G+T Update: Courier Service
Parents citywide should have g+t kindergarten and first grade placement results no later than today, according to the DOE, which used couriers to hand-deliver letters across all five boros -- even in Staten Island, according to one commenter.
Apparently, the fallout from pre-K had big bureaucratic repercussions: "We identified issues that caused confusion with some pre-Kindergarten placements, so we ran additional checks on the gifted and talented placements -- especially the placements for siblings," said DOE press spokesman Andy Jacob.
The extra efforts were made to "ensure that parents receive clear and accurate information," according to Jacob. "We delivered the letters via courier because we wanted parents to get the letters when they expected them, and with sufficient time to accept or decline their offers." According to Elizabeth Green in the Sun, deliveries cost about $5 per envelope -- plenty pricey, but less than overnight-mail fees. (Parents can also expect duplicate letters via conventional post.)
Timing is crucial for schools as well: As these last days of school unfold, schools that will receive new students need to know who's coming, in order to plan their mix of classes.
If you expect a placement letter and don't have one by the end of the day today, telephone OSEPO's elementary placement office, at 212 374-4948. They're following up on undeliverables, which they estimate to be less than 1% of letters, but a quick hello can't hurt. (And if you have a chance, drop us a note, too - curious to see how many deliveries found their mark, and how many went awry.)
100 comments:
Well nothing from OSEPO, but i did get a call from PS 11 (our second choice) about coming in for registration. Any idea what will happen at the citywides if they have unfilled seats? Nest was our first choice,
Still waiting for a letter in D15 Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Daughter scored 99.
Received letter by messenger on Saturday morning (District 2, Chelsea).
Still waiting in upper Manhattan. If they (DOE) had just mailed them on Friday or even Saturday via the US Postal Service we would have received the letter by today (without the cost of courier service). It has become comical the lengths to which they make things more complicated than necessary.
Thanks for the update, Helen. It is greatly appreciated.
Still no letter for us. District 24.
We just got the letter this morning (Monday) by courier service. Got the fist choice for 1st grade D25. Very happy.
still waiting...D 15
helen - can you let us know if any non-sib 98s were accepted at NEST? Will the DOE realease summery stats about placements and 1st choice vs 2nd and where unfilled spaces are? Also by how much did they overaccept at each school?
Thanks
I too have yet to receive a letter (D28) but already received a welcome call from the school (my first choice).
We are in D2 - lower manhattan and have received NOTHING. Wondering if anyone else downtown has gotten word via courier?
Called DOE this morning and got good news that my son was accepted at NEST. They were very helpful and sent me the info via e-mail.
We got letter on Saturday and got a call from NEST+M registration people this morning. Schools must be calling to wrap up registration by end of June.
D15 - arrived this morning by courier. Score of 99, ranked Anderson and Nest. No place for us at either school. Disappointed but relieved that we won't be commuting to Manhattan but will walk three blocks to our good zoned school.
We have not gotten a letter, but it looks like we got a phone call from NEST today (which was our first choice). Am trying to confirm this.
If so, it is fantastic news!
Delivery by courier - what a colossal waste of money because they were so inept. I'm sorry but I find it unforgivable. How many art supplies, or field trips or library books might that money have bought for schools in less privileged districts. Mail is fast in NYC... what did they save... maybe one business day.
just received it. district 24. :)
Another parent from my neighborhood in the Bronx received a courier letter this morning. It was placed in the mailbox of her private home. But nobody's home at my apartment, and my neighbor checked for me - nothing yet.
What happens if the courier arrives and no one is home to receive the letter? My neighbor put signs on my front door and my apartment door saying to leave it with a neighbor!
We looked on our vestibule yesterday afternoon to find the WRONG PERSON'S letter. The courier didn't even ring our bell. I ran down the street to the address on the letter we received, to find our letter taped to the door of that person's building, thankfully. So I slipped their letter under the door. That kind of service is not worth $5 per letter, in my opinion. But all's well that ends well--we got into NEST!
Are people getting anyone on the phone at the DOE or are they getting called back? I've called and only get the answering machine.
WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY! $5 when it could have been .43 cents.
YEAH ... I called the DOE this morning and got news that my son got into the first choice district school, PS 115 in D18 in Brooklyn. She also faxed me the letter since I hadn't received it in the mail or by courier yet. What a relief!
What number did you call?
I called 212-374-5480
Thanks for the number. Good news!
the waiting is over!
dist. 15 -- letter came with regular mail and across the top of the letter it says "Duplicate".....though we received no other copy. our neighbor (also waiting) got theirs today as well.
as for us, score of 95%, got placement in first choice school -- ps10.
good luck to all
Distruct 10 I received my letter but no placement for my daughter who scored 98. I called OSE and OGTP but have not received any reply. I also called a few schools and there are no Kindergarten openings. Can anyone offer any suggestions?
D5/99/ boy/recvd 1st choice Anderson..recvd letter yesdy hand delvd .Has anyone heard when Anderson will have their orientation?
Heard on urbanbaby that orientation may be 23 or 25.
I am so sick over this whole process. My child got a 98 and didn't get nest. We live in Dis 1 where we have few dist choices. Nest is in our backyard. YET I know not one D1 kid who got in. I just found out even a 99 kid in my child's class didn't get it.
Why offer us the glimmer of hope of a citywide in the first place.
I am also wondering why after reading this site, urbanbaby and a yahoo group most of the NEST acceptances were in RIVERDALE, and DISt 15 in brooklyn WHY?????
this whole thing is just so unfair. BTW I emailed doe asking what they plan to do with declined spots, they didn't answer my question.
Helen:
Can you find out from DOE what they planed to do with declined spots for the Citywide, including spots for 1st grade ? I emailed DOE but no response yet.
Thanks.
If NEST is in your backyard, so is ps 110 which is a great G&T program and located right in D1, so no need for feeling "sick" about things.
District 22, my daughter got 97 and offered place in our 10 th choice . I emailed and called g&t office since 8am today, thay answered my email, that placing was totaly computerised, they DON'T KNOW how many kids got 97 and up in our district, info from insideschools is not reliable info for them, thay don't know how many spots were in each school and there is absolutly nothing I can do.
I was able to speak to someone at DOE and explain that I did not get an acceptance or denial letter. I was told that my child was not offered a seat in any of the city-wide progam, she scored a 97%. I was told that most of the seat was filled with children that scored a 99. I am so hurt right now because we live in the Bronx and do not have any K district programs to apply to. I guess we will spend another year in a school cutting out pictures for letters in the alphabet when my 4yr-old knows how to read on what I believe to be a 2nd grade level. This is so very depressing. Congratulations to all those who got accepted into any program!!
District 11, Bronx
Two children, boy & girl, coming from same school - both entering 1st, both at 98%, both put PS 153 as first choice, but listed all choices...
both were accepted!
For those accepting offers for kids going into K, how are you filling in the OSIS line on the acceptance form? If your child is currently in daycare, do you leave the OSIS blank and just fill in the school name?
Thanks.
To the poster June 16, 2008 2:21 PM:
I know where you are - I've been there. My DS entered kindergarten reading at a 3rd grade level. When he was 5, there was no citywide application process (even if there had been, I don't know I would have wanted to get him into Manhattan everyday). He's in 3rd grade now, and there's never been a district-wide program for him. You should do a few things: 1)keep doing what you're doing at home, as an enriched home environment is way more important (in my opinion) that most other things. 2)Talk to your school in September. That was the advice given to me by some people I know working in district offices) and it helped me a lot. My school worked with us and had my son attending 2nd grade classes for literacy. There's a lot they can do to help your child, even without a g&t program. My son was happy in class because of lots of other things about school (music, art, gym) including the social aspects. They would make sure he had level-appropriate reading materials even though his classroom normally did not. It's frustrating, I know, but you will be able to make kindergarten a good experience.
I am a District 1 parent whose child scored a 99. We got into NEST.
Re: 2:21 PM post (97% and no citywide seat). Did you rank TAG?
I received my letter in the mail today - with an OLD address that I changed twice with the DOE - i never did get the courier letter. We did get our first choice - NEST - so at least it was worth the wait - but truly painful process. good luck everyone.
District 28 - I posted at 10:31 AM - finally got letters this afternoon - 2 of them, courier and duplicate by regular mail.
D15. Daughter scored 98%, did not get NEST...what did you have to do to get IN???? However, did get firt place D15 school...got letter Saturday and duplicate today.
Anywhere where I can get in contact with other Riverdale parents whose child was accepted to Anderson? Someone mentioned a yahoo group and urbanbaby in a message above? Will, of course, respect all's desire for confidentiality.
District 15. GT letter came in regular mail today. Courier delivery never arrived (and someone was here all weekend).
I haven't seen any mention of Lower Lab -- our daughter got a 99 and it was our 3rd choice. We hadn't toured it, but after poking around a little online it sounds really interesting. Does anyone who did tour Lower Lab know anything about it, have any thoughts positive or negative?? Thx in advance.
4:16pm - we got accepted to LL (3rd choice with a 98 score). We toured it back then and it is indeed a good school.
The principal is leaving after this year and the assistant principal from Anderson is going to take her place. It should be an interesting year next year.
The only potential turn off (IMHO) is probably the math curriculum (TERC) but I heard that the teachers supplement it with Singapore and other traditional techniques.
Check out the listing on insideschools.org for more a review of Lower Lab.
We are excited that we got into LL. See you in the fall (or maybe at an orientation or other welcome event before the school year's out).
3:49pm - once school starts in the fall there will be plenty opportunities to get in touch with other parents at your kid's school. Is there a need you need to get in touch with them right now?
3:18pm - it looks like that only siblings and 99er kids got into NEST (maybe a handful of random 98ers, too).
District 2, 98%, our son got into Lower Lab (PS 77) as his first choice. Received letter by snail mail today, no courier. To 4:16pm, the director of our preschool highly recommended Lower Lab, putting it on a par with Anderson. My wife toured it, and really loved it -- even compared with NEST+M and Anderson.
1:48pm - listen, there was a great demand on the citywides especially because there are districts that do not have a district G&T. Those folks, of course, have no other choices.
A score of 98 just didn't cut it to get into Anderson or NEST. There are just too many high scoring kids for so few seats.
Got letter today, District 2, 96th%ile, first-choice district school.
4:26, 4:28 and 4:33 = thank you re all your comments about Lower Lab! I did read the insideschools.org review, and it was so positive, I am indeed excited -- especially because we loved Anderson, it was our first choice, but NEST was a total turn-off for us, and LL sounds much more along the Anderson philosophy. Thank you all again!
Helen,
Do you happen to know if DOE is going to try to fill any G&T spots that go unfilled from the first round (because of parents declining spots)? DOE originally told me that the G&T placement process was a one-shot deal (i.e, there would be no waitlists and unclaimed spots would remain unfilled) but now I'm hearing rumblings to the contrary.
D2 / 92% / offered p.s. 111 (4th choice!). preferred p.s. 126 but was told that due to lack of interest (minimum of 10 students was required), there will be no g&t program for kindergarten at 126.
we did not tour 111, were told today by parent coordinator we may be able to visit this week, but they are busy with graduation, registration, etc. and so ...
we are interested in feedback from anyone who has toured p.s. 111, and would esp love to hear whether anyone is accepting an offer to 111 for K. based on the original olsat letter, there seem to be 2 classes planned for K which i would consider a plus.
thanks!
VERY ignorant question -- what does DD and DS mean? I think it's referring to gender, but I can't puzzle out what they stand for. Help?
Re: 2:45pm
Thank you for your advice on keeping my daughter challenge in school. It is comforting to know that I am not alone. I just received in the mail my denial letter. When she begins kindergarten I will definitely see if the school will work with her. I appreciate your apply to my posting. Thank you.
Anonymous 2:21pm
Re: 2:49pm
We ranked Anderson first, TAG second, and NEST third. The women I spoke to said that most of the seat for all three school was filled with children who received 99. She told me that this year was a very competitive year. I thought that because 99, 98 & 97 were eligible for placement that they would choose a few from each score. My daughter 97% never stood a chance.
Anonymous 2:21pm
I also asked the woman I spoke to at the DOE about a waiting list. She told me that they accepted a few more children than there is seats in the city-wide program. So I guess they over accepted just in case people decided not to accept the seat. That why there is no waiting list.
Anonymous 2:21pm
Does anyone know when NEST registration is? How do I find out when it is? TIA
about NEST registration: They called us today. If you got NEST and don't get a call, call them.
About DS and DD: that is urbanbaby.com silliness for "darling son" or "darling daughter".
Ew! Urbanbaby is totally weird. Thx for the info.
"DD" and "DS" started way before urbanbaby existed. Think babycenter and ivillage. It's beena a common term used on message boards for about a decade now.
3:49 looking for Riverdale parents with DC going to Anderson:
Gifted_and_Talented_NYC in yahoo groups
Are there any parents in District 5 with 99% who got into Nest or Anderson? Will DOE list % of children from each district with rankings who got into citywide programs?
thanks.
District 15 - letter arrived by snail mail Monday - courier never came - 99%. Anderson, first choice, daughter. we are very happy (even though it means moving...)
Upper West side also never received courier. We got our placement through email/fax today and got the letter in regular mail tonight. I wonder if our courier letter will ever turn up?
Dissapointing news. Son scored 99th percentile. Didn't get into NEST. I have read that somebody placed NEST as a second choice and got in. Doesn't make any sense.
To the District 22 poster that got 10th choice: I too am in District 22 and atleast 2 schools were notified on Friday afternoon that they would not have the G&T program. The 2 schools that I know of are PS222 and PS277. Maybe more schools were notified on Friday. Try calling the schools you wanted directly and see if that was the case, I know many parents are trying to fight the removal of the program at 222.
still no courier delivery here (D15)...good thing they sent "duplicates" using USPS...because the $5 courier didn't even reach us (or others).
To 1:32am -- it does make sense if the person who got into NEST as a 2nd choice had a higher lottery number than your son. All the 99s were given a lottery number and they assigned schools in that order. My daughter got a 99 and we got our 3rd choice, so her number must have been really low.
Extremely curious about G&T score breakdown (% of students receiving 99,98 etc.) ANYBODY?????
Also, what has anybody heard about PS 230/D15?
To June 16 1:19 & 9:19 pm posters: Not sure if you're the same person. I'm also a D5 parent with a daughter already at Anderson (going on to 2nd grade). We're still trying to sort through some red tape to find out where our equally bright son will be going for K in Sept. We would love to set up a play date with another D5 family for our son. Is there any way to send a private message? I wouldn't want my personal contact info all over the internet.
Has anyone else accepted their placement by email yet? I just typed our name in lieu of a parent signature. I saw on UB that some parent attached a PDF of the completed form but I assume that is excessive and unnecessary. It sure would be nice if they (DOE) could send a verification that it has been received and processed.
I emailed the info as requested and "signed" as you did. I decided to mail it also. I had a similar concern when I did not receive a confirmation email.
D28. Got letters through USPS. Carrier never showed up. We have 24hr doorman in the building.
Sibling Separation resulted from G&T
D28. Younger child (currently in K) got into first choice of PS101. Old child (currently in 2nd) scored 99% but has no where to go (no district G&T program in D28). I'd like to transfer the older child to the same school in general ed. Called district office and was told to apply for variance. However, I won't know the result of the request until after 8/15. Does anyone have the same sibling separation problem resulted from one child being accepted into the program? Is DOE going to do anything about this? G&T program places a great weight on placing siblings in the same school. What about sibling separation resulted form the Program?
For those want to know the test scores and rating, please check out the News & Reviews in this site. Under the the headline of "Districts 2, 3 & 22 top qualifiers for district & citywide G&T", you can find a link to show you how many kids in each districts have tested and their scores...
to 8:38 am- I really surprised that they are closing those programs. I realy rated both schools before the one I got in.Strange idea from DOE anyway
To 10:49 AM:
I am in the same situation as you are (D28, kids will be in different schools). I thought about applying for a variance, but have decided not to. My oldest is in 3rd grade now, and has 2 or 3 years left (depending on what happens to the 6th grade) and I'm not going to make the move now. Personally, based on what I heard at 101, I'm not sure I'd even want to - their upper grades are pretty crowded; the school is small. My school has smaller classes in those grades, and more specialized art programs than what they have. I didn't even look into what kind of g&t program they have for the upper grades, did you? My current school does have a pull-out program, which, while not as good as a g&t classroom, is better than nothing.
We never received the hand-delivered G&T letter, and we live in a doorman building on the Upper West Side. On Monday AM, I called Anna Commitante's office and a very helpful aide confirmed my daughter's placement and even emailed me a pdf of her acceptance letter. We did receive the letter by traditional US Mail on Monday. It's very hard to see how the use of couriers was anything but a massive waste of money by the DOE... especially when they could have used e-mail for so many people (parents could have opted in or out of email receipts and the others could have had deliveries; still would have saved thousands).
don't forget to contribute to insideschools.org. these people have been very helpful.
https://www.insideschools.org/home/membership/donate_now.php
Thank you, 1:11 PM!
I just wanted to suggest to the D5/Anderson parents who are potentially interested in getting in contact with each other (10:06 AM) that if you go to our forums, you are able to send a private message to another user. You can find each other in the pre-k & kindergarten forum (http://www.insideschools.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=26)and then get in touch without having to post your contact information on the blog.
to 12:37pm- District 22: Which school did you get a placement at and are you accepting it?
To 10:11 poster: I resent my original email accepting my son's placement and requested confirmation of receipt from DOE. I just received an email confirming that they received it.
to 2:18 - district 22 I got ofer for ps 197 and will deffinatley accept it. My both kids go to this school now and it's not bad, small classes and nice kids in p-k to 2 grade, but totaly different in higher grades.
To 12:46 PM:
Currently, there's no pull-out programs in PS101 ( I specifically asked when I toured the school). I was told that the curriculum is the same for everyone. However, students in the same class would be given projects with different difficulty levels according to their abilities (I think they call this differentiation teaching/learning method).
Just got courier service on the Upper West side today. Do you think my delivery man was lost for four days?
District 22- I had concerns about my daughter placement, and got email from Nicky Kram Rosen today that "For their first choice, K195, there were 0 seats.
For their second choice, K277 there were 4 seats."What was a purpose to put on application school that had 0 seats? Totally crazy.
to 10:22pm distirct 22: does that mean that 195 lost the program also? 277 isn't haven't it, along with 222. I can't figure out their rational. I can't see how 195 didn't have enough people rank it, I ranked it as #2. I was offered 206.
to 8.06 am for 195- it means that all seats was taken already. And for 277 I don't understand how it could have 4 seats if they closing a program
Just my 2 cents. I realize that the DOE had to be fair and go by scores alone for the citywide programs. This prob seemed the fairest way to handle it. But there are some brilliant, creative 97 students out there that these schools are totally missing out on! I know several kids like this, in fact. It's a shame that the process is only looking at the numbers but I guess that's they way it is. The system obviously cannot and does not provide for all of our brightest kids!
Help! Still haven't received my son's letter. I've been calling the office of student enrollment and I can't get through. Is there anybody else in this situation.
to 12.36- email g&t program
all phones and email on http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/GiftedandTalented/default.htm
to 12:36 - I just got through to someone at the Office of Gifted and Talented Programs (212-374-5972), so keep trying.
I spoke to a few people at the DOE today because I did not receive the placement letter as per last night. I found out that my son was not assigned to any of the 2 school choices given to me!!! I thought all kids 90% plus (my son scored 94%) would be guarantied a spot in one of the schools listed in the application. What to do next?
to Mariana:
What did they tell you about it?
the application really stated that if you rate all choices you guaranteed a spot. I know Anna Commitante is a superwisor, but I couldnt get her to talk of email me back
That's what I had understood about the choices, so I assumed it was a done deal.
Everyone was extremely helpful. The Queens office said he had not been placed on either school and the lady emailed the City office. A person from there got back to me right away and said the same thing. He emailed the Exec Director of Enrollment and the Analytics Dept to inquire about my case. He said that if it's their mistake, they'll fix it, but there's a chance that all sports where filled w kids >94%. We'll see...
Thanks for getting back to me.
My daughter got 97% and I have yet to receive a placement letter. I have emailed Anna C and Micheal Adin at the G and T office and spoke to Nr, Jose at the District. He says that her name does not show up on his list. Spent all of today trying to get some answers but no luck. Any suggestions?
son scored 99%, didn't get into NEST, obviously disappointed. but what bothers us most is that the lottery apparently was done across the board for percentages. So if somebody listed NEST (or any other school) as their #2 or #3 choice but their lottery number was lower they got in - and those who listed a particular school as #1 choice but got a higher number - lucked out. This doesn't make sense...lottery should have been done within a percentage level+school ranking which would obviously require more math from DOE.
I would submit to the "luck of the draw" but only if i knew that the lottery was fair. It certainly doesn't seem fair to me.
...btw, asked for some statistics on the placements from DOE, no asnwer so far and i'm not holding my breath
June 23
Does anybody know if there will be a second round of placements after all the responses are in from last week's mailing?
My son scored 98, looking for 2nd grade placement. We didn't receive any offers. Hoping for a last minute offer at one of our top three choices.
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