32 THE QUEENS COURIER • BACK TO SCHOOL • AUGUST 19, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Back to School
Photo via Getty Images
Borough Hall seeking donations of backpacks
and school supplies for Queens children in need
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
need to thrive in the classroom.
to reopen fully and safely this
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
The school supply drive began
September aft er a challenging year and
@QNS
Monday, Aug. 16, and will run through
a half during the COVID-19 pandemic,
Wednesday, Sept. 1. Residents can donate
Richards said the pandemic’s toll on
As the new school year approaches,
new backpacks and other school supplies
Queens’ families has been “extraordinarily
Queens Borough President Donovan
at Queens Borough Hall, located at 120-
rough,” especially those with schoolage
Richards is hosting a school supply drive
55 Queens Blvd. in Kew Gardens.
children who had to shift from inperson
to provide children with the tools they
As New York City public schools prepare
learning to remote learning as
they struggled to continue their education.
Amid the devastating economic
impacts of the pandemic, Richards said
he hopes the backpack and school supply
donation drive will “make life a little
easier for many hardworking families”
to get the upcoming school year off to a
great start.
Th is year’s donations for the upcoming
school year can be dropped off in a
box located on the fi rst fl oor of Borough
Hall next to the security desk in the lobby,
which is just inside the building’s main
entrance on Queens Boulevard. Th e lobby
is open 24 hours a day.
Other supplies needed include No. 2
pencils, pencil cases, pencil sharpeners,
crayons, pens, colored pencils, washable
markers, Elmer’s glue, glue sticks, composition
notebooks, 1.5-inch and 1-inch
binders, ruled paper, safety scissors, rulers,
pocket folders and scientifi c calculators.
While families don’t have to worry
about accessing school supplies for their
children, they are facing uncertainty this
school year as New York state offi cials
announced they would not issue health
and safety guidelines for schools reopening
next month. Local school districts
will instead be responsible for creating a
reopening plan.
As the city continues to grapple with
the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant,
lagging vaccination rates, and has
imposed a vaccine mandate for employees
and customers for indoor venues
beginning Monday, Aug. 16, Mayor Bill
de Blasio is also requiring teachers to get
vaccinated by the time school reopens in
September, or be tested weekly.
Eligible students can also get vaccinated
against COVID before classes are set
to resume on Sept. 13, with no options for
remote learning.
According to the mayor, there is no “full
recovery without full-strength schools,
everyone back, sitting in those classrooms,
kids learning again.”
FREE PRE-K FOR ALL
- Free Full day UPK program for All 4-year-old children
- Early Drop off & Extended hours available
- Small group class setting (Student-Teacher ratio- 12:3)
- High quality DOE curriculum
- Nutritious home-made meals
- Teachers with fluent multiple languages (English, Spanish, Korean)��
- Ask for free pick up service promotions!
- After school program ������������������������������������for K-6 ��rades
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40-27 172st��
Flushing NY 11358��
718-353-1805
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
