STATEN ISLAND — Two new elementary schools in New Brighton and Concord will open in September, and both will accept students from any neighborhood in Staten Island through a lottery.
P.S. 9 and P.S. 59 were the only Staten Island schools to be part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcment Tuesday of 78 new schools to open in the city, according to a release by the mayor.
The Department of Education had previously unveiled plans for the schools.
“The 78 schools announced today are a part of our commitment to improving public education in New York City," Bloomberg said in a statement. "Our administration has created a record number of schools and programs for our students which have helped lead to record gains.”
P.S. 9, in Concord will be named the Naples Street Elementary School. It will take the place of P.S. 48 at 1055 Targee St. when it opens in September.
P.S. 48 will move across the street to a new building and serve kindergarten through eighth grade students, the Staten Island Advance reported last year.
The other elementary school announced on Tuesday was P.S. 59, which will be named The Harbor View School. The K-5 school will take the place of the former St. Peter’s Girls High School at 300 Richmond Terrace, in New Brighton.
P.S. 59 was already announced by the DOE as part of its 2011 five-year capital plan, and will open with 372 seats, according to the plan.
Both schools will be non-zoned — which means that parents from any neighborhood in the borough can apply to send their child. Admittance will be chosen through a lottery system.
In the past, most Staten Island families stuck with their zoned schools, with only one elementary school, the Michael J. Petrides school, being the only one for many years that accepted unzoned students.
However, more options have recently opened up for parents in the borough, and some have welcomed the extra choices.
“Our strategy is providing families with more and more options, from our career and technical education programs to our new middle schools and, most importantly, it works,” schools chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a release.
Since 2002, Bloomberg has opened 656 new schools in the city, and graduate rates have risen 41 percent since 2005, according to the release.
