New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) President and CEO Nina Kubota was joined today by NYC Schools Chancellor David C. Banks, Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, Council Member Althea Stevens, Assembly Member Amanda Septimo, education officials, and community leaders to celebrate the start of construction of a state-of-the-art, 433-seat school (X468) at 1302 Edward L. Grant Highway in the West Bronx.
The new, 5-story school will be a fully air-conditioned, accessible facility for pre-k through grade 5 students and will contain three pre-kindergarten classrooms, three kindergarten classrooms, 15 standard classrooms, two district special education classrooms, and reading and speech resource rooms. The building will also include a gymatorium, music room, art room, library, and a new student cafeteria.
The new school is a key element of the Jerome Avenue Rezoning initiative that was approved by City Council in 2018 to preserve and build affordable housing, support businesses and create new opportunities for residents. As part of the rezoning, the SCA has already completed a new annex for P.S. 33 on Jerome Avenue and a stand-alone gymnasium for P.S. 246 on the Grand Concourse. Construction is also set to start on a 451-seat school on Morris Avenue. These projects are part of the SCA and DOE’s commitment to address new seat demand and provide students with the tools they need to succeed and grow.
“Transformative investments are bringing new, affordable housing to this neighborhood and today’s groundbreaking marks the next step to add more seats to meet increasing demand. It’s also a wonderful example of government agencies, community leaders, and elected officials working collaboratively to deliver enhanced educational services for students,” said Nina Kubota, President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City School Construction Authority.
“And we are designing projects to support the City’s educational goals — including dedicated space for physical education, improved accessibility, and school infrastructure with advanced technology that our kids deserve.” Schools Chancellor David C. Banks said. “Excellence begins in the classroom, and state-of-the-art facilities like this one provide our students with the resources they need to excel. Thank you to our partners at the School Construction Authority, our families, community members and elected officials for helping make this important investment in our students.”
Other amenities at the school will include:
- exercise room;
- bicycle storage;
- full kitchen complex;
- guidance suite;
- medical suite;
- administration suite;
- staff lunch / conference room;
- parents / community room;
- outdoor playground.
A $57.5 million contract was awarded to Navillus Tile, Inc. for the new school which will be ready for occupancy for the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The SCA’s 2020-2024 Capital Program includes more than $1.1 billion in funding for 15 buildings adding more than 7,000 seats in the Bronx. In District 9, the SCA will also be completing a 150-seat 3K Center on Bathgate Avenue later this year and has begun work on a new, 648-seat school on Webster Avenue that will be ready in 2024.
Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson said “As we prepare our students for college and the workforce, it is incumbent on all of us to ensure they have the best opportunities possible within the public school system. The Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan is something I championed during my time in the City Council, and the groundbreaking of the new Edward L. Grant School in the Bronx is not only a key element of the initiative, but it is also an important step towards investing in our future and bringing needed resources to our students. I thank SCA, Chancellor Banks, my colleagues in government, and all of our leaders in education for making this project a reality.”
Council Member Althea Stevens said “The opening of a new public school is important to our community as it is providing a new space for students to gain more knowledge and new, unique experiences. School age years are some of the most important times of our young people’s lives, and we must ensure that we are making it accessible and productive for all.”
District 9 Superintendent Harry Sherman said “We are truly excited to be breaking ground on P.S. 468 Edward L. Grant. The children and families of Community School District 9 are brilliant, strong, and resourceful. They need and deserve state-of-the-art facilities that create the opportunities to access their boundless potential. This new campus is a critical step in that direction.”
As part of the SCA’s Public Art for Public Schools program, artist Tijay Mohammed has been commissioned to create site-specific artwork in the lobby of the new school.
For additional information on the New York City School Authority, please visit here.
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About SCA
The School Construction Authority’s (SCA) mission is to design and construct safe, attractive and environmentally sound public schools for children throughout the many communities of New York City.
We are dedicated to building and modernizing schools in a responsible, cost-effective manner while achieving the highest standards of excellence in safety, quality and integrity.
Established by the New York State Legislature in December 1988, the SCA has provided over 265,000 new school seats, not including Temporary Classroom Units (TCUs), to New York City students, opened the nation’s largest free Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) network providing almost 8,800 seats under the Mayor’s UPK initiative and protected, repaired and upgraded over 1,800 schools in over 1,400 school buildings with over 12,500 capital improvement projects.
