Roosevelt Island Gifted & Talented Program Not Attracting Upper East Side District 2 Students - Is Difficult Commute To Blame?
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.I asked Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 PTA Vice President Phoebe Flynn to comment and she replied:
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...
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.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.
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.
7 comments :
It would be interesting to know how many RI kids and how many off-island kids are enrolled in the current G&T program at PS 217. I know several families who sent their kids to off-island G&T programs instead of the local one this year. I assume this trend will continue for the following years to come meaning PS 217 will have a hard time to keep the program up.
It would not surprise me to see R.I.parents chose P 217 in 2010 due to the complications arising from the tram shutdown
11:32am - I seriously doubt that. PS 217's reputation is really bad among the families who care a lot about education and would go the extra mile no matter what. The missing tram, though, will keep UES kids away for sure.
UES kids will have he advantage of traveling against the traffic on the subway.
To 12:37: Frankly I find it insulting & offensive that anonymous posters continue to disparage not only the Island school but also the parents who choose to send their children there. Of the many reasons that I chose PS/IS 217 for my son, none of them include a lack of caring about his education. Yes, there are challenges to be overcome with the school, but it is my opinion that the PRIMARY challenge is changing the perception of the school, a task made harder by the constant barrage of negative attacks by those who don’t even have the courage to post using their real identities. Perhaps instead of broad statements about how “bad” the school is, you could cite actual examples that would allow for a rebuttal, or at least a inquiry by the PTA, whose members are actively working at making improvements. NYC schools are dependent on active and involved parent bodies to raise excessive amounts of money to supplement shrinking budgets. The main difference between 217 and the City schools that some Island parents prefer are strong, well-funded PTA’s. We are striving hard to create such a PTA here at our school, but obviously it will remain difficult if not impossible without the support of both Island parents & other residents.
The constant negative comments do nothing but undermine the hard work of the Administration, the teachers, the students and the PTA, all of whom are working together to improve the quality of our school. Don’t send your child there if you don’t want – but kindly stop denigrating those of us who do.
Phoebe, when my child was about to go to K I did tour PS 217 and thought that it would be a very good fallback option if G&T would not happen (that was from the time before PS 217 had a G&T). I was extremely disappointed with the school. The space was awesome. The tour not so. I was not impressed from what I saw. I spoke with many other parents that time about PS 217 (parents who had kids at that school and parents who did not) before I made up my mind.
Yes, PS 217 needs a lot or PR work to fix the reputation issues. The thing, though, is that I still get an good number of negative comments from parents who have children there. I know some who pulled theirs out for this school year. So far I still have to hear ONE comment from a PS 217 parent who is utterly in love with the school. This is my experience. I am not putting the school down because I don't know what I am talking about. I came to my conclusions after a lot of research and soul searching.
My intention was never to put down any PS 217 families. I am glad you like the school and your children are thriving.
Phoebe, let me ask you this. Why does the majority of families who really care about their children's education send them to off-island schools (public, private, G&Ts)? I know why from my side of things. How do you explain it from your point of view?
Let me clarify my first sentence. Before I toured PS 217 I hoped that the school would be a good fallback option.
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