Many school districts run programs for exceptionally able children (gifted programs). Out of all the children in a given district, a few percent (2%–3%) of the most gifted are selected and taught according to a special, expanded curriculum. These programs go by various names, such as Magnet Gifted Program, Beacon or Astra.
In some school districts, gifted programs work like this: in one of the early grades of elementary school, children selected by testing are bused once a week to a central school, where they spend the day studying advanced subjects. One example is the Advanced Gifted Program in Mineola on Long Island. There, children take a special exam in every grade just before summer vacation and always have a chance to qualify for the following year.
To find out about gifted programs in your area, you can contact the State Education Department (in New York State, the New York State Education Department, www.nysed.gov) or your school district and ask for the contact information of the coordinator of gifted education. Most school districts also have a district coordinator of gifted education.
In this article we will focus on programs that are completely separate from mainstream instruction, because children are admitted to them only once, at the very start, and afterwards it is extremely difficult to get in.
The first thing we need to find out is when the program starts: in kindergarten or in first grade.
If the program in a given district starts in first grade, then in early spring the school informs the parents of kindergartners about it, giving all children an equal chance. If, however, children are recruited at age four for kindergarten, the initiative lies entirely with the parents. Many parents will discover that getting the details of the program is difficult, because school administration in big metropolitan areas works the way offices did in communist Poland.
To find out about a program for gifted children, you need to call the district office you belong to. You will find its phone number and address on the school district’s website. Do not rely on information from whoever happens to answer in the school office. My daughter’s kindergarten teacher told me with complete conviction that there was no gifted program at all in our district, even though one had existed for years(!).
Note: In New York City, the admission rules for the city’s programs for gifted children (Gifted & Talented, G&T) have changed several times in recent years and are still being debated. The current rules, deadlines and forms are posted by the New York City Department of Education at www.schools.nyc.gov/gt.
How Children Are Selected
Selecting First Graders
The eligibility rules, like the Gifted Program curriculum itself, are set entirely by the authorities of the given school district. I will explain how children are selected for first grade using the example of my own school district, New York’s District 26 in northern Queens, as the process looked when my daughter applied.
- Nomination by the parents. Parents received information from the school about the program, plus a form on which they could nominate their child.
- Teacher recommendation. From among the nominated children, the teacher recommended 2–4 whom he or she considered the best in the class.
- Screening test. If the parents disagreed with the teacher’s opinion, the child was given a short, half-hour test. The children with the best scores joined the group chosen by the teachers.
- Full IQ and Aptitude Test. The children from District 26 were sent to Hofstra University, where they were given 2–3-hour tests by doctoral students in psychology.
Out of 1200 kindergartners in our school district, the 50 children with the highest IQ were selected. The teacher’s recommendation also carried some weight.
Selecting Kindergartners
Getting into a program that starts in kindergarten can be easier, because few parents know about it, so fewer children compete. Some districts allow you to bring in IQ test results from a private psychologist and select the children with the highest scores. Often there are so few candidates that everyone who applies with above-average results is admitted.
What a Gifted Program Offers
A Gifted Program has an expanded curriculum, more demanding than the one in typical public schools, which, as we know, are not the best.
The Gifted Program in New York’s District 26 covered all of elementary school plus middle school. This way a child is guaranteed a good, free education right up to the start of high school. It is hard to say whether the child will learn as much as in expensive, elite private schools, but he or she will certainly spend time with other very gifted children, which will inspire greater intellectual effort.
After completing a Gifted Program, children find it easier to get into good high schools (such as New York’s well-known public schools Stuyvesant, Bronx High School of Science or Brooklyn Tech), and later into prestigious universities.
Do Polish Children Stand a Chance?
Some parents may think their child has little chance of joining the intellectual elite and will not even bother to try. WRONG! Many Polish children get into special programs and excellent schools. You have to try – we have nothing to lose.
A word of caution: Children of immigrants have a smaller chance in programs that start in kindergarten, because they speak Polish at home and their English is weaker. That is precisely why some districts recruit for first grade – to even out language skills in kindergarten and give all children an equal chance.
Don’t Overdo the Polishness
IQ tests place a strong emphasis on knowledge of English – among other things, they ask about synonyms, opposites, absurdities and relationships between objects. Even a very bright child will come off poorly without a broad enough vocabulary. Hence my suggestion to loving parents: don’t overdo the Polishness. I know that a child’s spoken Polish is a source of pride for parents, and the ability to read in Polish is a topic of letters to the grandparents. Nevertheless, the most careful education in Polish, and loving upbringing by a grandmother who came over from Poland especially for that purpose, deprive children of an equal chance of getting into elite programs. Alongside Polish, a child must learn English, and not at school but much earlier – before the selection process, which in many districts takes place as early as age 4 or 5.
On the other hand, let’s not treat our native language as the enemy and start speaking (broken) English to our babies. Specialists believe that it is precisely the bilingualism (or trilingualism) of immigrant children that makes their minds flexible and receptive. It also matters that our European system of values places great emphasis on the importance of learning and instills in children a sense of duty and a love of self-improvement.
How to Improve Your Child’s Chances
In the selection process, parents should take the initiative rather than count on a good result falling from the sky.
- I advise having your child tested in advance by a private psychologist, ideally a bilingual one. Knowing the test results will give you a sense of your child’s abilities and of the areas that need work.
- If your child’s results are satisfactory (an IQ of 125, 130, and in some districts much higher), it is worth giving a copy to the teacher who is to make the recommendation. If the selection process is similar to the one in my district, the teacher has to choose only one, two or at most three children from the class and may be in a difficult position. With a test showing a high IQ in hand, the teacher cannot pass over that child.
- Some districts accept the results of tests given by private psychologists. If few people know about the program, our child may qualify quickly. The condition, however, is that the psychologist holds all the licenses required by the education authorities.
- Let’s find out whether a bilingual child has the right to be tested in his or her own language, or at least to be tested by a bilingual psychologist.
- Let’s prepare our child for the tests.
Test preparation is discussed in the book “Jak ułatwić dziecku życiowy start” (“How to Give Your Child a Good Start in Life”), which includes a chapter titled “Jak uczynić przeciętne dziecko nieprzeciętnym” (“How to Make an Average Child Above Average”). Tel. 718-224-3492. In it, the author describes her own experience of working with her child, as a result of which the child got into the Magnet Program in New York’s District 26.
Our Polish children are gifted, and we should give them the chance to make full use of their abilities.
Elżbieta Baumgartner
Elżbieta Baumgartner is the author of many books on personal finance and consumer topics, including “Jak ułatwić dziecku życiowy start” (“How to Give Your Child a Good Start in Life”), “Jak działa giełda” (“How the Stock Market Works”), “Jak inwestować w fundusze powiernicze” (“How to Invest in Mutual Funds”), “Życie od nowa” (“Life Anew”), and “Jak chować pieniądze przed fiskusem” (“How to Hide Money from the Taxman”). 255 Park Lane, Douglaston, NY 11363, tel. 718-224-3492, www.PoradnikSukces.com
Updated October 2026.
