Forest Hills School Gets $500,000 Grant

A Forest Hills elementary school has received a $500,000 grant from Kohl's Cares, a department-store sponsored contest designed to help small schools provide for their students.

, located at 75-24 Grand Central Pkwy., will use the funds to purchase interactive whiteboards for 20 classrooms, create a new music program and build a science lab. The funds were awarded in a contest last month, but the school has been quiet about the windfall.

Numerous calls and emails to the school — a co-ed institution that serves about 300 students from pre-K through eighth grade — were not returned. Sha'arei Zion Ohel Bracha, which is affiliated with the National Society of Hebrew Day Schools, opened its doors in 2001.

The other New York area academic association to receive a Kohl's Cares grant was the Silverstein Hebrew Academy in Great Neck, which will use the funds to re-start construction of a new gymnasium, additional classrooms and a kitchen facility. The project had been discontinued due to financial issues.

Kohl's Cares, a program within Kohl's Department Stores, sells items such as plush toys and books, and donates 100 percent of its after-tax profits to children's health and education initiatives throughout the United States.

This giveaway – consisting of $500,000 grants to 20 schools -- was the result of a contest asking participants to visit the Kohl's Facebook page from July 7 through September 3 and cast votes for their favorite schools.

The highest vote-getters received the awards. From the more than 11 million votes cast during the challenge, Silverstein Hebrew Academy ranked 16 and Sha'arei Zion Ohel Bracha ranked 20. Kohl's Cares organized the $10 million benefit as part of its 10th anniversary.