Only 12 Out of 475 Applicants Got Into PS 321's Pre-K Program This Year
And it wasn’t much better at PS 154 in Windsor Terrace where only 18 out of 215 made the cut. That’s why The Daily News is declaring a Pre-K crisis in Brownstone Brooklyn.
And it wasn’t much better at PS 154 in Windsor Terrace where only 18 out of 215 made the cut. That’s why The Daily News is declaring a Pre-K crisis in Brownstone Brooklyn.
Ringo and Petunia make great points. You two are actually making me feel bad for parents trying to nagivate a confusing system.
Rob, it’s not only social issues, it also makes it a very hard class to teach.
It also makes it a little tricky if you want to move out of NYC! Rob, I’m sure you had no issue repeating the 5th grade, but some kids find that very difficult.
A Aug31/Sept 1 cut-off is such a simple answer. NYC says it’s better to get them into school younger — and every study backs them up on this. As a society, it pays off. I just don’t think the Dec 31st date helps. We should be investing in a real UPK program (also with a sept 1st cut off so kids start at 4, not 3.5) and not making problems for ourselves and our teachers with this Dec 31 idea.
All those darn people who game the system by having babies in February
the developmental difference between a 30 and a 40 yr old – nothing except wrinkles
the developmental difference between a 10 and a 12 yr old girl
dolls vs periods and boyfriends
NYC public schools don’t allow redshirting at all (except sometimes for very late december kids), and I’m grateful for one less reason for parents to fret and feel they have to game the system because everyone else is. My kids are/were at 321 and the reason the pre-K acceptance rate is so low is that they had to lose a pre-K classroom to accommodate the huge increase in kindergartners. The remaining pre-K class is a full day CTT class, so a certain number of kids with IEPs (mandated extra services for various learning issues) are admitted, the remainder coming from the 475 applicants. At this point, no zoned kindergartners are being turned away from 321.
At the same time enrollment has zoomed up (blame faked addresses or all the condo units that have mushroomed in the zone in the past few years, or both), the school’s budget has been cut severely over the past 2-3 years. It’s still a great school, overblown rep aside, but is being squeezed right now on both sides.
quote:
Flash forward to middle school when a lot of people make the switch to private. Your 10-year-old is in a class with 12-year-olds. Academically it can be hard and socially it can be really hard. Making the switch in high school can be harder. Hard to make the switch from private to public too.
oh waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. seriously, as adults you have to interact with all kinds of people you know!
*rob*
I think the age issue is not so simple. Part of the problem is the private schools have a September 1st cut off but almost never take the “summer boys”. NY public has a December 31st cut off. So, let’s say you have a boy born in December. You send him off to public kindergarten when he’s 4.
Flash forward to middle school when a lot of people make the switch to private. Your 10-year-old is in a class with 12-year-olds. Academically it can be hard and socially it can be really hard. Making the switch in high school can be harder. Hard to make the switch from private to public too.
Things would be a lot easier on everyone if NY moved to a September 1st cut off like most other states. There would still be the issue with the summer boys, but it wouldn’t be an issue for so many kids
I’ve just googled and found a recent NYT article on this very thing, apparently it is called redshirting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/fashion/22Cultural.html
At the Greene Hill School at 39 Adelphi st. you pay on a sliding scale.