By Alex Christodoulides
The list was part of city Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's announcement that the five boroughs are to see some 52 new schools this fall. Only Brooklyn, which is to get 20 new schools, benefited more from the city Education Department's largesse.District 24, which covers Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst, Maspeth, Glendale and Middle Village, will see four high schools in what is being called the Elmhurst Educational Complex. Bard High School Early College will allow advanced students to get a jump start on college-level classes through a collaboration with Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson upstate. That school shares the site with the Civic Leadership Academy and the transfer high school Voyages Preparatory, both in partnership with New Visions for Public Schools, and the Pan American International High School in collaboration with Internationals Network for Public Schools.Far Rockaway High School, which the city flunked on its school progress report card last November, will house two smaller schools, admitting one new grade level per year to the Academy of Medical Technology for grades six through 12 and the Queens High School for Information, Research and Technology for grades nine through 12.Jamaica High School, which the DOE considers under utilized, will make room for the Queens Collegiate school for grades six through 12.In many cases, the school sites are new, rather than taking unused space in existing schools or opening their doors in failing schools that the city decided to phase out, such as Far Rockaway and Brooklyn's Franklin Lane High School, which many Queens students attend.Lane, which will stop accepting ninth grade students at the end of this academic year after receiving an uninspiring grade on its city report card last November, will be the site of two new high schools, the Academy of Innovative Technology and the Brooklyn Lab School.Two current intermediate schools will become home to boutique high schools, phasing in freshmen this September. The Academy for Film and Television will move into the under utilized IS 204 in Long Island City, and Ozone Park's IS 202 will make room for freshmen at Goddard High School for Communication Arts and Technology.Queens has five elementary schools on its “coming soon” list. The DOE has yet to designate which grades the Active Learning Elementary School on Franklin Avenue in Flushing will serve. Learners and Leaders, a new pre-kindergarten through grade three school, will open in September as PS 245 on Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood. Pioneer Academy is a new pre-kindergarten through grade five school that will open as PS/IS 260 on Roosevelt Avenue, though the DOE did not give more detail about the location.The former site of St. Anthony's Hospital in Woodside will accommodate another new pre-kindergarten through grade five school called New York City Academy for Discovery. And Forest Hills' little red schoolhouse, PS 3 on 69th Road, will reopen after many years of disuse, as the pre-kindergarten through grade three Academy for Excellence in the Arts.Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
