| Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
160-20 Goethals Avenue ,, New York 11432 United States | |
| Coordinates | 40°43′06″N73°48′21″W / 40.718404°N 73.805884°W /40.718404; -73.805884 |
| Information | |
| School district | 28 |
| Principal | Judy Henry |
| Grades | 6–12 |
| Gender | 35% male : 65% female |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrollment | 612 (2008) |
| • Grade 7 | 94 |
| • Grade 8 | 85 |
| • Grade 9 | 109 |
| • Grade 10 | 129 |
| • Grade 11 | 106 |
| • Grade 12 | 89 |
| Average class size | 32 |
| Team name | Gladiators |
| Website | www |
Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School (Q680 orJHS/HS 680)[1] is a school in theNew York City borough ofQueens which places emphasis on thehealth sciences. The school serves grades 6–12. Previously co-located in other school buildings, the school moved to its current building for the 2010–11 school year.
The current Queens Gateway building (building Q695)[2] is located in the neighborhood ofHillcrest, Queens on the south side of Goethals Avenue between 160th Street to the west and 161st Street to the east. It is located at the north end of theQueens Hospital Center campus, which extends west toParsons Boulevard, east to 164th Street, and south to theGrand Central Parkway.[2][3][4][5] Adjacent to the east of the school is Queens Hospital Center's power plant, built in 1932. Adjacent to the west is FDNY EMS Station 50.[5][6] Located in School District 28, the building has a capacity of 805 students.[2] The building also houses a branch of the Queens Transition Center (Q752), a special education school.[2]
The building was designed byPei Cobb Freed & Partners and built by theNew York City School Construction Authority.[5] It is four stories high with a basement,[7] occupying 64,800 square feet (6,020 m2) square feet of space.[5] The outer facade of the building consists of light-colored brick.[5] The building is U-shaped, with the U opening towards the front of the building at Goethals Avenue. The school's gymnasium occupies the center of the U in the basement and first floor.Skylights on the roof of the gym allow natural light into the building.[5][7] Acolonnade orarcade runs along the first floor in front of the building. Along the wall of the colonnade is a mural created bySarah Morris. Skylights are also present on the roof of the colonnade.[5] Among the building's facilities include 24 classrooms, 11 science labs, a 297-seat auditorium, cafeterias for students and teachers, a library, and an art studio.[2][5][7][8] At the west end of the school is a 50-car parking lot.[9]
Originally located on the site of the school was the hospital's morgue, with several other hospital buildings adjacent to it.[4][10][11][12] The morgue was relocated to the north side of the campus in order to make room for the school.[10]
Until the opening of its current building, Queens Gateway was located in the former Jamaica Jewish Center on 87th Road nearParsons Boulevard andHillside Avenue inBriarwood, across fromHillcrest High School. Another school,the Young Women's Leadership School of Queens, was moved into this building in 2010 following the relocation of Queens Gateway.[13][10][14][15][16][17]
TheQ65 bus route runs north-to-south along 164th Street on the east side of the Queens Hospital campus. TheQ25 and Q34 buses run along Parsons Boulevard at the west end of the campus. TheQ46 bus runs alongUnion Turnpike one block north of the school.[3][18] The closestNew York City Subway stations are theParsons Boulevard station of theIND Queens Boulevard Line onHillside Avenue to the south, connected by the Q25, Q34, and Q65, and theKew Gardens–Union Turnpike station to the west connected by the Q46. The Q25, Q34, and Q65 routes also connect with theJamaica Center–Parsons/Archer subway station on Parsons and Archer Avenues, and theSutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport subway andJamaicaLong Island Rail Road stations on Supthin Boulevard and Archer Avenue.[3][18]
Admission to the middle school (grades 6–8) at Queens Gateway is limited to students of Queens Districts 28 and 29, based on New York State standardized test scores, attendance and previous report cards. District 28 includes the neighborhoods ofRego Park,Forest Hills,Kew Gardens,Briarwood, Hillcrest,Jamaica Hills, Jamaica, andSouth Jamaica; portions ofRichmond Hill, andSouth Ozone Park; and theRochdale Village development. District 29 containsQueens Village,St. Albans,Cambria Heights,Laurelton,Rosedale, andSpringfield Gardens.[19][20] Admission for 9th and 10th graders is open to all New York City residents, with priority to continuing students, then to residents of Districts 28 and 29.[21]
The school offers numerous Advanced Placement (AP) courses in both science and humanities topics.[21] Middle school students are offered accelerated math and science courses.[19][20][22] 9th through 11th graders are required to take thePSAT annually, with the school providing PSAT and SAT prep courses.[21] The school also has an After School Program.[23] Other programs includeCUNY College Now andGEAR UP.[21][24][25]
The school has partnerships withIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,Gateway Institute,Queens Hospital Center (QHC), York College, Queens College, andWeill Cornell Medicine.[1][26][19][20][23] As part of the Mount Sinai/Queens Hospital partnership, students intern at Queens Hospital Center and take part inrotations.[1][21][27][22][28]
The high school fields several sports teams competing in thePublic Schools Athletic League (PSAL), including basketball, rugby, soccer, girls' track and field, and girls' volleyball.[21] The school also offers intramural sports, including basketball, soccer,floor hockey, andtable tennis.[21][23] The middle school had previously participated in the CHAMPS (Cooperative, Healthy, Active, Motivated, Positive Students) athletic league.[29]
TheGateway to Higher Education program was founded by New York City in September 1986.[30] Queens Gateway Secondary School was opened in 1994[31][32] or 1995,[1][30] in partnership with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (now theIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai).[1][32] The school was a product of theRobert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Professions Partnership Initiative.[32] The school was originally planned to be built on the campus ofQueens Hospital Center, but this was deferred due to the city'splans to sell off the hospital.[31] Because of this, the school was initially co-located in the buildings of existing schools. It first was housed in Richard Grossley Junior High School (JHS 8) onMerrick Boulevard inSouth Jamaica. Due to the roof caving in at JHS 8, the school was then moved to the Catherine and Count Basie School (MS 72) on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard inRochdale Village until June 1996, when the school returned to JHS 8.[31][32] On April 4, 1997, Queens Gateway began using three classrooms within Queens Hospital Center.[26] In 1998, the Jamaica Jewish Center was renovated in order to convert it into a school building for Queens Gateway.[17][33] The school began using the building on September 8, 1998.[26][34]
In December 2001, theNew York City Department of Education (DOE) announced plans to construct a new 800-seat building for Queens Gateway.[35] In 2002, shortly after the completion of the new Queens Hospital Center main building,[36] the DOE sought to acquire a portion of the property to construct a new high school, demolishing now-obsolete hospital buildings.[37] The relocation would allow Queens Gateway students to work with health professionals from QHC.[11] Residents of the local community, however, opposed the plan due to fears of additional pedestrian and automobile traffic, loss of parking, and an increased strain on mass transit and police resources.[11][38][39] On April 19, 2007, the members ofQueens Community Board 8 (representing Hillcrest) unanimously vetoed the new school's construction.[38] In addition, the site along Goethals Avenue was found to be contaminated with petroleum from an adjacent ambulance refueling station (later replaced by EMS Station 50), as well as formaldehyde leaking from the morgue.[4][40][41][42][43] Both buildings had been completed in the 1930s along with the original Queens Hospital Center (then-Queens General Hospital).[12] Nevertheless, the school project was approved by theNew York City Council on June 15, 2007.[16][40] In March 2009, the City Council approved the construction of a 50-space parking lot adjacent to the school for employees.[9] The new Queens Gateway building, which cost $70.8 million to construct, opened on September 8, 2010, for the 2010–11 academic year.[27][44]
As part of the relocation of Queens Gateway, the DOE had also planned a grade reconfiguration, adding sixth grade to the school for the 2010–11 school year. Under this plan, the school would have a maximum enrollment of 805 students.[2][13] Although supported by the school's principal, the move received negative feedback from staff members who felt the expansion was too abrupt. Parents in the area also criticized the move, as due to the school's enrollment cap it could reduce the number of high school seats available in the school and the area as a whole.[13][45] Because of this, the expansion was pushed back to the 2011–12 school year.[2][13]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
| International | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
