NYC DOE Admissions

Can you explain the New York City public school admissions process?

Ahhh! The New York City Department of Education admissions process - the idea itself makes me draw comparisons to the Twilight Zone. Where anything that makes sense no longer holds true and what was true yesterday is no longer true today. As a former student, teacher, current vendor and parent of the New York City system I'd love to say I have all the answers but the truth is, my local public school is great and I never even attempted to look into other options. Thank goodness there are people who want to make sure parents who venture out of their catchment have a way to get some objective information about schools and the admissions process. www.insideschools.org has put it together an all-in-one, cohesive, comprehensive site on the topic. It was created by a NYC public school mom named Clara Hemphill. Inside Schools not only keeps parents updated on the most current hoops the DOE makes us go through but actually reviews individual schools and posts their crucial statistics as well as teacher and parent comments. It is important to put the site in your favorites so you can check it frequently, as the rules to get into schools are forever changing.



Districts and Zoned Schools

The NYC system is made up of 31 districts and one special education district called District 75. Each district is split up into small areas around an individual school called catchment zones. Children who live in the zone of a particular school may attend that school. If you don't know your district or zone you can go on to the DOE website, schools.nyc.gov. or Inside Schools. There are some cases when a school is over crowded they may impose "capping" to limit class size and even children that live in the zone may have to follow some other procedures for getting in. Staying focused on the general issues: Children who want to go to their zoned public kindergarten need to be age 5 by December 31st of the year they wish to begin. Call your zoned school in late September the year before you wish to enroll your child and ask if they give tours. Some schools do not give tours. In the case they do not, find out the name of the school's parent coordinator. Every public school has one and you can find them on the DOE website. A parent coordinator has their own phone number and may give you a private tour and/or answer any of your questions over the phone. Some schools have special programs for instance, a dual language program (languages vary from school to school) so if you are interested be sure to find out if your zoned school has any special procedures that need to be followed.

More Bees with Honey

Beware that many of the people who answer the phones at public schools are 'colorful' characters that are at times abrasive, clueless and can be downright rude. It's not personal, in many cases they are overworked and overwhelmed. If you don't get the answers you want at that moment, call at a different time of day and try to be cheerful, keep a sense of humor and remember, you can attract more bees with honey.

G&T Programs

If you wish to investigate the Gifted and Talented (G&T or T&G) programs, this will add another level of excitement. Children can apply to take a test administered for free by the NYCDOE. You can find out when these test applications are available at the DOE website, your district office or at insideschools.org. There are two types of gifted and talented programs. There are those programs that are part of a local school however, children are placed in classes with other children that scored in the 90% percentile or above. The kids in these programs can be kids from the catchment zone or in a catchment that is close by to the school. Check to see in your zone or district if there are gifted and talented programs that begin as early as kindergarten, some start as late as second grade. The other type of G&T program are self contained gifted and talented schools that are not restricted by catchment but serve all children from the 5 boroughs, also known as Citywide gifted and talented schools. The Anderson School on the Upper West Side, NEST on the Lower East Side and TAG in East Harlem are these G&T schools. To get into these schools your child must score in the 97% or above on the test. Because there are only 3 schools, depending on how well the tested population does there may or may not be enough space for all children who scored in the right percentile. In other words, there is no guarantee that your child gets in just because they have the right score. The real anxiety begins in the waiting for the results. In passed years the DOE gave the results so late that many parents had accepted charter school or private school placements only to scramble to get out of deposits and their commitments once they got their positive results.

Charter Schools

Charter Schools according to the DOE website are"publicly funded and open to all students in New York City through a non-discriminatory admissions lottery." These schools are given a certain amount of freedom with their policies and curriculum. You can find a list of charter schools on the Department of Education website. Call individual schools for tours and lottery information.

Pre Kindergarten

Public pre kindergarten programs are tough to find in New York City and tougher to get into because of the the demand. I am currently going through this process right now for my daughter. Applications usually come out in March, online. A list of full-day and half-day pre kindergarten programs are listed with a few other community options. The best thing to do is continually check the DOE site and sign up for their pre kindergarten e-newsletter.

So there you have it. It is complicated if you want something other than your zoned school. My overarching advice is not to get too nuts - your child will find a school and probably get a great education. I once heard a group of moms talking on a New York City public bus. Their kids had all grown up in New York City and had all gone to public schools. One woman exclaimed, "there is just something special about a New York City public school kid." I have to say, I agree with her!

Good Luck!

Sara Lise