FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 • KIDS & EDUCATION • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
kids & education
Back-to-school festival collects backpacks for students
Queens school earns 2021 National Blue Ribbon recognition
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@schnepsmedia.com
@jenna_bagcal
An Oakland Gardens public school was
recently recognized as one of the best in the
nation, along with 18 other institutions in
New York state.
Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School
74 earned a spot on the 2021 National
Blue Ribbon School list, which recognizes
schools’ overall academic performance or
progress in closing achievement gaps among
student subgroups.
Th is year, a total of 325 public and nonpublic
schools across the nation were named
Blue Ribbon Schools.
Th e U.S. Department of Education program
began 39 years ago and has given
approximately 10,000 awards to more than
9,000 schools.
Schools are placed in one of two performance
categories based on all student
scores, subgroup student scores and graduations
rates. Th e fi rst is exemplary highperforming
schools, based on state assessments
or nationally normed tests. Th e second
is exemplary achievement gap-closing
schools, which are institutions that have
closed achievement gaps between student
groups and all students.
“Th is year’s cohort of honorees demonstrates
what is possible when committed educators
and school leaders create vibrant, welcoming
and affi rming school cultures where
rich teaching and learning can fl ourish,” said
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
“I commend all our Blue Ribbon honorees
for working to keep students healthy and safe
while meeting their academic, social, emotional
and mental health needs.”
Cardona also commended the Blue
Ribbon Schools for persevering and thriving
when COVID-19 posed a variety of challenges
to learning.
“In the face of unprecedented circumstances,
you found creative ways to engage,
care for, protect and teach our children,”
Cardona said. “Blue Ribbon Schools have so
much to off er and can serve as a model for
other schools and communities so that we
can truly build back better.”
See the list of National Blue Ribbon
Schools in New York state. Schools in New
York City are in bold.
• Briarcliff Manor – Briarcliff High
School
• Bronx – Icahn Charter School 3
• Brooklyn – P.S. 249 Caton (Th e)
• Brooklyn – Th e School for Future
Leaders
• Castleton-on-Hudson – Green
Meadow Elementary School
• Commack – Commack High School
• Fayetteville – Fayetteville Elementary
School
• Fonda – Fonda-Fultonville K-4 School
• Glen Head – North Shore Senior High
School
• Jericho – Jericho Senior High School
• Lawrence – Rambam Mesivta High
School
• Merrick – Sanford H Calhoun High
School
• Mount Sinai – Robert M. Grable Jr.
Mount Sinai High School
• Manhattan – P.S. 234 Independence
School
• Manhattan – P.S. 290 Manhattan
New School
• Manhattan – P.S. 41 Greenwich
Village
• Oakland Gardens – Nathaniel
Hawthorne Middle School 74
• Pleasantville – Pleasantville High
School
Photo courtesy of M.S. 74 Nathaniel Hawthorne
Photo courtesy of Variety Boys & Girls Club
Queens’ Variety Boys & Girls Club hosted a back-to-school event on Sept. 18 to donate school supplies.
BY NATALIE LOWIN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e Variety Boys & Girls Club of
Queens recently held a back-to-school
event for local students and their families.
Th e event, held on Sept. 18 in Astoria,
provided over 200 backpacks and school
supplies for students returning to class.
Th e backpacks and supplies were donated
by the Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards, Staples store 841,
Executive Digital, state Senators Michael
Gianaris and Jessica Ramos, Apartment
3R and PreCog Security.
More generosity came with the donation
of 500 cookies by Chip City, located
on 42-15 Crescent St. Some of the
other vendors present were San Antonio’s
Wood Fired Pizza, Ample Hills Creamery
and Astoria Bookshop.
Th e event, which was hosted in sponsorship
with TD Bank, Elmhurst Hospital,
Chip City and Heroes Basketball, featured
several games, including a dunk
tank.
Costa Constantinides, CEO of Variety
Boys & Girls Club and former Astoria
city councilman, was all smiles aft er
being dunked in.
According to their website, the Variety
Boys & Girls Club, created in 1955, was
established by a concerned group of citizens
in Astoria and Long Island City
who “banded together in response to rising
gang violence in their neighborhood.”
For more information about the Variety
Boys & Girls Club, visit bgcqueens.org.
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