9 new NYC public schools will open in September 2024

NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – New York City is slated to open nine new schools across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, New York City Public Schools announced Thursday. 

The new schools – three middle, four pre-K and elementary and two high schools – will open in September 2024, officials said. 

“These new schools are going to be a real reflection of the opportunity to reimagine how we’re even doing schools,” New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks said. “We’ve been working to rebuild trust with our parents and our families, and we’ve heard from our parents and our families and our students about the kinds of schools that they want to have.” 

One of the schools opening in Brooklyn is a Bard High School Early College location, which will enroll a majority of the local student body for an accelerated program that graduates students with associate degrees, Banks said.

In Queens, students will get their shot at the film and TV industry at Motion Picture Technical High School, which will train them for well-paying jobs in the industry. 

“This is really a game changer for an industry where people of color are often underrepresented,” said Dr. Shawn Rux, Senior Executive Director of the Office of New School Development and Design. 

Downtown Brooklyn will also get its first district Montessori school, Rux said. 

“This is a school where children will actually drive their own learning through multi-age classrooms and uninterrupted blocks of work time, which really fosters self-motivation and engagement,” Rux said. 

Meanwhile, the timing of the announcement is drawing scrutiny, as is the fact that most of the new schools are in the same borough. Seven of the nine new schools are in Brooklyn. 

While it is the most populous borough with 2.5 million people, Queens is just behind with 2.2 million people. Only one of the eight new schools is in Queens. The other is in The Bronx.

That was noted by an education professor David Bloomfield of Brooklyn College. He also noted one other thing — the timing of the announcement. “A little bit strange. It seems as if it’s aimed at Albany to show the effectiveness of mayoral control when that legislation is up for grabs in the next month.”

The new NYC schools include:

M.S. 644 

• South Bronx (District 9)
• Grades 6-8 

P.S. 482  

• Downtown Brooklyn (District 13)
• Grades Pre-K – 5 

M.S. 428 

• District 15 
• Grades 6-8 

P.S. 456 

• Downtown Brooklyn/DUMBO (District 15)
• Grades Pre-K – 5 

Bard High School Early College- Brooklyn 

• East New York (District 19)
• Grades 9-12 

P.S. 331 

• Bay Ridge (District 20)
• Grades K-5 

P.S. 413 

• Bay Ridge (District 20) 
• Grades K-5 

M.S. 407 

• Bay Ridge (District 20)
• Grades 6-8 

Motion Picture Technical High School 

• Northern Queens (District 30)
• Grades 9-12