By Joyce Szuflita
The 10th grade application process exists, but specific information about it is rarely seen on the DoE’s website. I have only found one mention of it under “who can apply?”. The answer is: A current eighth grade or first-time ninth grade student. That’s it! Here is the story of the 10th grade transfer.
By Joyce Szuflita
According to the DoE high school placements will be coming out through MY SCHOOLS on Thursday March 9. If your child took the SHSAT, the results of the test, and LaGuardia auditions as well as your main application results will be listed there. You will receive an email when your results are available. They often stagger the results because MY SCHOOLS would crash if everyone went on at the same time.
Here is the thing. Life is uncertain. You can prepare and calculate and hope. It is hard not to fall in love with one place or another, but you can’t engineer your placement. Your mission is to prepare your child (and yourself, cause you have worked hard for this!) There is no doubt that you will be disappointed for any number of reasons, possibly just because there has been so much effort and angst.
This is what I hope students will consider when they get their placement:
This school is all potential.
It will be what I make of it.
I don’t know those kids, but my new best friend for life is somewhere in that crowd.
My first love is probably in there too.
There will be a teacher that I will never forget in that building.
There will be some uncontrollable laughter.
There will be something that seemed nearly impossible that I will conquer.
I will likely be sorry to leave at the end of it all.
You can focus on what you desire, but you don’t always get it, and you might even be sorry if you did, because you would have missed the wonderful thing that appeared when you least expected it. Go out and find it.
By Joyce Szufltia
This is something that middle and high school parents have had to address this year. It is in the wind and kindergarten parents have begun to ask. The “random number” aka lottery number has always been with us. It has just never been revealed by the DoE. This year, the DoE revealed the “number” to older kids and if you ask them, they will tell you too. It doesn’t predict your fate, but it does give you a little insight that may help you manage expectations.
By Joyce Szuflita
The big change in kindergarten admissions this year is that G&T choices are included on your application along with your zoned school, un-zoned programs, out of zone programs, and dual language programs. You only get one placement from this list. This has been confirmed by the DoE.
There are two things that are important to understand.
Read MoreBy Joyce Szuflita
People get goofy when they hear the word, “application”. They assign all kinds of importance to it. They wonder if there are essay questions or tests. There are not.
Here is the deal.
Read MoreBy Joyce Szuflita
I have listed the schools with available programs for lower elementary here.
There is no Citywide or even district wide information about curriculum or expectations in these classrooms, because there is no different curriculum and there is no uniform approach. They say it is "accelerated" but what that means is something that the DoE will NEVER explain.
By Joyce Szuflita
You are not necessarily zoned to the elementary school that is closest to you. Almost everyone only has one zoned school. There are many zoned schools within a district, but you don’t have the same priority access to all of them. You are not guaranteed a seat in your zoned school at kindergarten. That is too strong a word, although the DoE will make every effort to place you in your zoned school and in most cases it is wildly likely that there will be a seat for you. Currently, because of Covid attrition and lower birth rates, all local schools are NOT over capacity and they have room for all zoned students and occasionally other families from outside of the zone.
By Joyce Szuflita
Kindergarten applications open Dec. 7 and the deadline is Jan. 20, 2023. The big change is that you will apply for zoned schools, unzoned programs, dual language programs AND Gifted and Talented programs ALL ON THE SAME application.
By Joyce Szuflita
I know you are freaking out. People who panic drown. Stop it. It is not as bad as you think.
By Joyce Szuflita
I just got a great email from Elissa Stein (High School 411) about priority groups and it inspired me to write this. If you use the code JOYCE10 she will give you a little discount on her subscription.
This process is not a lottery. It is a match and there are lots of wrinkles to it. Random numbers are in there, but they are not the only thing to consider.
Read MoreBy Joyce Szuflita
The HS Applicant : Seat ratios are data points that the City provides to give you an idea about how popular a school is. While not SUPER predictive of an outcome, it is all we have to give us a tiny matchstick in the dark.
By Joyce Szuflita
First to find each school’s Applicant:Seat ratios which can give an idea about how popular a school is.
Go to the MY SCHOOLS directory.
Put the name of the school in the search bar.
When the school page comes up, go all the way to the bottom and you will see one or more programs that you can apply to. Open the link on the program name.
By Joyce Szuflita
Counter to my speculation earlier this year (It happens), I have gotten conclusive confirmation from the Director of Enrollment that random numbers will be released before the application deadlines this fall.
By Joyce Szuflita
Here is what is going on.
Some academic screens will be adopted at some middle schools. In those programs, students will be ranked based on a composite of their course grades from fourth grade. Decisions about which school will allowed to screen will be made at the District level between the Superintendents, CEC’s and the schools. There will be a limited number of those programs and announcements about which programs will be screened will be announced when applications open in late Oct.
By Joyce Szuflita
Thinking about the sequence of high school math classes and requirements for graduation and for college placement is confusing. It is something that I try to make parents aware of when thinking about vetting middle schools, just because this is all confusing and knowledge is power. None if it is a deal breaker, and thinking about what is appropriate in high school math is top of mind for elite colleges as well as high school and middle school educators.
By Joyce Szuflita
You have time. Model good habits for your 11 year old. Do a little research early. It will save you headaches in the fall.
By Joyce Szuflita
Families are starting to think about the public high school search right about now. Spring of 7th grade is also the perfect time to start making a list of around 24 programs to investigate. You will whittle down to 12 by the deadline in 8th grade. You need to keep your mind open at this time of year. If a school is within and hour commute and has something that intrigues you, it is worth at least a passing glance early in the game. If you are too particular right now, your list will be a pathetic group of well known, tiny, wildly popular schools that will be impossible to gain entry to.
By Joyce Szuflita
Well, just when I thought that we were all done, the City threw a spanner into the works. G&T is BACK.
By Joyce Szuflita
I have been getting many queries about the implications to a list now that there is information about an individual's lottery number. Knowledge is power, but incomplete information is almost worse than no information at all.
By Joyce Szuflita
I find that families get very agitated about missing the kindergarten application, particularly if they are moving. (By the way, we don’t have information on when the deadline in 2022 is yet).
Here are a couple of facts:
Everyone has a zoned school (except families who live in Districts 1, 7 and 23. These are “unzoned districts” and everyone has equal priority to all elementary schools in the district.)
You have the right to attend kindergarten and whether you make the k application deadline or not, you will have a k placement very very very likely in your zoned school.
Think of the kindergarten application as a kind of census that the City takes of five year olds. The DoE hopes that every five year old in the City will fill out an application. It is the first time they know how many k kids are out there and what zones have the potential to be full or under capacity. The application is easy after you register for an account on the application platform MY SCHOOLS. The DoE will make every effort to put you in your zoned school, unless you don’t like your zoned school and then they have a protocol in place for you to apply to up to 12 programs in your order of preference, so that they can try and place you in a school that you prefer. It is your most robust chance to get a seat at a school outside of your zone, but depending on the schools involved it may or may not be likely.
There are sibling priorities, and geographic priorities associated with zones and districts and you can read a lot about the algorithm and priorities on the City’s website as well as in other blogs on this website.
Where you live affects the school you are zoned for and perhaps other surrounding schools for which you might have a district priority. If you are moving after the application deadline, the City expects you to fill it out according to your current NYC address and notify them later about your new address. That is not a problem. If you know your new address and are moving very shortly after the application, then go ahead and use the new address, but generally the DoE doesn’t like future, prospective information. It can make things complicated.
You do not fill out a new application after the deadline. You just contact your new zoned school, let them know about your new status and they will arrange a time for you to pre-register.
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