Roosevelt Island Gifted & Talented Program Not Attracting Upper East Side District 2 Students - Is Difficult Commute To Blame?

Image of PS/IS 217 From Geocities

Through the dedicated work of many Roosevelt Island parents and local political representatives (NYC Council Member Lappin in particular), a Gifted and Talented program was established for the first time this year at Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217. A 10/18/09 NY Times article on the New York City Gifted & Talented School program describes a situation in which there are far more applicants for the program than places available and the hesitancy by some non - Roosevelt Island parents to send their children here, even when there is space available in the Roosevelt Island Gifted & Talented program.

According to the NY Times:

... Last year, 14,822 4-year-olds tested for admission to the city’s gifted kindergarten programs, up from 12,410 the year before. About 1 in 5 (3,231) scored in the 90th percentile or higher, qualifying them for neighborhood-based gifted programs, and 9 percent (1,345) made the 97th percentile cutoff for the three citywide gifted programs in Manhattan and two new ones in Brooklyn and Queens.

But those programs have a total of 325 seats — fewer than half the number of 4-year-olds who scored in the 99th percentile, the highest possible score. The city filled the classes, with the highest scorers having the best chance of getting their first-choice schools. (Exceptions were made for siblings.) While children who scored in the 90th percentile or above were guaranteed placement in a gifted program in their district, they were not guaranteed a specific school or location.

Rebecca Daniels, former president of the Community Education Council for School District 2, said that some families on the Upper East Side decided they were better off at their neighborhood school than at, say, a gifted program on Roosevelt Island. Others quit the system for private schools...

I asked Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 PTA Vice President Phoebe Flynn to comment and she replied:

It is my understanding (and I did speak to someone at the CEC for District 2) that the primary reason for this is due to difficulty in commuting to the Island for Upper East Side parents. Unless there are at least 11 children commuting to the school from off-Island, the DOE is not required to provide a bus, which does make it problematic for parents. We had a lot of interest from parents from both Queens & Manhattan in the G&T program (and do have a small number of off-Island children currently enrolled in it), but until the numbers are such that a school bus can be provided, the commute will continue to be a deterrent to parents who would otherwise consider it.

I wish that the article had provided that context, as it could definitely be construed more negatively than intended. At this point, it doesn't have any impact on the current G&T program except that the class size is not at capacity (which could obviously be seen as a benefit to those children in it). The current class would only be in jeopardy if all of the off-Island parents (and some resident parents) withdrew their children from it. Also, it is worth mentioning that the PTA actively encourages parents to have their child(ren) take the G&T test, so that the program can be expanded if necessary.

Thanks again for the opportunity to clarify.

UPDATE - 6PM -I am sure that the Tram going out of service beginning in March 2010 and scheduled to remain out of commission for what we are told is six months does not help this situation either.