Four New School Buildings Open in Queens for 2022-2023 School Year

The Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus, I.S. 419, opened today at 111-12 Astoria Blvd. in East Elmhurst (Photo: via School Construction Authority)

Sept. 8, 2022 By Christian Murray

Ten new school buildings opened across the city today, with four of them in Queens.

A new 646-seat middle school opened in East Elmhurst, with school buildings added to Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, P.S. 131 in Jamaica, and P.S. 196 in College Point. There were two school buildings added in Brooklyn, two in Staten Island, one in Manhattan and one in the Bronx.

The new middle school in Queens is located at 111-12 Astoria Boulevard in East Elmhurst and has been named the Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus, I.S. 419, in honor of the Mets ballplayer.

The school building is five stories tall and includes 18 standard classrooms and two special education classrooms, as well as reading and speech resource rooms. The school also includes a District 75 program, which contains eight additional classrooms for students.

The school serves students from grades 6 to 8 and aims to help alleviate overcrowding in the district.

Meanwhile, a 555-seat 3-story annex has been added to Francis Lewis High School located at 174-25 59^th Ave. The annex includes 18 standard classrooms for grades 9-12, a culinary arts kitchen/dining classroom, science lab with an adjacent science prep room and a greenhouse.

The School Construction Authority also opened a 384 seat, 3-story addition at P.S. 131 in Jamaica. The facility provides 15 standard classrooms and two special education classrooms for Pre-K-5. The addition also includes an art classroom, music classroom and dance studio.

A 250-seat addition has opened at P.S. 196 in College Point that provides 13 standard classrooms and one special education classroom for grades Pre-K-5.

The SCA also opened a high school building in Queens earlier this year—the 969-seat Academy of America Studies in Long Island City.

Transportable classroom units (TCUs) were used at I.S. 125 in Woodside for many years. They were removed several years ago when a new annex was built. (Photo: Sunnyside Post/2014)

“These new schools are a direct result of the partnership between Mayor Adams, City Council, the SCA, and the Department of Education,” said Nina Kubota, president and chief executive officer of the New York City School Construction Authority.

Since 2014, the SCA has added more than 64,400 new seats to reduce overcrowding. The number of transportable classroom units (TCU’s) over that period has dropped from 354 to 38.

“We are steadfastly committed to promoting equity and excellence in our schools,” Kubota said. “This includes building new 3-K and Pre-K classrooms, expanding schools to reduce overcrowding, and providing the infrastructure to support education programs that are critical for our kids to excel and grow.”