GOWANUS — A charter school on a mission to serve a diverse student body plans to open a seven-story middle school in the neighborhood in 2019.
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School plans to break ground this year on a new building at 160 17th Street, between Third and Fourth avenues, the school announced on its website.
The public charter school, which describes itself as "intentionally diverse," will be open to any students in New York via a lottery system, with students from District 15 getting preference, a spokeswoman said.
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School opened in 2009 and now operates three schools: an elementary in Downtown Brooklyn, and a middle school and high school that share one building on the border of Windsor Terrace and Kensington. BCPS is also currently building another middle school in Clinton Hill.
BPCS is known for an innovative honors program that's designed to be more inclusive than traditional gifted-and-talented programs and "meet students where they are," school leaders told DNAinfo New York in 2015.
The new Gowanus facility will allow BPCS to move its Windsor Terrace/Kensington middle school out of the building it shares with the high school, school leaders said in the announcement.
The new 30,000 square-foot building in Gowanus will have approximately 300 seats and a "large commons and outdoor space,” as well as a gymnasium, auditorium and library, the school said. In addition to traditional classrooms, the building will also feature music and art studios, science labs and specialized reading rooms, school officials said.
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