On first day of school On Thursday, more than 11,000 New York City children will head into new buildings — in the largest school building expansion in two decades.
The public school system opens 24 buildings this fall, Mayor Adams announced Wednesday at a ribbon cutting in the Bronx. With the latest additions, just a couple of dozen temporary classrooms remain throughout the citydown from a peak of more than 350 inhospitable units over a decade ago.
“This means we can close all but 24 of these outdated trailer classrooms from our schools,” Adams said at a news conference outside The Leaders of Excellence, Advocacy and Discovery, a Melrose elementary school with close to 550 seats.
Construction included nine buildings in Brooklyn, eight in the Bronx, six in Queens and one in Manhattan. Officials touted the facilities as having state-of-the-art technology, science labs and music rooms and sensory gyms for children with disabilities — with more additions on the way.
The recently adopted capital plan 2025-2029 provides funding for more than 33,400 classroom places.
But advocates have criticized the School Construction Authority’s new plan for not including any new schools in the Bronx, where the news conference was held, despite the expected need for thousands of seats.
Schools Chancellor David Banks said there is something special about entering a new school.
“I know the a-ha moments these kids are going to have when they walk in for the first time and are overwhelmed by the newness of this building,” Banks said.
“It smells like it’s new, doesn’t it? And this beautiful garden out here: It tells the children, and it tells the parents, and it tells the community at large that we care and that you are important to us.”