WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES APRIL 11, 2019 3
Redeemer Luth. closing grade school this June
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Redeemer Lutheran School, a
fixture in Glendale for more
than 60 years, will be closing its
elementary school portion this June
due to low enrollment and high cost of
repairs to the building.
It’s the last surviving Lutheran
elementary school in western Queens.
Two other Lutheran schools — Our
Saviour Lutheran in Rego Park and
St. John’s Lutheran in Glendale —
closed during the previous decade.
The closest Lutheran school is now
the Lutheran School of Flushing and
Bayside; Martin Luther School, a
Lutheran school in Maspeth, off ers
classes from grades six through 12.
Located at 69-26 Cooper Ave.,
Redeemer has been in the community
since 1955. Despite closing all grades
above kindergarten, they are off ering
Universal Pre-K for the 2019-20 school
year this September, as it is funded
through the city.
School offi cials urged parents of
children entering grades six through
eight in September to consider
enrolling in Martin Luther School.
Parents of children in the younger
grades may opt to enroll in other
nearby Catholic schools including
St. Matthias Catholic Academy in
Ridgewood, Sacred Heart Catholic
Academy in Glendale and St. Margaret
Catholic Academy in Middle Village.
On Monday, April 9, Sacred
Heart and Martin Luther provided
the Redeemer community with
information packets about enrolling
children for September.
“It is with a heavy heart that we tell
you that Redeemer Lutheran School
will not reopen this fall,” the school
wrote in an offi cial statement on its
Facebook page. “God has blessed
our little school with over 60 years
of Christian education. Please pray
for our students, faculty and staff as
they face a new chapter in their lives.
We are choosing to celebrate the
many years we have had as a family.
Thank you to all who have supported
our school.”
Enrollment at Redeemer dropped
steadily in recent years, with about 120
students enrolled in the current school
year. As attendance dropped, sources
familiar with the situation said, debt
increased to about $300,000, much of it
due to the need for corrective repairs
designed to meet city regulations.
Principal Michael Williams spoke
to the Ridgewood Times in December
about a botched repair job to the boiler,
which caused the school to incur fi nes
from the city Department of Buildings.
The contractor was not easily tracked
down to complete the work properly.
Originally costing $75,000,
Redeemer was left with no choice
but to turn to GoFundMe to raise at
$30,000 for the boiler which produced
between 25 to 90 percent of the school’s
heat, Williams said. The GoFundMe
campaign raised close to $5,000.
“There were some compliance issues
that were pointed out by the DOB on
inspection, one of them being that the
new boiler was not registered with
the DOB, which is a requirement,”
Williams told QNS in December.
“Most plumbers don’t want to touch
it because they didn’t offi cially work
on it, so that’s what we fi nd to be the
biggest challenge.”
When the Ridgewood Times reached
out to the plumbing company used by
the school, they could not be reached.
Robert Pozarycki contributed to
this report.
Redeemer Lutheran School in Glendale announced on April 4 that it’s closing
its elementary school this June. Photo via Google Maps
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