Jackson Heights/Education

= Education =

Jackson Heights has a variety of public and private schools at different levels.

New York City Department of Education operates public schools. Schools in Jackson Heights include P.S. 69 Jackson Heights School, P.S. 149 Christa McAuliffe School, P.S. 212, P.S 222 FF Christopher A. Santora School, I.S. 145 Joseph Pulitzer School, and the K-12 school Renaissance Charter School.

Queens Library operates the Jackson Heights Library, located on 81st Street and 37th Avenue.

Public schools

 * P.S. 69, Jackson Heights School, k-6
 * I.S. 145, Joseph Pulitzer School, 7-9
 * P.S. 149 Christa McAuliffe School
 * P.S. 212
 * P.S. 222 Christopher A. Santora School

The Renaissance Charter School
The Renaissance Charter School, commonly referred to as Renaissance, is a charter school that serves grades K-12. A group of teachers established Renaissance in 1993 with the ideal of a school ran jointly by educators and parents.

first person history

When the Renaissance School was being imagined, two early Friends of the Renaissance School, Ms. Diorio and the undersigned, marched into the former Fields Department Store, then the C&C Department store, prepared to plead with the owner Carlo to lease the building to the Board of Education for the hoped for Renaissance School. We dressed in best business clothes and arrived unannounced at C&C. Carlo arrived on the main floor after a few moments. We asked that he be thoughtful, a neighborhood hero, and promised to attest in his beatification if he'd lease the space for the Renaissance School.

After hearing our plea he informed us that he had already spoken to the officials from the Board of Education, and felt insulted that they'd only offered him $6 per square foot for the facility. He wanted $9. Not a penny less.

Two years later, after overwhelming community pressure, the city came to agreement with Carlo to lease the majority of the building, excluding the valuable ground floor retail, paying $19 per square foot!

By Tom Lowenhaupt.

Private schools

 * The Garden School

Parochial schools

 * Saint Joan of Arc is the main Roman Catholic school in the neighborhood.
 * Resurrection Ascension served the eastern end of the neighborhood until 2006 when it closed. The building is being renovated as a public school scheduled to open in September 2010.

Higher education
In addition to the multitude of higher education resources available throughout the city, Jackson Heights has two colleges:


 * Plaza College - Plaza College offers degree programs in the areas of Business, Medical and Information Technology. Plaza is located on 37th Avenue between 74th and 75th Streets.
 * Vaughn College of Aeronautics - Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology provides a culture of excellence in which rigorous degree, professional, technical, and certification programs are offered. Vaughn is located on the northern stretch of Jackson Heights, just south of LaGuardia Airport.

Lifelong learning

 * Jackson Heights Library - 35-51 81 Street