The S.T.E.M. Citywide Gifted Academy at PS 85 serves students living in any of the five boroughs of New York City (Click here for our brochure).

 

Open Houses: Open houses will be held late in April of  2010, for parents/guardians of eligible students who scored on or above the 97th %ile.  Proof will be required to attend the Open Houses.

Open Houses Dates to be determined.

Application Process: Admissions for all New York City Gifted & Talented (G&T) programs and schools, including STEM, are coordinated by the New York City Department of Education (DOE). Each fall, the DOE announces what the timeline and procedures will be that year for testing, deadlines, applications and placement notification. The DOE administers the Otis-Lennon School-Age Ability Test (OLSAT) and Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) free of charge to determine G&T placement for Kindergarten - 3rd grades. Please visit this page on the DOE's website to view their G&T application timeline.

Applying to Kindergarten: If you are interested in enrolling your child in a Gifted and Talented Kindergarten class, you must file a Request for Testing Form with the Department of Education in the fall of the calendar year in which your child turns four years old. This year, that means whether your child turned four on January 1st, 2009 or won't turn four until December 31st, 2009 - you must file your request by Friday, November 6, 2009!  Children born on either of these dates (or any date in between!) will begin Kindergarten in the fall of 2010.

Applying to Grades 1, 2 or 3: If you are interested in applying to grades 1, 2 or 3, you must file a Request for Testing Form with the Department of Education in the fall when your child is in grades K, 1 or 2. Requests must be submitted by Friday, November 6, 2009!

How to file the Request for Testing Form: The form is included in the G&T Program Test Information Handbook. The handbooks can be downloaded here for children born in 2005, 2004, 2003, and 2002. Handbooks are also available in hardcopy at all Borough Enrollment Offices.  You may submit your Request for Testing Form online here - online is the recommended method (remember to print a receipt!) Last year, parents who completed the form online were notified about test results and school placement a little earlier than those who submitted a hard copy.

Testing: The DOE will contact you with a testing appointment. If your child is not currently enrolled in a DOE school or pre-school, testing will take place on a weekend in January and February at a public school near where your child lives. If your child already attends a DOE Pre-K or school, he or she will be tested at school during the regular school day. Testing usually takes 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Applications: The DOE will notify you of your child's test result. If your child achieves a total percentile score in the 90th percentile or higher, then the DOE will send you an application listing your local school district's G&T programs and schools, and you will rank your choices on the application and return it to the DOE. If your child achieves a total percentile score in the 97th percentile or higher, then the application the DOE sends you will include all your district's G&T programs and schools, but will also include all the city-wide admission schools - including the STEM program for grades K-2.  You will rank all your choices, district and city-wide, in your order of preference and return it to the DOE. Please rank only the schools to which you would actually send your child! You are not penalized in any way for ranking one school above another.

Transportation is available to students in accordance with the eligibility guidelines of the Office of Pupil Transportation.