous said...

I sincerely doubt the problem will be parents signing up - it seems much more probable that there may not be enough children who qualify to make up a full G&T class - or once the program is established, what happens if there are not enough children to fill the seats on an ongoing basis? I don't have a problem with a G&T program per se; however I do have a problem with the mentality of those who assume that only a G&T program will make the Island school worthy of their support. Should all the resources of the school then go towards that program? Or would raising the bar for the ENTIRE school serve it better?

Anonymous said...

There are enough children in district 2 that will be qualified for a G&T. The only problem PS217 has is its location. I am very sure that mostly children on Roosevelt Island and *maybe* some of Midtown East will rank 217 this year. Will that be enough to get the 10 (12?) kids together to create the G&T program? Time will tell.

Now, your (10:53pm) comment about is a G&T necessary to life up a school. If you look at PS116 or PS11 in Manhattan the answer is yes. 116 was a not so stellar school and is now overcrowded. All due to the G&T program that the DOE implemented there. Now 116 phased out its G&T program that leaves PS11 with the "next best" school after Lower Lab in district 2. G&T is where the parental support is. Don't ask me why. That's NYC for you.