Schools

After School Program for P.S. 98 Students to Debut This Fall at Community Church of Douglaston

Academy is designed to take the place of Douglaston school's program, which was canceled last year.

A new after school program for students will kick off this fall at the to replace the school’s own program, which was cancelled last year.

Jacqueline Montgomery, a local parent and program director for Queensborough Community College’s teens program, said enrollment is currently open for the after school program, which will be able to provide space for as many as 75 children.

“I’ve designed the program as an academy that is academically enriched, but it’s not forced education,” she said.

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The academy will follow the guidelines of STEAM, which incorporates science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

“You could have a math class where you learn through cooking or an engineering class that involves planting something,” she said of the program’s design.

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Recently, the Parent Teacher Association president for P.S. 98 . One factor he attributed to the lower numbers was the loss of its after school program during the 2011-2012 school year.

Montgomery said she began planning the new academy late last year following the closure of P.S. 98's program.

The program will run from 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday and parents can choose whether to enroll their children for one to five days per week.

It will begin Sept. 10 and end on Dec. 21 for the fall semester. The program would resume for the spring semester in January.

Students in kindergarten through 5th grade can participate in the academy and enrollment fees will depend on how many days they take part each week.

For five days a week for the entire semester, parents would pay $1,300.

Enrollment opened on June 15 and a number of local parents have already signed up their children, Montgomery said.

“At this point, it’s open to P.S. 98 students, but I may eventually open it up to all of District 26,” she said. “But I want every P.S. 98 parent to have the opportunity to register before I open it to the public.”

The academy will have three professional instructors, some of whom may be certified by the city’s Department of Education.

A typical day in the program would begin with an instructor picking up participants from their classrooms at P.S. 98 and walking them over to the Community Church of Douglaston.

The afternoon would begin with a snack, which parents must supply for their children, and then students would split up into their various classes.

On some days, the classes would incorporate activities, such as Food for Thought, which has a culinary component, or Tell a Tale, during which children combine reading, writing and artistic skills.

For more information on the after school program, email JMontgomery@qcc.cuny.edu or call 718-281-5632.


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