44 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • JANUARY 25, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
kids & education
City adds dual language Pre-K at six Queens locations
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Queens toddlers will receive instruction
in two languages starting in September
when the Department of Education introduces
six new pre-K Dual Language programs.
Th e city announced that the number of
these programs will be more than doubled
from 30 to 63 Dual Language programs.
Th e languages off ered include
Spanish, Italian, Mandarin and will
begin to off er programs in Bengali and
Russian this year.
“Being able to speak and read in a different
language, and understand a different
culture, is a game-changer for our
kids,” said Schools Chancellor Carmen
Fariña. “Th at’s why we are more than
doubling the number of New York
City’s pre-K Dual Language programs –
meeting the needs of our kids and families,
and giving more of our children a
critical early foundation in not just one
language, but two.”
Dual Language classes consist of
50 percent children whose home language
is not English and 50 percent
English-profi cient students. Instruction
is held in both languages to help children
become bilingual and biliterate.
Students in pre-K Dual Language classes
will be able to continue on the Dual
Language track in kindergarten and elementary
school.
The Department of Education will off er pre-K Dual Language programs in Spanish and Bengali at six locations in Queens.
Five schools in Queens will off er the
program in Spanish. Th ey include Elm
Tree Elementary School in Corona,
Pre-K Center in College Point, P.S./M.S.
138 Sunrise in Rosedale, P.S. 76 William
Hallet in Long Island City and P.S. 151
Mary D. Carter in Woodside.
In Jamaica, the Ezra Jack Keats Pre-K
Photo courtesy of Facebook/EzraJackKeatsFoundation
Center will off er the city’s fi rst Bengali
pre-K Dual Language program. In total,
Queens will off er Dual Language programs
in 11 pre-K centers.
Flushing school auditorium named for City Councilman
Students and staff members of P.S. 177
in Flushing invited City Councilman
Peter Koo to their school last week as they
dedicated their newly renovated auditorium
in his honor. Koo secured nearly $1
million in capital funds for the project, as
well as technological upgrades and aft erschool
programming.
At the ceremony, students gave speeches
and performed musical pieces before
cutting a ribbon naming the auditorium
the “Koo Auditorium.”
“For 35 years, PS 177 has served special
needs students in our community by
coaching them to achieve independence,”
Koo said. “I am excited to see this equipment
open new doors to learning by giving
students access to music and performance
art. I’m happy to support them in
any way possible.”
Photos courtesy of City Councilman Peter Koo