School information-PS33

P.S. 33 has both G&T and gen ed programs. By most accounts, G&T is up and coming while the gen ed is not something that most middle-class/educated parents would consider acceptable.

Thanks nyc10023, but I do not understand what G&T and gen ed programs are. Can you elaborate on that, please?
Also, can a kid in a different school zone (let's say PS33) go to another zone (say PS11)? I have no information on school rules in NYC. Thanks for your help.

shah: start by looking at insideschools.org.

There are "catchment" zones which exist inside a larger district. District 3, for example, is most of the Upper West Side. District 2 is the Upper East Side & a substantial part of downtown.

Most (if not all) elementary schools (in general, K-5) give priority to in-zone children, then district children who want to attend, then out of district children. There are a few schools which don't have a catchment zone, but (I believe) attendance is based on a district-wide lottery. There are a very few cases, when a parent may apply for a variance to attend an out of zone or out of district school. Success depends on whether that school has space and what the reasons are. I have no idea what the DOE considers good reasons, but my guess would be 1) siblings attend 2) parents work close to or at school and commute would be extreme hardship 3) failing local school.

Gened refers to the regular program at your local zoned elementary school. G&T = gifted and talented. You apply to the G&T programs in your district, and admission is based on scores (and luck as some programs are oversubscribed) in the OLSAT (look for it on DOE website). The test is administered the year before your child enters K - that is the biggest entry point. The deadline will be over soon for this year's testing. Go on DOE website NOW if your child was born in 2006. There are also "citywide" programs, which means that children from all over the city can apply. The most prominent Manhattan ones are NEST and Anderson (I don't know if Lower Lab is citywide or not.

You can also look into Hunter - admission in 7th grade (citywide) & K (Manhattan only). K admission is based on the Stanford-Binet test. Look on Hunter's website on the procedures, I'm not sure when the deadline is.

I should add that the most popular schools (199, 87, 6, 41, 234 et al.) in Manhattan have long since denied entry to children not living in-zone who don't have older siblings attending the school.