New Gowanus Charter School Approved By Community Board

GOWANUS, NY — A plan to build a new seven-story charter school building on 17th Street was approved by Community Board 7 on Wednesday night.

The Brooklyn Prospect Charter School's (BPCS) proposal calls to build a new, seven-story building at 160 17th St. to serve sixth through eight-grade students, school officials said at the meeting. The board nearly unanimously voted to approve the plan.

The planned 30,000-square-foot school will let BPCS separate their middle school from their high school in Windsor Terrace and have space for 300 seats, according to school leaders and DNAinfo.

The charter school first opened to sixth graders in 2009 inside the Sunset Park High School with the aim to change "elementary, middle and high school education with the purpose of preparing students to thrive in a global, twenty-first century community," according to their website.

They later moved the middle school to Windsor Terrace in 2012 and opened a high school in that 3002 Fort Hamilton Parkway building. BPCS also runs an elementary school in Downtown Brooklyn and another middle school in Clinton Hill.

The Gowanus building will separate the District 15 middle school students from the high school in Windsor Terrace. They plan to open in 2019, DNAinfo reported.

The 17th Avenue building currently houses the Park Slope Volunteer Ambulance Corps. who will still have offices on the first floor after the new school is built, according to the community board members.

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