Department of Education Breaks Ground for Permanent Addition to P.S. 143 in Corona

East Elmhurst, NY — Today, State Senator Jose Peralta, the School Construction Authority, the Department of Education, parents and educators broke ground for the construction of the new building for P.S. 143 in Corona, one of the most overcrowded schools in the City. Senator Peralta had proposed the construction of this new permanent addition to replace the decades-old classroom trailers.

The new building will have the capacity to serve 980 students with 22 new classroom for grades 1 through 5, 11 new Kindergarten classrooms, six special education rooms, three reading and speech resource rooms, three art classrooms, two science resource rooms, one library, one exercise room, student cafeteria, kitchen complex and one guidance suite. The new structure is slated to open in September 2020.

“This is a magnificent victory for the parents, for the students, for the community and for all of us. The new permanent addition to P.S. 143 will help us fight overcrowding and ensure children don’t have to learn in a rusty trailer. With the construction of this new state-of-the-art building, schoolchildren will be educated in the modern environment they deserve,” said Senator Peralta during the groundbreaking ceremony. “Almost 1,000 new seats to tackle overcrowding means a better quality education for students. I am very happy the project I proposed years ago is becoming a reality. I want to thank the SCA, DOE, the Parks Department, the Parent Association and the entire school community for making this happen. Our kids are the greatest winners. This is an A for everyone.”

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Lorraine Grillo, President and CEO of the School Construction Authority said, “We need to provide students in this community with the best possible learning environment, and I know parents will see the best possible building for their children.”

“This is a very important and exciting moment for the community of PS 143. After almost 30 years, no more trailers in our school. And in a couple of years our children will have a state of the art building with science and music classrooms among many other great things. But this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our State Senator Jose Peralta. The children and families thank you,” said Angelica Salgado, President of the Parent-Teacher Association at P.S. 143.

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