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QUEENS WEEKLY, JULY 5, 2020
to Regional Enrichment Center in Middle Village
tous throughout all of our
elementary schools, and we
are going to reap the benefits
of that as we come back
to in person learning and
work our way through this
pandemic.”
There are many questions
still unanswered about
what the fall will look like for
schools across the city. When
asked what they’ve learned
from RECs that may transition
into the fall, Carranza
said there have been many
lessons.
“I’m very proud to say
we haven’t had one student
that’s become ill or
adult become ill. So as you
see, there’s a lot of lessons
learned around social distancing,
continuous cleaning,
face masks, all of the
recommendations and guidance
that we have from our
medical professionals,” he
said. “Our principals and
school site leadership teams
are at this moment walking
their buildings, making
sure that they have the
appropriate distancing and
identifying public spaces
that can be converted to
classroom spaces as well,
because we have to take into
account the social distancing
requirements. So there’s
a lot of very detailed and
complex work that is happening
now.”
Carranza said
they hope to have
definitive plans by the end
of July.
RECs, in the meantime,
will remain open throughout
the summer.
Ramage, who is an assistant
principal at East
River Academy on Rikers
Island, said she volunteered
to assist with RECs
since she had more free
time due to remote learning
.S
he told QNS P.S./I.S.
128’s REC has an average
of 72 student per day, with
a high of 89, who range
from pre-school to 10th
graders. She said the number
of students signing up
for the RECs continue to
grow, with more than 108
students who have already
signed up.
“As the school year is
winding down, more and
more students are coming
in,” Ramage said. “As each
phase is opening up, more
and more people are bringing
their children.”
Ramage said the RECs
are running on three sessions
over the summer.
Madelene Chan, the
superintendent for School
District 24, attended the
event. She said parents
have emailed her thanking
them for giving their children
a safe and educational
environment.
“We’re honored that the
Chancellor and the First
Lady came out to support
our REC center today, the
centers have been supporting
first responders since
the first days of COVID,”
Chan said. “We’re honored
that they were able to visit
and see the remarkable
work that the staff and
teachers have been doing
even under such challenging
situations. We’re confident
that we can continue
to support the children of
first responders until we
see an end to the virus.”