These schools will host ‘gifted’ classrooms as NYC expands segregated program

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% 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% 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% 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.