AI and the School Search: Why Human Guidance Still Matters

By Audrey Fleischner

It seems like every day brings a new headline about artificial intelligence stepping into a traditionally human role: AI-managed stores, AI music labels, AI tax preparers (spoiler: don’t use AI to file your taxes). Depending on your perspective, these stories are either inspiring (“think of all the possibilities!”) or terrifying (“what is the fate of humanity in a robot-run world?!”). But wherever you fall on the luddite-to-AI-enthusiast spectrum, there is often an element of humor. We’ve taken a particular liking to Luna, the bot that ran Andon Market in San Francisco, who had an inexplicable obsession with candles and also ordered 1,000 toilet seat covers for the employee bathroom.

Naturally, we had to ask: can AI serve as an educational consultant? We went down the rabbit hole with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, testing everything from broad questions (“Where should I send my child to kindergarten in NYC?”) to highly specific prompts about admissions odds and school fit. The results were consistently baffling, occasionally helpful, and often reminiscent of Luna’s toilet seat purchase. We are not immune to the existential threat of bots one day performing our jobs, but that day is not now…and, honestly, that day doesn’t feel particularly close. 

The AI School Consultant:
How It Falls Short.

Across all bot types, AI had a lot to say. Our prompts consistently generated extremely long, partially bolded, emoji-sprinkled responses that offered three categories of guidance:

• Words of confident comfort: “I’ll break it down so you can actually make a smart decision (not just panic like most parents do).”

• Potentially helpful, but very general, procedural information: “public schools in New York City are partly zoned, but it depends on the grade level.”

• Misleading, incomplete, or simply incorrect information: Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School would be a “reach” for a Group 1 applicant...considering that no such school exists.

Given its eloquence, it is easy to mistake the volume of information for true expertise. But the quality rarely matches the quantity. One chatbot highlighted Battery Park City School and The East Village Community School as NYC’s “top public zoned schools.” Both are excellent programs, but why these two over countless other beloved options? This is akin to Luna ordering dozens of candle varieties. People do love candles, but the fixation on that product over, say, scented oils or artisanal salts, beats me. 

Its “top private kindergarten” recommendations were even more puzzling: Marymount School of New York and The Goddard School in StuyTown. Marymount is a reasonable, if context-free, suggestion (AI failed to mention it is an all-girls Catholic school). Goddard? That’s 1,000 toilet seat covers. It is a preschool with multiple locations, and not a kindergarten option at all.

These same patterns appeared across prompt tests. Claude recommended District 2 middle schools to a District 3 family without noting that admissions are largely district-based. Gemini fixated on The Calhoun School for a theater-loving student without offering meaningful alternatives. We could go on. 

To be fair, the bots occasionally provided glimmers of useful insight. Kudos to Claude for its explanation that the contrast between Trinity and Dalton “is one of emphasis and tradition rather than absolutes.” But, as a parent conducting genuine research, it would be nearly impossible to distinguish fact from fiction– or, to use the technical term, hallucination.

The AI School Consultant:
Why It Falls Short.

We have some best guesses as to why AI is so flawed as an educational consultant. It is the same reason this process is difficult in the first place– the right information is hard to find. When we asked ChatGPT about P.S. 6, a highly regarded public school on the Upper East Side, one of its first selling points gave us pause: “Known for Exceptional Writing Instruction (Teachers College Model).” P.S. 6 does not use the Teachers College model. In fact, very few schools do since the DoE’s 2024 overhaul of the curriculum. We clicked the source: a 2009 Time Out New York article. These bots are working with what is readily available online, and that information is often incomplete, outdated, or missing the nuance families actually need. 

But AI’s biggest limitation is not its sourcing. It is its lack of humanness. In every prompt we tested, AI failed to ask meaningful follow-up questions or acknowledge when it didn’t have a clear answer. It didn’t share telling anecdotes. It didn’t provide examples of coursework in action. Most importantly, it did not, and could not, get to know a child or uncover a family’s educational philosophy and values. 

School culture. Inspiring teachers. Homework load. Administrative responsiveness. Student stress levels. The subtle differences between two schools that look nearly identical on paper. These are the insights that shape a child’s experience, and they are deeply human. They are best uncovered through tours and conversations– with educators, school experts, current families, and those who have gone through the process before. There is no replacing that.

Confession: we are not on the luddite side of the AI-fear spectrum. AI has organized our spreadsheets, helped us design slide decks, and summarized volumes of Chancellor's Regulations from the DoE archives. There is a lot that AI can do. Yet, despite our prompting, AI can’t seem to do the actual work of an educational consultant– partnering with families to make informed decisions about their child’s schooling. These bots are evolving quickly, and, believe us, we will be the first to know when they can do our job. But, for now, when it comes to making sense of options, identifying true fit, and feeling confident that you are focusing on what matters most (and not getting distracted by the candles and toilet seat covers), leave that to the humans. 

Kindergarten Offers are Coming out March 31st 2026

Kindergarten offers are coming on March 31, and for many NYC families this is the first big moment in the public school journey. When you log into your MySchools account, you’ll receive one offer—just one. That offer is the highest-ranked school on your list where your child was able to get a seat, based on your preferences, your child’s priority group (such as zoned or sibling priority), available seats, and the lottery number assigned during the admissions process. Even if you applied to 15 schools, you’ll only see one match. Many families assume that ranking a school first gives them an advantage, but it doesn’t work that way. Ranking a school higher only helps if a seat is available to you. When there are more applicants than seats—as is often the case—priority groups and lottery numbers determine the outcome. So if you don’t get your first choice, it’s not a mistake and it’s not personal.

After offers are released, waitlists open automatically for every school you ranked higher than the one you were offered. This is where things often get confusing. Waitlists use a completely new random lottery number, which families cannot see, and your original lottery number no longer applies. Your position on a waitlist is determined by this new number within your priority group, which is why movement can feel unpredictable. It’s also completely normal to find yourself on multiple waitlists at once. For example, if you receive your fifth choice, you will automatically be waitlisted for choices one through four. You can stay on all of them, remove yourself from any, or even add yourself to additional waitlists—including schools you didn’t originally apply to.

Waitlist movement varies widely from school to school and doesn’t always happen right away. In the spring, many families hold onto their initial placements, so movement can be slow. As the summer progresses, more seats may open as families make different decisions—some move, some choose charter schools. Because of this, movement often increases in late summer and can continue into the fall, even after school has started. The families who tend to have the most success with waitlists are often the ones who stay patient and keep an eye on the process, even when others have mentally moved on.

When offers are released, take a breath and give yourself a moment to process. Review your offer carefully so you understand the program and logistics, and take a look at your waitlist positions—but try not to panic, as those positions can change over time. Most importantly, accept your offer, even if you plan to remain on waitlists. Accepting your seat does not remove you from any waitlists, and it ensures your child has a secure placement while you continue to explore other possibilities.

Kindergarten admissions can feel incredibly high-stakes, but it’s important to remember that this is just the beginning of your child’s school journey, not the final destination. Every year, families end up in places they didn’t initially expect and find wonderful school communities where their children thrive. What matters most is not just where your child starts, but how they grow once they get there.

to G&T or not to G&T?

There are parents whose children will have a wide variety of experiences in elementary school, including students who have had mixed experiences in G&T and gifted kids who have flourished in gen ed classrooms where teachers are skilled in differentiation. I don't dislike the environments in many gifted classrooms. I just want families to understand the full picture as well. G&T isn't the only path for a bright, talented or hard working kid.

There are many students at Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, or Bard who have never seen the inside of a G&T classroom and there is no "feeder" aspect in admissions to gaining entry at coveted middle and high schools from a gifted elementary classroom. G&T essentially ends in 5th grade. Do not be fearful that a bright child from a supportive home who is attending a safe general ed elementary filled with talented teachers can find their way to rigorous high schools and highly selective colleges. I have watched thousands of kids follow these various paths. LIfe is long, and kids grow in many different ways on their own timelines, academically, physically, artistically, and emotionally. The NYC G&T admissions process has a significant random aspect to it and it doesn't follow conventional timelines. In most places in the world, G&T would begin at 3rd grade and move into middle school. We start at K and it ends at middle school. Odd to me.

It is an alternative option and you are right to do your due diligence in investigating what is out there. A G&T classroom is not inherently a higher quality classroom, although it can be an interesting alternative to your local zoned program. There is no NYC Public School "G&T curriculum." What happens in that classroom goes teacher by teacher. They are not generally smaller classes, they don't necessarily have 'better' teachers (although there are lovely teachers in many of those classrooms) and they are not all accelerated in the way that parents may expect. In my experience the one thing that they do have in common is that they are a curated classroom of parents. They are parents who understand how to apply and can navigate going to a school that may be far from their home. The programs generally end at 5th grade with the exception of the very few seats available at the Citywide gifted programs like NEST+M, Anderson, BSI, TAG and Q300. Hunter is a different thing altogether and while free, is not part of the NYC Public School system. Generally the DoE describes these classes as "accelerated" but in my experience the strongest G&T classrooms are more enriched than accelerated. Deeper investigation in an enriched classroom is often more productive for gifted children than faster investigation in an accelerated classroom. Good G&T classrooms can do both. Good differentiated general ed classrooms can as well.

public kindergarten application and moving after the application deadline

By Joyce Szuflita
I find that families get very agitated about missing the kindergarten application, particularly if they are moving. (By the way, we don’t have information on when the deadline in 2022 is yet).
Here are a couple of facts:

• Everyone has a zoned school (except families who live in Districts 1, 7 and 23. These are “unzoned districts” and everyone has equal priority to all elementary schools in the district.)

• You have the right to attend kindergarten and whether you make the k application deadline or not, you will have a k placement very very very likely in your zoned school.

Think of the kindergarten application as a kind of census that the City takes of five year olds. The DoE hopes that every five year old in the City will fill out an application. It is the first time they know how many k kids are out there and what zones have the potential to be full or under capacity. The application is easy after you register for an account on the application platform MY SCHOOLS. The DoE will make every effort to put you in your zoned school, unless you don’t like your zoned school and then they have a protocol in place for you to apply to up to 12 programs in your order of preference, so that they can try and place you in a school that you prefer. It is your most robust chance to get a seat at a school outside of your zone, but depending on the schools involved it may or may not be likely.

There are sibling priorities, and geographic priorities associated with zones and districts and you can read a lot about the algorithm and priorities on the City’s website as well as in other blogs on this website.

Where you live affects the school you are zoned for and perhaps other surrounding schools for which you might have a district priority. If you are moving after the application deadline, the City expects you to fill it out according to your current NYC address and notify them later about your new address. That is not a problem. If you know your new address and are moving very shortly after the application, then go ahead and use the new address, but generally the DoE doesn’t like future, prospective information. It can make things complicated.

You do not fill out a new application after the deadline. You just contact your new zoned school, let them know about your new status and they will arrange a time for you to pre-register.

District 15 re-zoning: update 12/2020

By Joyce Szuflita
The PAR Team recommended that the vote for rezoning be moved to late winter or spring. With the deadline for fall 2021 kindergarten coming up on Jan. 19, 2021, the recommendation is that any re-zoning plan go into effect for the 2022-23 school year.

The map for the re-zoning will be publicized in the new year, in line with vote.

One aspect of the possible proposal is to transition PS 676 to a middle school.

That’s all she wrote for now.

the latest on the D15 rezoning

By Joyce Szuflita
First, this map, which you can see in detail in the presentation materials is NOT final. It is very much a work in progress and may have little to no bearing on the final proposal. There are two proposals being floated; rezoning with set asides for accommodating economic diversity, and a non-zoned ‘sub-district’ plan. There is also still room for other options. The timeline is also in question.

To make this work for kindergarteners who have to apply to programs by mid Jan. the DoE has to really get moving. After they present a final plan there needs to be a little over a month of public discussion before the D15 CEC will vote to approve or not. There has been talk of a possible temporary plan (PS 32 will have capacity for an additional 436 seats in their new addition beginning in the 2020-21 school year). There has also been talk of continuing the community outreach and debate about the best way to accomplish the goals and put off the rezoning until next year.

I stayed for the break out discussions and my group was solidly advocating for the unzoned subdistrict plan because of their passionate support of the need for diversity. I think the discussions in the room were very wide ranging. You can read Chalkbeat’s very good article on the meeting here.