Queens will get a host of new schools this fall, and local school leaders couldn't be happier.
The boon will add 23,000 new seats to the borough and accounts for 35% of all the city's new schools this year.
The elementary and middle schools will open their collective doors in both new buildings and re-utilized older schools that have begun to be phased out.
Only 290 of the new seats will be "reclaimed" - that is, space that already existed but is being moved elsewhere, school officials said.
No Queens schools will fully close this year.
Queen Makkada, a parent leader in Far Rockaway, cheered the creation of new local elementary and middle schools.
Starting the MS/HS Academy of Medical Technology at Far Rockaway High School - the high school will be phased out by 2011 - was "a collaborative process," she said.
"Everybody is a part of it," she said, from parents to politicians. The idea for the new school came from the area's need for access to hospitals and job opportunities in the community.
Proximity is a bonus, said Makkada, the PTA president at the overcrowded PS/MS 42.
"Now, our children do not need to leave the peninsula to go to Manhattan or Brooklyn to go to a good school," she said.
New elementary schools
Learners and Leaders, at PS 245. Pre-K to third grade. 385 Seneca Ave., Ridgewood. (718) 935-4008.
Pioneer Academy, at PS/IS 260. Pre-K to fifth grade. 40-20 100th St., Ozone Park. (718) 935-3009. New site.
New York City Academy for Discovery. Pre-K to fifth grade. 89-15 Woodhaven Blvd., Woodhaven. (718) 935-3660.
Active Learning Elementary School, at PS 244. Grade levels undetermined. 137-20 Franklin Ave., Flushing. (718) 935-3988.
Academy for Excellence through the Arts. Pre-K to third grade. 108-55 69th Ave., Forest Hills. (718) 935-3974.
New middle schools
Queens Collegiate, at Jamaica High School. Grades 6 to 12. 167-01 Gothic Dr., Jamaica. (718) 935-3599.
MS/HS Academy of Medical Technology, at Far Rockaway H.S. Grades 6 to 12. 8-21 Beach 25th St. (718) 935-3610.
Parents interested in finding out more about the new schools in Queens can contact the Borough Enrollment Offices covering their school district:
Districts 24 and 30: (718) 391-8386
Districts 25 and 26: (718) 281-3791
District 27: (718) 348-2933
Districts 28 and 29: (718) 557-2774.
