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.
Please Note: Admission to a gifted and
talented program or school does not guarantee a student yellow
bus transportation. Eligibility for yellow bus transportation
for general education students attending gifted and talented
schools and programs is based on the same criteria that apply
to public school general education students as indicated
above. Students attending a citywide gifted and talented
school are eligible for busing if they live in the same
borough, and the route, as measured by bus stops,
is no longer than five miles.