32 THE QUEENS COURIER • QUEENS BUSINESS • AUGUST 8, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
queens business
Tiegerman School begins new special education program in Woodside
BY JACOB KAYE
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e Tiegerman School at Woodside is
a state-approved non-public school and
will service pre-K through grade 12 special
education students this coming fall. Its student
Queens Library doing its part for fair Census count
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
As expected, City Hall is expecting
Queens Public Library to play a key role
in enabling a proper count during Census
2020.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $1.4
million investment into the city’s fi rst-ofits
kind census outreach and engagement
campaign in partnership with the city’s
three library systems, QPL, the New York
Public Library and the Brooklyn Library.
“New York City has been on the front
lines of the resistance against the Trump
administration and ensuring every New
Yorker gets counted is central to our
fi ght,” de Blasio said. “We cannot let the
federal government silence our diversity
of voices. Our partnership with the public
library system will help all New Yorkers
stand up and be counted.”
Th e investment will fund internet
access, training and translation, operational
support, marketing and personnel
to ensure that all New Yorkers participate.
Th e census will help determine the allocation
of more than $650 billion in federal
funding, in addition to the appointment
of seats in the House of Representatives
which is hugely signifi cant in that current
population change estimates indicate that
New York state could lose congressional
seats following the 2020 Census.
“Th e City of New York has long recognized
that public libraries are its most
trusted, open and democratic institutions,”
Queens Public Library President and CEO
Dennis M. Walcott said. “ Serving the
most diverse place in the country with
branches in many of the hardest-to-count
census tracts, Queens Public Library is
ready to make sure everyone is represented
no matter who they are or where they
come from, and we look forward to working
with the city and our community partners
to make this happen.”
Funding libraries to conduct census
outreach and provide internet access will
be a critical component of NYC Census
2020’s campaign to combat fear and disinformation
resulting from the specter
of the now-defeated citizenship question,
as well as bridge the digital divide that
has left hundreds of thousands of New
Yorkers without regular reliable access to
the internet.
Th e partnership between NYC Census
2020 and the three library systems, will
enable libraries to expand and better
leverage their existing capabilities to assist
New Yorkers to complete the census form,
which will be online for the fi rst time.
“Our job is to get every New Yorker
counted in next year’s census, and we’ll
only be able to our job by partnering with
the libraries, which serve as the most trusted
voiced in communities across the city,”
NYC Census 2020 Director Julie Menin
said. “With this investment, together, we
will combat the fear and disinformation
about the census created by the Trump
administration, and also bridge the digital
divide that could create barriers for New
Yorkers to stand up and be counted in
next year’s census, no matter where they
live or what language they speak.”
Th e funding for the library systems is
one of the cornerstones of the city’s historic
$40 million investment in census outreach,
organizing and public awareness,
which includes large community-based
grants program, a fi eld operation, as well
as innovative, robust, and multilingual
media and marketing eff orts.
to teacher ratio better serves the students,
who may require more individualized
attention, its director of schools said.
“Th e staff to student ratios allow for
the students to grasp and manage the
curriculum,” said Dr. Jeremy Tiegerman,
the director of schools at Tiegerman, a
network of special education schools in
Queens.
With ratios of 10 students to one special
education certifi ed teacher and one
teaching assistant, eight students to one
teacher and two teaching assistants and six
students to one teacher and three teaching
assistants, the Tiegerman School at
Woodside is the fi rst of its kind in its network.
Nina DeVita is the principal of the
new school. DeVita began teaching at
Tiegerman’s Richmond Hill High School
location about a decade ago and quickly
worked her way up the leadership chain.
“I’m looking forward to growing with
these kids,” DeVita said. “It’s just amazing
that we’re taking Dr. Tiegerman’s vision of
a pre-school and growing with our kids.
“DeVita has a unique opportunity to
grow and develop a program and be creative
and shape it,” said Tiegerman. “She
really has a this blank canvas that she can
create into something quite extraordinary.”
Founded by Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman
in 1985, Tigerman centers around a teaching
system designed to stimulate and challenge
children’s language development.
“We believe very, very fi rmly that students
cannot progress or learn the skills or
curriculum in schools without fi rst having
the language foundational skills,” said
Tiegerman, the founder’s son. “Th at’s really
what we stress here.”
Th e Tiegerman network is also beginning
to expand their adult services, something
Tiegerman is excited about.
“We are really growing with our family
and students through the life cycle, from
around 2-ish until they are old and gray,”
Tiegerman said.
Th e Tiegerman School at Woodside,
located at 70-24 47th Ave., will have a ribbon
cutting ceremony on Sept. 24. More
information about the school can be found
here.
City invests $1.4 million in a census outreach and engagement campaign at libraries across the fi ve
boroughs.
Photo: Jacob Kaye/QNS
Principal Nina DeVita and Director of Schools Dr. Jeremy Tiegerman stand outside of the newly launched Tiegerman School at Woodside on July 31, 2019
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