Sept. 8, 2012 By Christian Murray
Many Sunnyside and Woodside children who attend elementary school on the Northern side of Queens Blvd may no longer be spending their middle school years at IS 125.
Officials are in preliminary discussions about sending children who complete PS 150 (40-01 43 Avenue) and PS11 (54-25 Skillman Ave.) to a brand new school located at 1-50 51st Avenue in Long Island City.
Many argue that IS 125 (46-02 47th Ave.) is overcrowded, pointing to the many trailers that dot the school yard. They claim that sending the children to Long Island City would reduce the overcrowding problem at IS 125, while providing students at 150 and PS11 with an opportunity to go to a brand new school.
“New schools tend to be good schools,” said Jennifer Harper, who is on the 11-person Community Education Council, which represents residents before the Department of Education. “They don’t start off being bad schools.”
Furthermore, PS 150 and PS 11 are within school District 30 where the new school will be located, while IS 125 is in District 24.
The new school, I.S. / H.S. 404, is scheduled to open in Sept. 2013 and is part of the 5,000 unit Hunters Point South development.
The decision to send children to the new school is “still a nascent idea,” said Jeff Guyton, co-president of the Community Education Council. However, “I’m about to talk to parents at PS 150 and PS11 and the PTAs to see if they support it.”
If they don’t, Guyton said, the Community Education Council would not recommend the idea to the Department of Education. However, if parents want it, the Community Education Council would fight for it and it most likely would happen. “We are looking for feedback,” Guyton said.
However, there are many considerations. For instance, many children would have to travel a much greater distance to get there.
Featured Events
13 Comments
@ Ruben your very racist! 125 is not just spanish kids from the projects its blacks whites idians and orientals as well. Sunnyside has all types of nationalities and for you to pin point a race and blame them is plain sad. i hope u dont raise your kid to think and share your racist views
IS 125 wants District 30 kids because they are smarter for the most part.
King of queens, It’s not Racism…it’s Statistics
I wonder how many people who have left disparaging remarks about IS 125 know any parents who have had their kids there in the past 3-4 years. Schools change over the years, and frankly the fact that “Ruben” went there and it “sucked” is not relevent to the school today, since I’m guessing he went there 15-20 years ago (since he says he’s currently the father of a child who is zoned for this school in what sounds like the near future).
The best way to find out about a school is to research it on websites like insideschools.org (click here for the review of IS 125: http://insideschools.org/middle/browse/school/1016), go visit (ask the parent coordinator to give you a tour), and talk to current students and/or their parents.
The new school in LIC is an IS/HS (that’s seven grades of students in 6th-12th grade) which will have a very limited number of seats in each grade (153 seats per grade based on the projected seats of 1,071). There are thousands of apartments within a couple of blocks of this site and I’m sure they’ll be able to fill the seats in this new school with kids from the immediately surrounding area besides busing them in all the way from Sunnyside. Think how you’d feel if you lived a block away from this school and your child couldn’t get in because kids coming from Sunnyside were taking the seats.
It’s true that IS 125 is in D24 and is very overcrowded. In fact, the entire 5th grade from PS 199 attends 125 in trailers because 199 is so overcrowded. Why doesn’t the D30 CEC push the SCA to build a new middle school in the north of Queens Blvd, Sunnyside vicinity? And, if there is more need for IS seats than there is for HS seats in D30, why doesn’t the CEC push to have the new LIC school have all IS seats?
what a bunch of f’ing RACISTS!!!!!!!!
As a Sunnyside transplant from the south, I’m always amused at how people up here say “them” (“them kids don’t know how to act”) when they should be saying “those”. Absorbing the culture here has been a great opportunity for growth and I am forever grateful for the chance to be doing it. I’m glad I was able to settle in Sunnyside!
Thank God for this idea!! Will be Praying for this desition becomes true!! About time!!! We needed a better place and environment for our kids!!
To many kids…to many problems. I think it will be worth the sacrifice of the comut at the end!!
OppressedMasses…you make a solid point sir. Maybe I’ll give these Yuppies a second chance.
See Ruben, Yuppifying western Queens neighborhoods can be a good thing! The City would not be building a new middle school in LIC if yuppies had. It taken over that nabe. And now because of an influx of yuppie kids in PS 150, Sunnyside children may enjoy the benefits of a brand new middle school.
I REALLY hope this happens, IS 125 SUCKS, I barely survived that crappy school , hell…I had an easier time in HIGH SCHOOL! There was NO way I was going to send my son there. In fact I was planning to home school him till it was time for High School ..that is how bad that school is. I’ll lock him up for 2 years I got no problem with that.
and let’s be honest..the reason IS 125 sucks is cuz it has most of the kids from those Latino projects. Them kids don’t know how act.
It is time for PS 150 and PS 11 to have a feeder school of their own and not have to go out of district to District 24 and attend IS 125 …
A bit further to travel but will be worth it ..
Yes, new school will be a good school … PS 11 ad PS 150 are good schools and their students will benefit from this change ..
Parents of PS11 and PS150
Get on the bandwagon for your kids Support this change ….
The fast food industry needs those public school graduates, keep cranking them out.
Thank God!! IS 125 is a hellhole!!