babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Twins Get Double Shot At Kindergarten Spots
There are over 3100 kids waitlisted for kindergartens at New York City’s public schools. They come from all over the city, from all walks of life. Most kindergarten spots are awarded by lottery, so it is literally luck of the draw whether you get your pick of schools or not.
Here’s one thing most of those waitlisted kids don’t have: a twin.
According to the New York Times, twins get a double shot at precious kindergarten spots.
Schools have long had sibling preference policies. If you admit one child, you also admit the siblings from that family. The trick is that with twins (or triplets, or quadruplets, or etc…) the siblings come in all at once. That means that each child has a double chance in the school’s entry lottery: one kid getting picked means they both get in.
That may be why there are so many entering the most prized schools. Sought after PS107 in Park Slope has 9 sets of twins coming into its kindergarten class this coming fall. Only one set of twins applied and did not get in to the school.
It may also just be an aberration. PS 107 has never had so many twins before, their principal says. They have a waitlist of over 50 kids. If the twins were out of the picture, it wouldn’t be much shorter.
Still, the way the lottery and sibling preferences work might seem like an unfair advantage for twins. They may be double trouble for their parents, but they also have double the luck when it comes to getting a shot at the school of their choice.
Does it seem fair to you? Should siblings automatically be admitted to the same school? I think the advantages of keeping sibs together outweigh any slight unfairness, but I don’t have kids in the New York public school system.
Photo: woodleywonderworks
Go Back To Strollerderby
5 Comments
Paula Bernstein commented on Mar 31 11 at 8:53 pmSierra, this is my girls’ school. For the record, I absolutely feel that the twin policy is fair. I certainly feel for all of the kids on the waiting list (and their parents), but there isn’t any way to fit more kids into a limited space. Can’t say I’m sorry that our local school is considered “sought after.”
Linda, the original one commented on Apr 01 11 at 3:35 amI don’t see any other way they could do it. It’s not fair to expect that parents are going to be able to get kids to two different schools that start at the same time,
Amanda commented on Apr 01 11 at 11:05 amCan someone please explain to this Ohioan suburbanite why kids don’t simply go to the schools in their own neighborhoods? What’t the deal with the competition, waitlisting, etc?
Miss Chris commented on Apr 01 11 at 11:42 amThese kids are trying to get into schools in their own neighborhoods, that’s the source of the frustration. This particular neighborhood that has been in the news so much is Park Slope, Brooklyn, an area that has been very attractive to families over the last few years and which has experienced a huge boom in elementary aged children. Some of these schools, like PS 10 are relatively new and for their first couple of years they were accepting kids from out of their zone because they had room on the rolls. Now that there is a larger population of children in the zone they are running into problems, at least in part because the city gives priority to siblings of current students. I think the sibling priority is necessary for families but it does add another wrinkle to whole problem of school admissions. In some of these areas there are just more kids than kindergarten places. Some of this will be resolved over the next few months when some kids enroll in other programs or at private schools, but its a serious issue for those who don’t know what the upcoming school year will bring.
Amanda commented on Apr 01 11 at 11:52 amThanks, Miss Chris. : )
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
5