YEAR IN REVIEW
Top education stories of the year
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Four dozen Queens
schools tested positive for
deteriorating lead paint
About four dozen schools
in Queens were tested positive
for lead paint during an
inspection in August by the
city Department of Education.
Chalkbeat reported 48
Queens schools were found
to have deteriorating lead
paint on the premises. In
those schools, the paint
was found in 139 total classrooms.
In Queens, P.S. 9, a special
needs school in Maspeth,
tested positive for lead
paint. The school had been
the subject of numerous reports
regarding conditions
of the building, which local
Councilman Robert Holden
and a number of parents
have described as deplorable.
The DOE is legally required
to check buildings
that were built before 1978.
In the inspection, over 700
schools in the city that were
built before 1985 and serve
students as young as 6 years
old. T
he inspections followed
in the wake of a report by
WNYC’s investigation that
found evidence of dangerous
levels of lead paint in
schools. The city had pledged
to make the classrooms safe
before the school year began
in September, announcing
several changes to improve
testing.
Over 40 northeast Queens
schools recognized as top
performers under New
York’s ESSA Plan
About 44 public schools
in northeast Queens were
recognized as high achievement
institutions in June
by the State Education Department
under New York’s
Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA) plan.
Queens Community
School Districts 25 and 26
are part of the 92 district
schools and six charter
schools in the borough with
high academic achievement,
student growth and graduation
rate as per the 2018-19
Recognition Schools list.
Under ESSA standards,
Recognition Schools are topperforming
institutions in
several categories, which include
student growth and/or
graduation rate, meeting or
exceeding either the school
or state measures of progress
for English language
arts and math, rate of chronic
absenteeism and college,
career and civic readiness.
City shuts down Kew
Garden Hills school for
failing to comply with
measles outbreak
protection order
Kew Garden Hill’s Yeshiva
of Central Queens school,
located at 147-37 70th Rd.,
was forced to shut it doors
in May for non-compliance
with a citywide order aimed
at curbing the ongoing measles
outbreak.
The Health Department
had issued an “Order of the
Commissioner” to the school
mandating that the administration
exclude any unvaccinated
student for 21 days
following a known exposure
to measles at the school. The
school was allowed to reopen
once the Health Department
reviewed and approved a
submitted corrective action
plan that addressed lapses
in complying with the order.
The Yeshiva of Central
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.22 COM | DEC. 27-JAN. 2, 2020
Queens attorney had issued
a statement saying they
“were not aware of any Yeshiva
student being exposed
to the measles virus and that
the Department of Health’s
audit of the yeshiva was triggered
by a single individual
-- an outside vendor of the
Yeshiva who was apparently
exposed to the measles virus.”
The statement further
noted that the Department
of Health’s decision to temporarily
close the yeshiva
appeared to be “merely precautionary.”
The school’s administrators
had prepared an action plan to
better its compliance and monitoring
mechanisms, which
was implemented no later than
the beginning of the fall 2019
semester regarding measles
vaccination requirements.
Long Island City
organization offers
teachers free supplies
Long Island City Public
school teachers were able to
stock up on free school supplies
thanks to a program
called Materials for the Arts.
From Aug. 27 until the
end of September, Materials
for the Arts hosted its
fifth annual supply shopping
event, where members
picked up much-needed free
resources from the organization’s
35,000-square-foot
warehouse, located at 33-00
Northern Blvd.
In order to participate in
the shopping spree, individuals
must be MFTA members
and Department of Education
Schools and nonprofits
must meet certain criteria to
be eligible MFTA members.
Each member was allowed
a 90- to 120-minute shopping
window. The organization
also encourages individuals
and companies to donate
supplies or funds.
Since its inception in
1978, MFTA has supported
the arts and cultural communities
while promoting
reuse, recycling and waste
reduction. Over 4,300 public
schools and nonprofit organizations
receive free supplies
through the program,
which is run by the NYC Department
of Cultural Affairs
with DOE support.
St. John’s University
graduates largest class
in three decades
It was the largest graduating
class in three decades for
St. John’s University as more
than 2,300 undergraduate degrees
were conferred to students
on the Great Lawn at
the 149th annual commencement
ceremony in May.
More than 14,000 guests
gathered to watch family
and friends and commemorate
their accomplishments
of the class of 2019.
In his congratulatory
remarks, St. John’s University
President Dr. Conrado
Gempeshaw, Ph.D, said the
class of 2019 featured 60 student
athletes, as well as 128
international students from
35 countries. More than 600
students studied abroad
and a total of 121 graduates
served in the military.
More than 40 percent of
the class graduated with
honors: 296 summa cum
laude, 296 magna cum laude
and 428 cum laude. In addition,
22 students graduated
with a perfect 4.0 cumulative
grade point average.
Queens native Margaret
M. Keane, a member of the
class of 1981 and CEO of Synchrony,
one of the nation’s
premier consumer financial
services company, delivered
the Commencement address.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–
4526.
The fifth annual school supply shopping event for MFTA members began Aug. 27 and ran through the
end of September. Courtesy of Materials for the Arts
St. John’s University conferred 2,382 undergraduate degrees in
May, the most in three decades. Courtesy of SJU
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