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Parents Struggle to Pick Gifted and Talented Schools As Deadline Nears

Julie Shapiro

By Julie Shapiro on April 19, 2012 8:22am

 
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LOWER EAST SIDE — With gifted and talented public school applications due on Friday, many families are still struggling over where to apply.

Anna Gusel, a Prospect Heights mother, is trying to decide between the Brooklyn School of Inquiry, which is closer to her home, and New Explorations Into Science, Technology and Math, which is on the Lower East Side and offers specialized enrichment classes including Mandarin.

Even though Gusel's son got a top score of 99 on the gifted and talented kindergarten entrance exam, Gusel is still worried that her son won't gain a spot at either of the schools, which are among the most competitive in the city, with hundreds more applications than seats.

"I don't know how to choose," Gusel said. "Nobody really knows. It's pretty nerve-wracking."

Gusel was one of about 100 parents of high-scoring kids who attended a panel on the Lower East Side Tuesday night in the hope of getting answers before gifted and talented applications are due April 20.

"This is an insane process," Peter Szabo, a parent at the Upper West Side's Anderson School, who helped organize the panel, told the auditorium full of anxious families. "It's crazy. We feel your pain."

All of the parents who attended Tuesday night's panel had children who scored in the 97th percentile or above on the gifted and talented test, which qualifies them to apply for a spot in the five citywide gifted schools: NEST+m, Anderson, TAG Young Scholars in East Harlem, Brooklyn School of Inquiry in Bensonhurst, and the STEM Academy in Astoria.

But the families aren't guaranteed a seat at any of those schools. While 2,656 preschoolers scored a 97 or above on the gifted test, just 300 kindergarten spots are available this year in the five citywide schools, parents said.

Rosaly Kozbelt, a Ditmas Park resident, said she was initially elated when she found out that her son Ben scored a 99 on the gifted exam — until she found out that even a top score might not be enough to get him into kindergarten at the Brooklyn School of Inquiry, the family's first choice.