14 The Queens Courier • november 21, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com THE COURIER/ Photo by Angy Altamirano Members of the Woodside community, School Construction Authority representatives and local elected officials broke ground on the construction of P.S. 339, which is expected to be fully operational by 2016. MOST QUEENS SCHOOLS PASS BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] The majority of Queens schools scored high on the Department of Education’s (DOE) recently released progress reports. Out of the 62 Queens high schools that were issued 2012-2013 progress reports, 31 earned As, 16 Bs, 6 Cs, 5 Ds and 4 Fs. The highest scoring institution was Long Island City’s Academy for Careers in Television and Film, which just moved into a new building at the beginning of this school year. It received an overall score of 100.9. Flushing High School, Pan American International High School in Elmhurst, Frederick Douglass Academy VI High School in Far Rockaway and August Martin High School in Jamaica earned overall failing grades. Progress reports were issued for 239 Queens elementary and middle schools. Fifty-eight of them earned As, 97 Bs, 74 Cs, nine Ds and only one, Springfield Gardens’ Community Voices Middle School, failed. Waterside School for Leadership in Rockaway was the highest ranking Queens middle school, with an overall score of 90.3, and P.S. 203 Oakland Gardens was the top-rated elementary school in the borough, with an overall score of 86.5. Across the city, the DOE found public school performance “remained consistent, with 87 percent of schools maintaining their grade or moving one grade compared to last year.” The reports are based on students’ progress, performance, attendance and surveys of parents, students and teachers. PARKS PRESENTS PLANS FOR PAVILION BY MAGIE HAYES [email protected] The city’s Parks Department presented plans this week for the crumbling but iconic New York State Pavilion. It could cost $14 million to tear down the deteriorating 1964-65 Worlds Fair structure, which is in need of an inordinate amount of internal and external fixes. But a plan to restore the site could cost $73 million, according to a Parks study. Architectural firm Perkins + Will created an “adaptive reuse” concept, which would modify the site and add event spaces and landscaped paths. Parks detailed a plan to stabilize the towers by replacing perimeter walls, elevator shafts and equipment and bringing all electrical up to code. People for the Pavilion, an advocacy group for the site, feels the “best action would be to make it an institution, a cultural center that can be used for future generations,” said member Matthew Silva. Another option would stabilize the Observation Towers and the Tent of Tomorrow for $43 million, prohibiting public access. Silva countered that plan and said that “certainly stabilizing it is something that is nice, but then it’s not something that can be utilized.” “We want to advocate for making that part of the park a usable and very lively place. It should be used in a dynamic way,” he said. Additionally, a tentative plan to restore the Pavilion to again include access to the Tent and Towers, will climb to about $52 million. Costs quoted for preliminary plans are rough estimates, a Parks spokesperson said. The department will accept feedback at community meetings. Dates will be announced soon. BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected] Shovels full of dirt hit the ground to alleviate overcrowded classrooms in Woodside. Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer gathered with city officials and the community on November 15 at the corner of 58th Street and 39th Avenue to break ground on the construction of P.S. 339. “This new school is going to help so much here in Woodside,” said Van Bramer. “Here in Woodside, in our district, we have a serious overcrowding situation and I’m so thrilled that we’ve had a lot of these groundbreakings and that we’re building a lot of new schools in our district. The children of Woodside, Sunnyside and Long Island City deserve nothing but the very best.” P.S. 339 is one of six new schools expected to be fully operational by 2016 in western Queens. Located at 39-07 57th Street, it will serve 472 students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. The new five-story building will feature 22 standard classrooms, two specialeducation classrooms, multiple resource rooms, a music classroom, art classroom and “gymatorium.” The school will also have a library, cafeteria, kitchen, a community room, a general use and early childhood playground, and administrative, guidance and medical offices. P.S. 339 is slated to open September 2015, with the facility fully operational by 2016. Along with the new school, Van Bramer also announced the construction of a state-of-the-art extension to nearby P.S. 11, located at 54-25 Skillman Ave, which will add 350 seats and is expected to be open by 2016. “I am so excited that this is happening,” said Anna Efkarpides, principal of P.S. 11. “It’s for our community. It’s not my school, your school, it’s a school for Woodside children.” Woodside gets more ROOM TO LEARN Photo courtesy of People for the New York State Pavilion Facebook page The New York State Pavillion Help make the holidays bright The holiday season has arrived, and The Queens Courier will once again be collecting toys and clothing to be donated this year to the Queens Centers for Progress’ Apple Preschool in Jamaica for our annual holiday gift drive. The Apple Preschool program offers children with disabilities between three to five years old a large variety of educational and therapeutic services, including speech, occupational and physical therapy and counseling. The children interact with special education teachers and clinicians who work on language skills, cognitive, motor and social development. After participating in the program, the majority of the children become integrated into the public school system. Apple Preschool is asking for new, unused and unwrapped donations for their students, 31 girls and 52 boys between the ages of three and four. Donations can be dropped off at The Courier’s office, located at 38-15 Bell Boulevard in Bayside or at People’s United Bank branches at 8989 Union Turnpike in Glendale or 34-51 48th Street in Long Island City.
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