Elected officials and school administrators held a ceremonial groundbreaking for a 3,066-seat high school slated to go up on Northern Boulevard in Woodside (Photo: courtesy of the School Construction Authority)
Dec. 8, 2021 By Christian Murray
Elected officials and school administrators held a ceremonial ground breaking Wednesday to celebrate the start of construction of a 3,066-seat high school on Northern Boulevard in Woodside.
The massive school, which will be six stories and contain 94 regular classrooms, will be the largest ever constructed by the School Construction Authority. The building is going up on the corner of Northern Boulevard and 54th Street on a 137,000 square foot lot that was previously occupied by the Sports Authority store and parking lot.
The school will also include six resource rooms, a library, a 550-seat auditorium, a full kitchen complex with two student dining areas, and a gymnasium with bleachers and locker rooms.
The school is expected to open for the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
A rendering of the new school (Source: SCA)
“This school represents our mission to invest in New York City’s future, continuing to create the school buildings that our students need and deserve while also continuing to fulfill the Mayor’s commitment to reduce overcrowding and increase diversity,” said Nina Kubota, President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA).
The new facility aims to fulfill the SCA and Dept. of Education’s commitment to address overcrowding in Queens high schools by bringing nearly 6,200 new high school seats to the borough by 2026.
“This historic project will bring thousands of new seats to Queens and provide students with state-of-the-art facilities where they can learn, grow and thrive,” said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter.
The huge school will contain an array of other features, which include: six art classrooms; three music rooms; six science labs; six science demo rooms; six science prep rooms; three exercise rooms; a guidance suite; medical suite; two administrative suits; two parent/community offices; two staff lunch areas; bicycle storage; and an outdoor play yard with basketball and handball courts.
The high school will also house a total of 18 special education classrooms with their own main office, two speech rooms, three additional resource rooms and guidance offices, as well as an occupational therapy room, physical therapy room, changing room, and multi-purpose room.
The building was designed by the SCA’s team of in-house architects and engineers, and a $178.85 million contract was awarded to Turner Construction.
The school is going up on the site that was once used by Sports Authority (Photo: QueensPost)
The SCA said it will be opening several other buildings in Queens for high school students. These include a 989 seat building for the Academy of American Studies HS in Long Island City that will open in 2022; a 555-seat annex at Francis Lewis HS in Fresh Meadows that will be ready by 2022; a 795 seat annex at Cardozo HS in Bayside scheduled to open in 2023; and 801 seats at Hillside Avenue HS.
The large Northern Boulevard site where the high school is going up, outlined in red (Google Maps)
“The groundbreaking for the Northern Blvd. H.S. is a momentous occasion. At a time when many of New York City’s schools are over capacity…[this] is a welcome addition, not only for Woodside, but New York City as a whole,” said Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer in a statement.
Meanwhile, Assembly Member Brian Barnwell said: “One of the biggest issues we are facing in education is rising class sizes. Today, we make a big stride in lowering class sizes for our students by the beginning of construction on this new high school.”
Renderings of High School o… by Queens Post
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18 Comments
It should have been the Middle School instead of Barnett Avenue. It would have been large enough. The Barnett Avenue site is too small to fit the number of students from the local elementary schools after it is completed. So after all the millions, the overcrowding in the middle school will still be there. The school should have been Grades 6-12. One wing for Middle School, the other a high school where they could choose to continue and a District 75 high school too.
Why does it take until 2025 to open?
Why will it open for 2025 school year? Does it really take 4 years to build a high school? I know Rome wasn’t built in a day but ……..
Why does it need to be such an ugly building? Can’t a decent architect be hired?
This is the funniest thing ever. I thought this was the community jail everyone keeps talking about. So sad and depressing. Good luck to those poor kids that go there
Just what you need to keep them indoors in a prision like setting before they graduate to Riker’s. What a waste of resources, money grab. Vocational schools tapping into local Unions for apprenticeship program’s teach these kids skills other that playing video games, we need electricians, plumbers, welders, construction
exactly this. the technical school on 47th ave has incredible programs. i wish i went there as a kid. maybe i’d learn more than just marketing and office work.
The politicians don’t want that. They want every kid on the hook for student debt. Vocational schools are too cheap and too quick. They can make a living too fast.
The politicians have been paid to push college.
I worry about a few things:
– the amount of blank/opaque facade at ground level is an invite for graffiti and presents an unfriendly face to the boulevard.
– Northern Boulevard over there is a dangerous hellhole for pedestrians. I hope by the time the school opens, some traffic calming measures are implemented. Don’t need students getting hit by cars.
– the cafeteria looks very institutional and depressing. That’s just my personal taste though.
And there are 3,066 more reasons I/WE can’t have more bike lanes. Where will they all park!? LOL
Are you from here? High school students in NYC don’t generally drive to school.
They meaning teachers and staff!!!!
Actually, I/WE certainly mean the students.
STUDENTS OF ALL AGES SHOULD DRIVE TO SCHOOL
MINI-PARODY-OP-ED
By the 11,999 followers of Queens Streets for LOL
Queens Streets for LOL think it would be absolutely hilarious and not to mention totally adorable if ALL CHILDREN STARTING AT 1ST GRADE would drive themselves to school. Here is a five point plan to make that happen for the generation being born at this very moment.
1. EVERY AMERICAN CITIZEN SHOULD BE GIVEN A CAR AT BIRTH. It’s not socialism, believe ME/US, please read the rest of this.
2. All children’s first form identification should be a VALID LEARNERS PERMIT. What better age to start learning about the best form of personal transport?
3. KINDERGARTEN should be renamed KINDRIVERSED. This would give the children alone time in their cars and teach them that nap time and driving time are not one and the same!
4. ALL CHILDREN STARTING AT 1ST GRADE SHOULD DRIVE THEMSELVES TO SCHOOL. Now you might think I/WE are crazy but please read point 5.
5. INVEST IN OUR FUTURE. A little bird told ME/US that I/WE the taxpayers pay over $20,000 per kid per year in public school. All I/WE know is that if I/WE have to give little Timmy something worth that much, it should ONLY be a car. Most cars are cheaper than $20,000, and with the demand created by promising one per child, it would take about 5 years of backlog to fill the orders anyway. Automakers stocks will soar and this New Deal for America’s Children will create the most prosperous generation since, well, the last New Deal did for MY/OUR generation. And for the holier than thou safety crowd, I/WE got that covered: No one should graduate from KINDRIVERSED until they can SAFELY operate an automobile. Also the automobiles should be smaller and capped at 40MPH to ensure the children can’t hurt anyone, but still make it home in time for supper and to finish that homework! Oh, and as for bikes, all should be separately licensed and insured, and the minimum biking age should be 18. LOL
Teachers, coaches, administrators and delivery people do, though.
Nothing to do with schools.
Only a fraction of school personnel live in the city. Even less live close to where they work.
Sip your soy latte. Most the adults who teach your brats drive.
Now that all the roads around here have been narrowed by bike lanes, we should import 3,000 students and who knows how many teachers and administrators to the area. Great idea. I can’t wait for the clouds of gas fumes the vehicles jammed up on our streets will emit.
you’re kidding right? it doesnt just look like a prison, it looks a like a supermax.