A new 180-seat preschool in Long Island City will open in time for the 2017-2018 school year.
Q972, which was announced last November, is located on the first two floors of a building at 27-35 Jackson Ave. Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and Deputy Mayor Richard Buery toured the new facility, which used to house a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services center, on Aug. 30.
Though several elementary schools are slated to be constructed in the area, parents expressed concerns last year about the lack of pre-K seats in Long Island City.
The Gantry Parent Association, a group that advocates for more school seats in the area, started a petition when they took an informal survey on their Facebook page to ask who had been waitlisted for P.S./I.S. 78 or the Pre-K Center.
The group received a flood of responses, with many parents saying they were placed in other schools such as P.S. 76 in Astoria or P.S. 111, which parents say are too far away, or schools not on their list. School seats have long been a concern in the area, especially with many new residential developments in the works.
More than 11,000 residential units have been constructed in the past 10 years, making the construction of new schools necessary to accommodate the new families moving in.
“I am thrilled to see this beautiful new Pre-K Center in Long Island City completed in time for the start of the school year,” Van Bramer said. “With incredible parks, museums and a real sense of community, parents from all over New York City are discovering that Long Island City is a great place to raise a family. Last year, I joined with parents to call for more seats to accommodate this increase in families and expecting parents moving to Long Island City to raise their children. And now, that dream has been realized with the competition of this Pre-K Center, on time and ready for students come September. Applications are now open, and I encourage parents to apply!”
To apply for a seat, visit the center’s website.
