Ever imagined your child attending pre-k right next door to a world-renowned science museum?
Well, starting in 2021, this could be your child!
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza have announced that a new Pre-K Center will open in fall 2021, offering some of our youngest students a robust STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math education) program in partnership with the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The Hall of Science will provide amazing resources for children, families, and educators, including specialized professional learning and coaching for teachers, field trips for the little ones, and more.
The new 306-seat Pre-K Center will be fully ADA-accessible and include 17 pre-k classrooms, two exercise rooms and outdoor playground, and a community and parent room.
When fully completed, more than 300 four-year-olds will take a seat in one of 17 classrooms—making this program one of the largest pre-k sites in the City and the biggest one in Queens! Students will also have access to exercise rooms and an outdoor playground, and families will have a community and parent room of their own— along with a free membership to NYSCI to continue learning even when school isn’t in session.
This new Pre-K Center is sure to set these students on a promising path: early exposure to STEAM has been proven to help children perform better in both the STEAM subjects and in school overall. This kind of curriculum teaches students how to think critically, work collaboratively, and develop creative solutions to everyday problems. That’s why the staff at NYSCI has partnered with the DOE to create a science-themed pre-k curriculum based on their Design-Make-Play methodology to be used at the new center.
We can’t wait to see what sorts of leaders of the future these young New Yorkers go on to become!
