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Parents Want to Bring Gifted and Talented Program to Bed-Stuy

  Parents in Bed-Stuy are reaching out to the community to bring a new gifted and talented program.
Parents in Bed-Stuy are reaching out to the community to bring a new gifted and talented program.
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Flickr/jason.soza

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Parents in Brooklyn's school District 16 are reaching out to the community for help in bringing a new gifted and talented program to Bed-Stuy.

District 16 — which encompasses a large section of Bed-Stuy, houses 36 schools and had 8,489 students as of Dec. 31, 2013, according to the Department of Education — currently has no gifted and talented program.

That could change if enough children from one grade pass the program's entrance exam, District 16 Community Education Council president Felicia Alexander said at a recent public meeting.

"If 25 kids pass in the district, a program will be opened up in the district," Alexander told Bed-Stuy residents at a Community Board 3 meeting on Monday. "We need you to sign your kids up to take the test."

The city's gifted and talented program gives extra focus to exceptional public school students, offering specialized, accelerated education.

District 16 is one of just four of the city's 32 school districts that does not currently have a gifted and talented program, according to the website Inside Schools. The others are District 7 in the South Bronx, District 12 in central Bronx and District 23, which encompasses Brownsville and East New York.

Parents interested in signing their children up for the exam must submit a request for testing form by Friday.