Fulfilling a wish among local parents, a new elementary school will rise at the Hunters Point South development during the second phase of the Long Island City project.
The school, one of three to be built in the neighborhood, will cost $60 million and will be located at the intersection of 57th Avenue and Center Boulevard. Construction will be completed in 2020, according to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.
Van Bramer and School Construction Authority (SCA) President Lorraine Grillo announced the new school at a Gantry Parent Association meeting last week. The Gantry group was formed in October to “ensure the number of school seats and the quality of education keeps pace with the development of Long Island City,” according to the group’s Facebook page.
Parents in the neighborhood have been advocating for additional schools in the area, especially after the Department of Education announced last year the possibility of a truncation at P.S./I.S. 78. Parents were originally told that if two additional kindergarten classes filled up, grades six through eight would be truncated in the fall of 2016.
The school would only serve kindergarten through fifth grade, leaving older students scrambling since P.S./I.S. 78 is the only elementary school in the area. The DOE has not yet confirmed if this truncation is necessary in the future.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has allocated $225 million for the construction of three new schools in the area and one school in neighboring Woodside. The additional 1,800 school seats will be added to the Hunters Point South and Court Square neighborhoods, according to the Gantry Parent Association meeting minutes.
The SCA is also looking to provide additional seats in Long Island City for pre-K and kindergarten at the beginning of the next school year. City officials will announce the location of another school site in the next two weeks.
