These Schools Will Host ‘Gifted’ Classrooms as NYC Expands Segregated Program

Chancellor David Banks takes questions from the press after giving a speech at Tweed Courthouse, the education department’s downtown Manhattan headquarters, laying out his vision for New York City Schools. Christina Veiga / Chalkbeat

This article was originally published by Chalkbeat New York on May 24, 2022,
BY Christina Veiga

The sites of new gifted classrooms were announced Tuesday, part of an expansion pushed by Mayor Eric Adams and Chancellor David Banks.

Officials are adding more than 1,000 seats, most of them as new programs that start in third grade. Until now, the most common entry point for “gifted” programs has been in kindergarten, a practice long criticized for testing and sorting 4-year-olds.

Parents can begin applying for spots on May 31. Virtual information sessions will take place on May 24, May 26, and June 1. Live interpretation will be provided in Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu. To register for a session, click here.

The city’s gifted programs have come under fire for being segregated, with Black and Latino students starkly underrepresented. The classrooms also enroll few students who have disabilities, who are learning English as a new language, or are in temporary housing.

Gifted programs have long been seen as a way to keep white and more affluent families enrolled in public schools. In New York City, they have also been fiercely guarded by Asian families who see gifted programs as a ticket to higher performing schools. White and Asian students have historically made up about 70 percent of enrollment in gifted programs while only representing about a third of the school population citywide.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio had proposed overhauling the programs, ending the current model where students labeled as “gifted” are served in their own, separate classrooms and schools — an approach that fewer than 10 percent of school districts across the country follow. But de Blasio announced the reforms at the end of his tenure, and they were never implemented.

Instead, Adams and Banks have doubled-down on the current model that keeps students in segregated classrooms, opting to add more seats.

The city is also changing how students are admitted, partly in an attempt to enroll a more representative group of students. Now, kindergarteners will be recommended for the program by their pre-K teachers. In third grade, admission will be offered to the top 10 percent of students based on their grades in core subjects.

Some parent leaders remain skeptical that the new approach will result in much change. Some of the city’s existing third-grade programs are currently under-enrolled, with families in those districts not wanting to send their children to a new school after second grade. Additionally, some families and educators worry about a potential domino effect the new programs may have on drawing students away from other schools that are already suffering from enrollment declines.

Here are the schools that will host a gifted program in the 2022-23 school year, according to information provided by the New York City education department. An asterisk indicates a program that is new.

Programs that start in kindergarten:

01M015 – P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente
01M110 – P.S. 110 Florence Nightingale
01M539 – New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math
02M011 – P.S. 011 William T. Harris
02M003 – P.S. 033 Chelsea Prep
02M077 – P.S. 77 Lower Lab School
02M111 – P.S. 111 Adolph S. Ochs
02M124 – P.S. 125 Yung Wing
02M130 – P.S. 130 Hernando De Soto
02M198 – P.S. 198 Isador E. Ida Straus
02M217 – P.S./I.S. 217 Roosevelt Island
03M165 – P.S. 165 Robert E. Simon
03M166 – P.S. 166 The Richard Rodgers School of The Arts and Technology
03M334 – The Anderson School
04M012 – Tag Young Scholars (city-wide)
04M102 – P.S. 102 Jacques Cartier
05M128 – P.S. 129 John H. Finley
05M175 – P.S. 175 Henry H Garnet*
06M153 – P.S. 153 Adam Clayton Powell
07X49 – P.S. 049 Willis Avenue*
08X072 – P.S. 072 Dr. William Dorney
09X199 – P.S. 199X – The Shakespeare School
10X007 – Milton Fein School
10X024 – P.S. 024 Spuyten Duyvil
11X121 – P.S. 121 Throop
11X153 – P.S. 153 Helen Keller
12X458 – Samara Community School*
13K056 – P.S. 056 Lewis H. Latimer
13K282 – P.S. 282 Park Slope
14K132 – P.S. 132 The Conselyea School
15K032 – P.S. 032 Samuel Mills Sprole
15K038 – P.S. 038 The Pacific
16K081 – P.S. 081 Thaddeus Stevens*
16K243 – P.S. 243K- The Weeksville School*
17K316 – P.S. 316 Elijah Stroud
18K115 – P.S. 115 Daniel Mucatel School
19K149 – P.S. 149 Danny Kaye
20K102 – P.S. 102 The Bayview
20K104 – P.S./I.S. 104 The Fort Hamilton School
20K164 – P.S. 164 Caesar Rodney
20K200 – P.S. 200 Benson School
20K205 – P.S. 205 Clarion
20K229 – P.S. 229 Dyker
20K686 – Brooklyn School of Inquiry
21K095 – P.S. 095 The Gravesend
21K099 – P.S. 099 Isaac Asimov
21K215 – P.S. 215 Morris H. Weiss
22K052 – P.S. 052 Sheepshead Bay
22K193 – P.S. 193 Gil Hodges
22K195 – P.S. 195 Manhattan Beach
22K197 – P.S. 197 – The Kings Highway Academy
22K236 – P.S. 236 Mill Basin
23K137 – P.S./I.S. 137 Rachel Jean Mitchell*
24Q119 – P.S./I.S. 119 The Glendale
24Q153 – P.S. 153 Maspeth Elem
24Q229 – P.S. 229 Emanuel Kaplan
24Q290 – A.C.E. Academy for Scholars at the Geraldine Ferra
25Q021 – P.S. 021 Edward Hart
25Q032 – P.S. 032 State Street
25Q079 – P.S. 079 Francis Lewis
25Q165 – P.S. 165 Edith K. Bergtraum
25Q209 – P.S. 209 Clearview Gardens
26Q115 – The James J. Ambrose School
26Q133 – P.S. 133 Queens
26Q188 – P.S. 188 Kingsbury
26Q203 – P.S. 203 Oakland Gardens
27Q108 – P.S. 108 Captain Vincent G. Fowler
27Q042 – P.S./M.S. 042 R. Vernam*
28Q121 – P.S. 121 Queens
28Q174 – P.S. 174 William Sidney Mount
28Q220 – P.S. 220 Edward Mandel
29Q176 – P.S. 176 Cambria Heights
29Q118 – P.S. 118 Lorraine Hansberry*
30Q085 – P.S. 085 Judge Charles Vallone
30Q122 – P.S. 122 Mamie Fay
30Q150 – P.S. 150 Queens
30Q166 – P.S. 166 Henry Gradstein
30Q300 – The 30th Avenue School (G&T Citywide)
31R003 – P.S. 003 The Margaret Gioiosa School
31R008 – P.S. 8 Shirlee Solomon
31R042 – P.S. 042 Eltingville
31R045 – P.S. 045 John Tyler
31R050 – P.S. 050 Frank Hankinson
31R053 – The Barbara Esselborn School
32K376 – P.S. 376

Programs that start in third grade:

01M034 – District 1: P.S. 034 Franklin D. Roosevelt*
02M126 – P.S. 126 Jacob August Riis*
03M191 – The Riverside School for Makers and Artists
04M083 – P.S. 083 Luis Munoz Rivera*
05M161 – P.S. 161 Pedro Albizu Campo*
06M028 – P.S. 028 Wright Brothers*
07X043 – P.S. 043 Jonas Bronck*
07X359 – Concourse Village Elementary School
08X075 – P.S. 75 School of Research and Discovery*
09X204 – P.S. 204 Morris Heights
10X340 – P.S. 340*
11X106 – P.S. 106 Parkchester*
12X314 – Fairmont Neighborhood School*
12X214 – P.S. 214
13K287 – P.S. 287 Bailey K. Ashford*
14K084 – P.S. 084 Jose De Diego*
15K024 – P.S. 024*
16K021 – P.S. 021 Crispus Attucks*
17K289 – P.S. 289 George V. Brower*
17K241 – P.S. 241 Emma L. Johnston*
18K235 – P.S. 235 Janice Marie Knight School*
19K065 – P.S. 065*
19K346 – P.S. 346 Abe Stark*
20K127 – P.S. 127 Mckinley Park*
21K188 – P.S. 188 Michael E. Berdy*
22K203 – P.S. 203 Floyd Bennett School*
22K361 – P.S. 361 East Flatbush Early Childhood School*
23K599 – Brooklyn Landmark Elementary School
23K446 – Riverdale Avenue Community School*
24Q088 – P.S. 088 Seneca*
24Q007 – P.S. 007 Louis F. Simeone*
24Q087 – P.S./I.S. 087 Middle Village*
25Q024 – P.S. 024 Andrew Jackson*
26Q376 – P.S. 376*
27Q056 – P.S. 056 Harry Eichler*
27Q183 – P.S. 183 Dr. Richard R. Green*
28Q086 – P.S. Q086*
28Q140 – P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington*
29Q251 – P.S. 251 Queens
30Q092 – P.S. 092 Harry T. Stewart Sr.*
30Q151 – P.S. 151 Mary D. Carter*
30Q171 – P.S. 171 Peter G. Van Alst*
31R022 – P.S. 022 Graniteville*
32K274 – P.S. 274 Kosciusko*

Christina Veiga is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on school diversity and preschool. Contact Christina at cveiga@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.