99% isnt enough. Ive been prepping Abby for the G&T tests for a while now. Getting her familiar with the testing material as well as encouraging her comfort level with strangers that have Mom and Dads approval. On one January day, I took her to her exam. She happily waved to me as she left with the proctor. First good sign. Other students werent faring as well. One girl was screaming each time the proctor tried to take her away. Although they were very patient, and wouldnt give up on trying to bring her into the test room, I cant imagine that the little girl is going to be able to focus on the questions as shes screaming for her mother- no matter how brillant she was. Abby was taken away, and after about an hour, she came back skipping and smiling. Abby passed the unspoken personality test. I got Abbys G&T results through email on my way into work this past Friday. I was proud of my little munchkin. With the results letter in our hand, our months of preparation have paid off- to a degree. The news that the number of qualified candidates dropped from 33% to 26% gave me a little bit of selfish relief- but that still doesnt make up for the numbers that dont work out. There are 4 Citywide G&T schools, assuming 2 kindergarten classes each, thats about 240 seats- citywide. 13% of the 14,605 students who took the exam qualified- which is about 1800 students. So how are the coveted spots filled? By lottery- after sibling preferential treatment. Oh, and theres also the preferential ranking.. so if you dont have your ranking strategy right, you might place yourself square out of contention. Once you get into a school, youre going to have to contend with commuting every morning, distances far greater than your local school to either Bensonhurst, Astoria, Upper West, or LES. So parents who have gotten waitlisted are now waiting hungrily for the attrition rate to factor in. I can barely get my family dressed to drop off my kids at daycare down the block, now I have to consider hauling kids crosstown durning RUSH HOUR. Oh, and whos going to pick them up? So, now it whittles away families without the support resources. Its a lot of work, and you question the difference between a G&T Citywide versus the local program- or heck, any Kindergarten class? Colors, alphabet, numbers... its all the same. Its easy to give up, whereas Im lucky to have a support network that can pick up Abby after school from wherever she may be. Were grateful for what we have, and our ability to help prepare her for her test and the ability to support her if she is lucky enough to get into a citywide program. Now how do we magically find a spot in the 240 when there are 1800 qualified students? Are we lucky enough to have that 13% tip in our favor? Wish us luck.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 16:37:45 +0000
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