School shows new lab

Councilmember David Weprin recently had the chance to see kids at the Alley Pond School in Bayside hard at work in their new computer lab. The school, P.S. 46, had officially opened the lab on February 29, 2008, but held a second ceremony recently to celebrate its completion.
Equipped with 36 state-of-the-art computers and a SMART Board, the lab is designed with the computers in clusters, rather than in rows, as the previous lab had been setup. The new design is more conducive to groups, said P.S. 46 Principal Marsha Goldberg.
Weprin had allocated $150,000 in funds for the project in the budget three years ago, but the process was held up when school officials fought for the design they had envisioned, Goldberg said.
“I learned a lot about red tape,” said the school’s computer instructor Janet Elias.
Eight-year-old Shirley Chen of Bayside didn’t seem to mind the wait - the computer-savvy kid happily completed an Internet-safety program during Weprin’s visit on Friday, April 4.