Thursday marked the first day of school for 1.1 million students at New York City public schools.
And with the 2017-18 school year comes some interesting changes, including the 3-K program and free lunches.
The “3-K For All” program is being tried out in the Bronx and Brooklyn, with the hope it will be citywide by 2021. It provides free, full-day education to 3-year-olds in NYC.
Mayor Bill de Blasio will be on-hand as about 1,600 students begin the 3-K program.
On Wednesday, the district announced that lunch will be free for all students at all NYC public schools. School leaders secured more funding to be able to expand the program to include every student.
This means students will get both free breakfast and free lunch.
“For many of the families the average saving of money is $300 per family. This makes a difference,” Chancellor Carmen Farina said.
Farina said she also has plans of adding new services for the city’s growing homeless student population and a new plan to diversify schools.
