Queens students are headed back to school tomorrow and children in Sunnyside and Woodside will be able to learn in two brand-new annexes aimed at alleviating overcrowding.
The $92 million annex at P.S. 11 in Woodside will accommodate 350 students while the $84 million annex at I.S. 125 in Sunnyside will serve 600 students. It will also end the schools’ reliance on classroom trailers.
In 2014, the Department of Education voted to bus 250 students from P.S. 11 at 54-25 Skillman Ave. to P.S. 171 in Astoria in order to construct the new annex.
At I.S. 125, located at 46-02 47th Ave., more than 200 seventh-grade students had to brave the rain and snow to travel to classroom trailers and a “temporary mini-building that was erected more than 20 years ago.
Both spaces add approximately 1,000 new seats to School District 30, which has struggled with school overcrowding. Several new schools are slated for construction including a 600-seat elementary school in Long Island City. Parents are also calling for the School Construction Authority to build a middle school in Sunnyside.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and Assemblyman Brian Barnwell toured the new spaces on Sept. 1, which include libraries, dance rooms, new technology and renovated cafeterias.
“Our kids deserve nothing but the best, and I’m proud of the work we’ve done to fund and build an unprecedented number of schools in western Queens,” Van Bramer said. “Together, these projects bring nearly 1,000 new seats to alleviate overcrowding and represent a nearly $200 million investment in our children, which is an investment in the future of our community. I’m grateful to the parents, faculty and staff, and community members who have joined in this fight to give all of our children the space, resources, and tools they need to succeed.”
A new preschool also opened in the neighborhood and will serve 180 students. 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.
