Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

New Elementary School Opens in South Bronx, N.Y.

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/10/24

Forte Construction Corp. recently announced that it has completed construction on P.S. 487, a new four-story elementary school in the South Bronx, according to a news release. The school is open for the current academic year and will serve more than 500 students in grades PreK–5. The 85,000-square-foot school was built on land previously used for portable classroom trailers for a district high school.

The school features four PreK classrooms, three kindergarten classrooms, and 15 standard classrooms, the news release reports. It also features eight special education classrooms, two speech and resource rooms, and occupational and physical therapy space. According to the news release, the new school comes during a time when “more than 300,000 students in the city’s highest-need schools are learning in overcrowded classrooms,” citing a United Federation of Teachers study from November 2023.

“Thanks to the excellent collaboration between the School Construction Authority and our team at Forte Construction, and all of our vendors and subcontractors, we are proud to deliver this state-of-the-art school building in advance of the start of the next school year in September,” said Project Manager Dan Villandre. “Our team constructed this school from the ground up and are proud that P.S. 487 will be a welcoming haven for students in the South Bronx for countless decades to come.”

Outdoor amenities include a 3,400-square-foot play yard featuring a volleyball court, basketball court, and running track. It also features a garden for academic use by students and teachers.

The project broke ground in July 2021 as part of a School Construction Authority 2020–2024 Capital Program that provided $1.6 billion to 21 school buildings to add the capacity for just short of 12,000 students to the Bronx, the news release reports.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.

  • Indiana University Launches Capital Campus in D.C.

    Indiana University recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new IU Capital Campus in Washington, D.C., according to university news. The eight-story facility will provide a central hub for the university’s existing programs and business operations based in D.C., uniting them under one roof and providing the opportunity to expand.

  • TCU Marks Campus Expansion Milestone

    Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a topping-out ceremony to mark progress on a major campus expansion effort including four new residential facilities and a five-story parking garage, according to a news release.

  • Year-Round Schools Require Year-Round Indoor Air Quality Planning

    While many schools are out for the summer, year-round schools follow a more “balanced” schedule with shorter, more frequent breaks spaced throughout the school year. Even though this offers educational benefits, these facilities have less downtime for building maintenance. This can become an issue when facilities managers overlook the importance of routine HVAC maintenance and air duct cleaning services.