Rendering of the four-story school at 1-35 57th Ave. that opened Monday (School Construction Authority)
Sept. 13, 2021 By Allie Griffin
A brand new public school opened in Long Island City Monday — one of 11 new school facilities to open in New York City on the first day of classes.
School administrators opened the doors of P.S. 384 Hunters Point School, located at 1-35 57th Ave., to students this morning. The opening adds 612 seats to the district.
The city’s School Construction Authority said the 11 new buildings bring more than 3,700 much-needed school seats citywide. Two of the buildings are in Queens — one being P.S 384, the other being an addition at P.S. 2 in East Elmhurst.
The Hunters Point School cost $67.5 million and took more than three years to complete. Its opening was briefly in danger of being postponed due to the pandemic and city budget constraints, but it still opened on the first day of the 2021-2022 school year as scheduled.
The city prioritized its completion, given the shortage of school seats in Long Island City. Meanwhile, the opening dates of several other schools being built in western Queens were pushed back due to pandemic-related delays.
The Long Island City school — located on Parcel F of the Hunters Point South development — has been built to serve students in pre-K through fifth grade.
The school includes two reading rooms, one speech resource room, an art classroom, a science resource room, a music suite, a full kitchen, a cafeteria and a library.
The school also houses a staff lunchroom, a teachers’ workroom and a parent room as well as administrative, guidance and medical suites. Recreational spaces include a “gymatorium”, an exercise room, an early childhood playground, and a playground for upper-grade students.
The city also announced the opening of a 180-seat addition to P.S. 2 in East Elmhurst Monday.
The $29.4 million addition includes an art room, a music room and an exercise room in addition to space for 180 more students in pre-K through fifth grade. Construction on the building began in March 2019.
The DOE said that the other new buildings to open today included new schools, additions and pre-K facilities in Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx.
