Queen City Academy Adds Classrooms

One of the city's original charter schools will be expanding, having won Zoning Board of Adjustment approval to convert an auditorium into four classrooms.

From a 2007 Plainfield Plaintalker post: Queen City Academy Charter School won state approval in 1999. It opened in 2000 with 177 children in grades K-8 and had 198 students in the 2004-05 school year. Having won renewal of its charter this year, the school is moving toward a maximum of 234 students.

On Wednesday, architect Richard Schiek described the school's plan to convert the auditorium to two kindergarten rooms with bathrooms and two first grade classrooms, each with 18 students for a total of 72. The classrooms will bring enrollment  to 324 students.

The school is housed in the former Temple Sholom building. Schiek said the building's footprint will not change, as the alterations are internal. Zoning Board member Jim Spear questioned the lack of windows in the new classrooms, but Schiek said they will have air-conditioning and heat. In answer to board member Mary Burgwinkle's question about lighting, Schiek said the rooms will have LED lights, Board Chairman D. Scott Belin suggested using light that mimic sunlight.

School Director Danielle West said the children have recess and various activities outside the classroom and are so engrossed in learning that they don't notice the lack of windows. In public comment, resident Nancy Piwowar recalled that during the 1950s, students were told to keep away from windows during the Cold War.

School officials do not anticipate an increase in traffic from parents dropping off children. West said she expected many of the additional students to be siblings of those already enrolled, so the same parents would drop them off or they would walk to school with older children.

The school wants to open the new classrooms in September, but the board will not be able to memorialize the resolution before then. Board attorney Peter Vignuolo said the project could go forward at the school's own risk.

Charter schools are funded through the public school district. All four Union County charter schools are in Plainfield. The district paid over $17 million in tuition to charter schools for the 2014-15 school year.

--Bernice