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Thursday, March 19, 2009

New Brooklyn Citywide G and T schools


According to insideschools blog the new citywide gifted and talented schools that we have been waiting for since last fall have been announced. Two of them will be located in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn School of Inquiry in Bay Ridge (correction: Bensonhurst) will be able to accommodate two kindergartens and two 1st grades next year. The TIER program at PS 20 will have space for one kindergarten and one 1st grade next year. If the citywide G&T policy remains the same the number of students attending likely depends on the number of children who score at the 97th percentile and above whose parents decide to send them to this program.

The Brooklyn School of Inquiry will be housed in a brand new building at 50 Ave. P in Bay Ridge (correction: Bensonhurst). It will open with kindergarten and 1st grade students in the fall and eventually go through 8th grade. The school will incorporate "looping" where a teacher follows a class for two years. According to Pamela Wheaton from insideschools.org Donna Taylor will be the principal. "She is an experienced teacher of gifted classes (she taught in the G&T class at PS 230 in Brooklyn) and is now doing a residency at the Anderson School." It sounds very promising.

The Technology, Inquiry, Enrichment and Research (TIER) program will be housed in PS 20 in the same building as Arts and Letters Middle School in Ft. Greene. It will also enroll kindergarten and 1st grade next fall and is planned to grow to 5th grade. A site is being sought for eventual middle school expansion (correction: "The Department of Education is working to identify nearby middle schools where students in these programs can continue after fifth grade.") The TIER program will be a part of PS 20 with Mr. Keaton as its Principal.

It looks like there will be another school located in the Ave. P building. Rather than being a G&T program, it is a CTT model school. The Academy of Talented Scholars will accept children into kindergarten and 1st grade next year and grow to 5th grade. They will develop skills through inquiry and project based learning, schoolwide enrichment for all students and differentiated instruction through Technology and Arts. Families interested in applying to the school should contact the Brooklyn Borough Enrollment Office.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

So there schools will admit those who score 97%+ on the G&T exams? What resources are available to assess these programs compared to NEST, Anderson etc.? How will these differ from the district G&T programs?

Joyce Szuflita (chef-leeta) said...

Since they are brand new programs it will be difficult to assess them. We are waiting for word on all of the specifics including how they differ from district G&Ts.

Anonymous said...

Any idea if the DOE will be opening any gifted/selective schools at the middle-school level in the outer boroughs? I was really excited at the idea of new gifted schools until I realized they were elementary. (I realize one will expand eventually, but not soon enough to help us.)

Anonymous said...

what is the experience level/reputation of the principals who will be administering these programs?

Joyce Szuflita (chef-leeta) said...

I told you all that I know about Donna Taylor for now. I am waiting for more information about all programs and principals. These programs do continue through middle school, but as you said it is not well timed for children entering middle school in the next couple of years. There are quite a few "selective" middle schools around Brooklyn that choose students according to their test scores and grades.

Anonymous said...

True, but many of those selective schools are limited by district and concentrated in Districts 15 and 21 or are charter schools with a traditional, authoritarian approach to education. In the past, Brooklyn families have relied on access to Manhattan middle schools, but many of those are now open only to children living in or attending elementary school in the borough. Outside of District 15, high quality and progressive middle schools are pretty thin on the ground!

Joyce Szuflita (chef-leeta) said...

Great comment. This is unfortunately very true.

Anonymous said...

Do you have any other information on the CTT model school Academy of Talented Scholars? I have called the brooklyn enroolment office and they seem to have no idea about this school. I founf no info on the internet, except it's listed in the Daily News as a new school. Thanks!

Joyce Szuflita (chef-leeta) said...

I found information under the new facilities page on the doe website, district 20. The Academy of Talented Scholars' principal is Josephine Sportella-Giusto JSporte@schools.nyc.gov
The temporary phone for the program is 718 935-3615. They will be accepting students into K and 1st next year and growing to 5th grade eventually. You need to contact the Office of Enrollment to apply, but they don't mention the application criteria.