Schools

Mayor: 78 New Schools to Open This Fall

The schools will serve more than 30,000 students.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday that 78 new schools will open at the start of the 2013-2014 school year, serving more than 32,000 students at full capacity.

The new schools will open in all five boroughs and serve students in grades k through 14, which includes seven career and technical education schools.

The new schools are among the 656 opened since 2002, bringing the total number of public schools to 1,821 — more new schools than any other administration in the city's history.

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The new school openings consequently also mark a record number of school closings in the city's history. But according to Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott, the strategy was about providing families with more options, one he insists has worked.

"Teachers see it, parents say it and data show it: our graduation rates are higher, the achievement gap is closing and the schools announced today will help us continue to ensure that all students have access to high quality education in New York City,” said Walcott.

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Thirty schools will be located in Brooklyn, 20 in the Bronx, 15 in Queens, 11 in Manhattan and two in Staten Island. Fifty-one of the 78 will be elementary schools, middle schools, or schools combining elementary and middle school grades.

Twenty-seven will be secondary schools – either high schools, or schools combining middle and high school grades.

Since 2002, the Bloomberg Administration has opened 656 new schools. According to Bloomberg, graduation rates have risen 41 percent since 2005, and the rate is often 20 percent higher in new schools when compared to those they replace.

"Our Administration has created a record number of schools and programs for our students, which have helped lead to record gains," said Bloomberg. "We still have more work to do, and with our new schools and school leaders, we’ll continue to provide our children with the opportunities they deserve.”

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