City mulls adding gifted seats at PS 7

By Kate Pastor

The Riverdale/Kingsbridge area is soon likely to boast both of the borough’s gifted and talented school programs.

The Department of Education is seriously considering PS 7, located on Kingsbridge Avenue, for one kindergarten and one first grade class, said department spokesman Andy Jacob. The classes would be in addition to PS 24’s two entry classes for the same grades.

He said the department would choose locations based on the number of students who test into the G&T programs and their zip codes. The decision comes in response to requests from parents citywide to take a more local approach to school planning.

According to Marvin Shelton, president of District 10’s Community Education Council, the department “thinks that they’ll get more people accepting seats at 7 than 54.” PS 54’s gifted and talented program was temporarily closed this fall because it could not attract enough students to open a class.

Back then, some Riverdale families were outraged the city’s poor planning was forcing it to close a G&T program rather than placing it in an area where more students tested into it. Many said they didn’t want to travel as far as Webster Avenue.

Mr. Jacob said PS 54 is still being considered for a third program, if there is enough interest.

“I think it’s good news for the parents who were concerned about the travel time in case they didn’t get in and 24 is their fist choice. That seemed to be sort of like the first disqualifier for people who were accepted,” said Mr. Shelton.

But, Annmarie Hunter, a PS 24 parent who’s led the charge for more local gifted and talented seats, said she believes many parents will remain unsatisfied with PS 7 as a new location.

“I feel glad that they’ve acknowledged that there’s another program that’s needed,” she said. “Is it the answer? No, it’s not.”

She said the Kingsbridge school is still not local enough, lacks parental involvement and that she’s unlikely to pull her son out of PS 24 for the gifted program unless she is provided with much more information about the new program. She believes other parents will react similarly.

“The majority are saying it’s not a welcoming enough school for them right now,” she said.

PS 7 Principal Renee Cloutier did not return a call for comment, but seemed open to the idea of a gifted and talented program at her school during a recent Community Board 8 Education Committee meeting, Mr. Shelton said.

Earlier this year, Ms. Cloutier proposed a reconfiguration plan for her school that would expand the grades offered there and eliminate the need for children to attend the nearby feeder school, PS 207, in the early grades.

But if the only two Bronx sites end up in the Riverdale/ Kingsbridge area, it might alienate families in other parts of the Bronx, Mr. Shelton said.

“I alerted the [Office of Porfolio Development] that there may be some push back,” he said, over “the fact that the program is in the Riverdale area.”

The city’s gifted and talented programs have historically been racially imbalanced, and Riverdale largely differs demographically from the rest of the Bronx.

Acceptance letters for G&T programs are to be sent to parents on Monday, April 20. The decision of where to locate the program needs to be made prior to those letters being sent out, since parents will be asked to select their top three choices for the school their children to attend.

Students are then assigned to their choices based on their scores.