Schools

P.S. 133 Delay Threatens Possibility of New Kindergarten

District 15 leaders say kindergarten seats are needed now

P.S. 133 will not be opening in its brand new building on Fourth Avenue in 2012, which is more bad news for parents with kids entering pre-k or kindergarten.

According to District 15 Community Education Council President Jim Devor, the school's current location, at St. Thomas Aquinas School, a parochial school in Park Slope, is being eyed hopefully as a possible space for new pre-k and kindergarten classes for overcrowded District 15.

Last week, kindergarten wait lists were announced, with many District 15 schools, including in Carroll Gardens and , having to put more than 40 students on wait lists for their zoned schools.

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If P.S. 133 were leaving Aquinas on schedule, said Devor, the many wait listed children could possibly have a place to go.

"Getting new pre-k and kindergarten seats near where P.S. 133 is now, that’s a serious concern," said Devor. "That location is where we desperately need new space."

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The DOE had a three-year lease with Aquinas for P.S. 133, said Hope Reichbach, Director of Communications in Councilmember Steve Levin's office. The lease will be extended for one more year while the new school on Fourth Avenue and Butler Street is completed.

Aquinas, which was recently renovated by the School Construction Authority, though initially not considered an option for the DOE, could possibly be a long-term space for the city, said Reichbach.

"It's possible that Aquinas will become some kind of facility for District 15," she said. "We're pretty happy about that."

But according to Devor, it's not happening soon enough.

"The need for more space in this area is desperate," he said. "You have huge waiting lists out of P.S. 107, P.S.39 and P.S. 58. These are all schools not too far away. There’s really a problem of where you’re going to be able to stuff those kids."

 

Kristen V. Brown contributed reporting.


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