LONG ISLAND CITY — It was good news for many local parents when P.S./I.S. 78, the only public elementary school in the growing Hunters Point waterfront, had no kindergarten waitlist last week for the first time in years.
But with the school expected to get another kindergarten class this coming school year, some wondered whether there'd be enough room for P.S./I.S. 78's middle school classes — the elimination of which has previously been touted as a potential solution to overcrowding.
The District 30 superintendent told parents last May that the school could only sustain its current capacity for another year, and would have to consider phasing out middle school classes to make space for the growing number of younger students.
The Department of Education, however, said there's no plan to truncate the school for the 2016/17 academic year, and that it will remain a K-8, at least for now.
"The DOE continues to monitor enrollment growth in the area," said spokesman Harry Hartfield, noting that there are plans in the works to bring new school seats to Long Island City in the coming years.
Those plans include the opening of a new $60 million elementary school at the Hunters Point South affordable housing complex, which is expected to open toward the end of 2020.
P.S./I.S. 78 expanded to include 6th, 7th and 8th grades when it opened its second building on 5th Street in 2013.
State Sen. Michael Gianaris said the school cleared a major "hurdle" this year by being able to fit both its kindergarten and middle school kids.
"I am glad to see PS/IS 78 found a way to accommodate students in our community and is working to keep pace with the ongoing growth of western Queens," he said in a statement.
