8 AUGUST 19, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Borough Hall hosts school supply drive
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
As the new school year approaches,
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards is hosting a
school supply drive to provide children
with the tools they need to thrive
in the classroom.
The school supply drive began
Monday, Aug. 16, and will run through
Wednesday, Sept. 1. Residents can donate
new backpacks and other school
supplies at Queens Borough Hall,
located at 120-55 Queens Blvd. in Kew
Gardens.
As New York City public schools
prepare to reopen fully and safely
this September aft er a challenging
year and a half during the COVID-19
pandemic, Richards said the pandemic’s
toll on Queens’ families has been
“extraordinarily rough,” especially
those with school-age children who
had to shift from in-person 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.
This 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. The 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.”
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The Offi ce of the Superintendent of
Catholic Schools for the Diocese
of Brooklyn, which includes 69
elementary schools in Brooklyn and
Queens, announced that COVID-19
safety protocols will be in place when
schools open on Wednesday, Sept. 8.
In the absence of a mandate, the New
York State Department of Health recommends
school districts adopt universal
indoor masking for all based on guidance
from the American Academy of
Pediatrics and the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Therefore, Catholic academies and
parish schools in Brooklyn and Queens
will require all students, faculty and
staff members to wear masks beginning
on the fi rst day of school.
Additionally, school offi cials will continue
to encourage vaccinations, social
distancing, hand washing and hand hygiene.
Schools will maintain the rigorous
daily cleaning and sanitizing of facilities,
and they’ll use enhanced ventilation.
Parents will be reminded to keep
their child home from school if they are
sick, and their child will be required
to receive medical clearance from a
healthcare provider so that they can
safely return to in-person instruction.
The Catholic academies and parish
schools will also continue to follow city
and state guidelines regarding contact
tracing, quarantine and isolation
protocols.
“As the numbers of coronavirus
cases continue to spike in children,
and the overall numbers of hospitalizations
in New York City are on
the rise, this is the most responsible
approach to take when we begin the
new school year,” said Superintendent
Dr. Thomas Chadzutko. “I know the
return to these safety measures is
not the situation parents, teachers
or students were hoping for in the
2021-2022 school year, but we cannot
ignore the trends.”
According to Chadzutko, if the schools
are successful in preventing a further
increase of cases as the academic year
moves along, they will revisit the guidelines
and adjust them accordingly.
“As much as we want a return to normalcy
in our classrooms, we want our
students, faculty and staff to be safe,”
Chadzutko said.
While he has received his vaccine and
continues to encourage others to do so
as well, Nicholas DiMarzio, bishop of
Brooklyn, said it is their hope that the
COVID-19 vaccines will help bring an end
to “this terrible virus that has controlled
our lives for much of the past year and
a half.”
Catholic schools in Brooklyn and
Queens, in adherence to strict guidelines,
opened on time for the 2020-21 school
year, and were able to off er fi ve-day-aweek
instruction. Enrollment increased
in nearly 40 percent of the schools last
year in grades K-8.
To learn more about Catholic
Schools in Brooklyn and Queens, visit
catholicschoolsbq.org.
Photo via Getty Images
Photo via Getty Images
Brooklyn and Queens Catholic schools to implement COVID-19 safety protocols
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