Applying to Brooklyn's "Gifted & Talented" Program

April 8, 2015 3:57 AM

My wife and I prepped our first-grade kid for NYC's Gifted and Talented entrance exam and now we need help to apply for specialized schools.

Our first-grade kid took NYC's Gifted and Talented exam and scored high enough where he can apply to gifted and talented schools in Brooklyn. This is great except I didn't foresee this coming and now I have to decide which schools to send him.

I'm able to get him to just about any school in the borough so location isn't too much of a problem. So other parents, what sites/resources did you use when researching schools for your kids? Also, do you have any lessons learned (or surprising pitfalls) from your experience?

Thanks!

posted by cowlick to Education (7 answers total)

Perhaps someone else here knows of which listservs to ask. Or, while you're waiting, perhaps you can ask your friends about local parenting/schooling listservs.

I know from my friends that there are some EPIC listservs for these sorts of things in Brooklyn. My guess is that a few people here might have specialized knowledge but you'd get many other responses through one of those networks too. Might as well try both!
posted by barnone at 9:08 AM on April 8, 2015

Best answer: Joyce Szuflita is a wonderful resource. Check out her website (the blog, newsletter, etc.), and if you are thinking of spending money on your search, consider a private consultation.

Terrific website, for all of NYC, not just Brooklyn: Insideschools.org.

The only listserv I know of personally is Parents of NY Teens, but obviously, it's not aimed at parents like you, with young kids. But Joyce's website has links to a lot of listservs here; just scroll down to the "websites, blogs and neighborhood listserves" section.
posted by merejane at 9:30 AM on April 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

And of course there is the NYC DOE website, although I imagine you are pretty familiar with that!
posted by merejane at 9:34 AM on April 8, 2015

Not a listserve, but there's a lot of discussion of various schools at Urban Baby... it's anonymous, so it can be gossipy. You can filter to just "NY schools" to see only that topic.

You can also try NYC school help for advice.
posted by xo at 10:36 AM on April 8, 2015

Someone just asked as similar question on the Park Slope Parents listserv. You could ask the poster (if it wasn't you!) what the responses were.
posted by valeries at 10:59 AM on April 8, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for the lead for Park Slope Parent listserv, valeries. I didn't ask a similar question but I'll be sure to check it out.
posted by cowlick at 3:26 PM on April 8, 2015

Response by poster: One last question. We are worried that we need to apply early but we also want to attend the open houses.

Should we just go ahead and apply now? Or should we attend the open house first and then apply to our desired schools?
posted by cowlick at 7:32 PM on April 8, 2015