Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced that 23 new school buildings with more than 13,000 seats will open at the start of the 2009-10 school year. This new construction, along with the 18 new buildings opened last year, represents the most-ever new classroom seats to come on line in a two-year period since the School Construction Authority was created in 1988. The new buildings were funded through the $13.1 billion 2005-2009 Capital Plan, the largest school construction effort in the City’s history. Between 2002 and 2012, the Department of Education is on track to construct more than 110,000 new school seats across the City, with more than 82,000 seats already completed. These seats will reduce pockets of overcrowding, and will ensure that students have the opportunity to learn in modern facilities fully equipped to prepare them for success. The Mayor and Chancellor were joined at the newly-constructed building for P.S. 65, an elementary school in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, by Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis M. Walcott, School Construction Authority (SCA) President Sharon L. Greenberger, Assembly Member Darryl Towns, and Principal Daysi Garcia.

“Our commitment to constructing and modernizing schools is changing the landscape of our City and creating increased learning opportunities for our students citywide,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Thanks to generous support from the State and the City Council, we’ve funded school construction at unprecedented levels, and today we’re seeing this investment pay off. This year’s opening of 23 new buildings is a new milestone in a plan that will create more than 110,000 new seats across the City by 2012.”

“These new school buildings represent our commitment to ensuring that every New York City student receives an outstanding education in a facility equipped to serve his or her academic needs,” said Chancellor Klein. “An investment in new school buildings is an investment in our students and in our City’s future.”

P.S. 65, also known as “The Little Red Schoolhouse,” formerly occupied two separate buildings, and will now move into a single, 97,000 square foot, 700-seat facility. The school’s new building, complete with an auditorium, air conditioning, wireless Internet access, a 5,400 square foot gymnasium with bleachers and a locker room, also has a cafeteria, science labs, and art and music rooms, is a state-of-the-art facility that will benefit P.S. 65 students in future decades. The building will also include seats for a Special Education program.

Under Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership, the City has lowered the cost of building new schools, improved construction efficiency, and implemented a comprehensive capital planning process that ensures school construction keeps pace with student demand. For the first time, the City projects school enrollment by neighborhood, taking into account pockets of population growth and housing development within school districts. The School Construction Authority, which manages new school construction and renovation of the City’s 1,200 existing school buildings, oversaw every phase of this year’s openings — from school siting through the completion of the construction process.

The School Construction Authority’s implementation of the City’s largest-ever Capital Plan earned the agency the title of New York Construction magazine’s “Owner of the Year” for 2009, a prestigious designation awarded to the region’s best builder.

Since 2002, the City has:

• Reduced pockets of overcrowding in every borough
• Constructed more than 82,000 new school seats: 19,268 in the Bronx; 19,394 in Brooklyn; 9,434 in Manhattan; 28,323 in Queens; and 5,619 in Staten Island
• Reduced the price per square foot for construction by the equivalent of 28 percent (adjusted for inflation)
• Implemented aggressive “green” building standards to ensure our new school buildings are environmentally-sound
• Conducted renovations in 85 percent of our school buildings
• Funded the construction of 280 science labs

“Over the last six years we’ve reduced overcrowding in every borough, and this year’s 23 new buildings represent another important step in the right direction,” said Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm. “By building schools in the neighborhoods that most need new school space, we’re ensuring that our new construction helps to improve learning conditions in schools across the City.”

“This beautiful school building is an example of the extraordinary design and construction work that the SCA, along with our partners in the architecture and construction communities, has completed this year and over the last several years,” said School Construction Authority President Sharon L. Greenberger. “These new buildings will provide the students of New York City with educational environments of the highest quality.”

“I’m so pleased that P.S. 65 students will continue their academic journey in a new state-of-the-art facility,” said Principal Daysi Garcia. “Our new science labs will spark environmental awareness and will encourage hands-on exploration, experimentation, and scientific discovery. Our art studio will inspire creativity and awaken students’ artistic talents. Words cannot begin to describe my heartfelt appreciation to Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein for their support of student learning and community involvement.”

Some of the 23 new buildings, including the building for P.S. 65, will be new homes for existing schools. Other new buildings will house schools that are opening for the first time in September 2009. Still others will be additions or annexes for schools that are expanding. See below for a list of the 23 buildings opening next year, and the schools that will occupy each building.

New School Buildings Opening in September 2009

Bronx

• Jonas Bronck Building (238 seats)
  • Jonas Bronck Academy, MS, opened 2005, moving from a temporary location
• James Monroe High School Campus Annex (1,144 seats)
  • The Cinema School, a new selective high school opening in September 2009
  • Mott Hall V, MS, District 12, opened 2005, moving from a temporary location
  • Building will include seats for a Special Education program
  • Carl C. Icahn Charter School Four, ES/MS, a new charter school that will be temporarily located in the building
• Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education (652 seats)
  • Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists, an Urban Assembly School, MS/HS, opened 2004, moving from a temporary location
  • KIPP Academy Elementary School, ES, a new charter school that will be temporarily located in the building
• Reverend James A. Polite Avenue School Complex (723 seats)
  • Peace and Diversity Academy, HS, opened 2004, moving from a temporary location
  • The Metropolitan High School, HS, opened 2005, moving from a temporary location
• Willie Ella Paschal Bowman Campus (416 seats)
  • Baychester Academy, ES, District 11, a new school opening in September 2009
  • Building will temporary house a Special Education program as the Baychester Academy phases in

Brooklyn

• Sunset Park High School Building (1,650 seats)
  • Sunset Park High School, HS, opening in September 2009
  • Building will include seats for a Special Education program
  • Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, MS/HS, a new charter school that will be temporarily located in the building
• PS 133 Annex (282 seats)
  • PS 133, ES, an existing school moving into temporary space while its larger new building is being constructed
• Shirley Chisholm Campus (506 seats)
  • Science and Medicine Middle School, MS, District 18, opening in September 2009
  • East Brooklyn Community High School, HS, a new transfer high school opening in September 2009
• Cesiah Toro Mullane Campus (700 seats)
  • PS 65, ES, District 19, moving from two separate locations into one new building
  • Building will include seats for a Special Education program
• Lucretia Marcigliano Campus (1,154 seats)
  • The Brooklyn School of Inquiry, ES/MS, District 20, opening in September 2009
  • The Academy of Talented Scholars, ES, District 20, opening in September 2009
  • Building will include seats for a Special Education program
• New Utrecht High School Addition (442 seats)
  • New Utrecht High School, HS, addition to an existing facility
• PS 229 Addition (650 seats)
  • PS 229, preK-6, District 20, addition to an existing facility

Manhattan

• Broadway Education Campus (519 seats)
  • Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women, HS, opened 2005, moving from a temporary location
• PS 151 Building (80 seats)
  • Yorkville Community School (PS 151), ES, a new school opening in September 2009

Queens

• Frank Sinatra School Building (998 seats)
  • Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, HS, moving from a temporary location
  • Building will include seats for a Special Education program
• PS 128 Building (648 seats)
  • PS 128, ES/MS, District 24, demolition of the existing facility and construction of a new expanded facility
  • Building will include seats for a Special Education program
• PS 49 Addition (410 seats)
  • PS 49, ES/MS, District 24, addition to an existing facility
• PS 102 Addition (936 seats)
  • PS 102, ES/MS, District 24, addition to an existing facility
• PS 113 Addition (446 seats)
  • PS 113, ES/MS, District 24, addition to an existing facility
• PS 14 Annex (204 seats)
  • PS 14, ES, District 24, replacement annex to an existing facility
• PS 188 Annex (211 seats)
  • PS 188, ES, District 26, annex to an existing facility
• PS 78 Annex (50 seats)
  • PS 78, ES, District 30, annex to an existing facility

Staten Island

• Elizabeth A. Connelly Campus (822 seats)
  • The Staten Island School of Civic Leadership, ES/MS, District 31, a new school building will include seats for a Special Education program
  • John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School, MS/HS, a new charter school that will be temporarily located in the building