Brooklyn will welcome seven new schools in the fall, including P.S. 331, a new elementary school named after slain New York City Police Department Detective Wenjian Liu.
Liu was a Dyker Heights resident who was killed in the line of duty in December 2014, and local officials on Thursday held a ribbon cutting ceremony at the school's location at 6312 13th Ave. It was attended by nearly 200 community leaders, various members of the NYPD, public school officials and members of the City Council.
City Councilmember Susan Zhuang, who said she is good friends with Liu's parents, wife and daughter, said this is the first school in Brooklyn to be named after an Asian American.
"Young Asian-American children will walk by this school, and see the name of an Asian-American hero, that he established a cultural connection and radiated their experience and our place in society," she said. "Our community is so proud. We are true to America and we helped build this great country."
Patrick Hendry, the president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, remembered Liu as someone who put others first.
"Heroes never die," Hendry said. "Every child will know who [Liu] was."
The school's full name is the Detective Wenjian Liu School of Civics and Entrepreneurship. District 20 Superintendent Dr. David Pretto told the crowd the school will have D75 seats and offer free mental and dental care.
Mayor Eric Adams emphasized the school's focus on civics.
"A lack of civics is a lack of understanding," the mayor said. "We need our police. Who would be the Wenjian Liu's of the future?"
P.S. 331 will be among seven new schools opening this September in Brooklyn. These new schools include two middle schools, four elementary schools and a high school.
P.S. 331 is one of three opening in District 20 for the new school year. The other two are M.S. 407, School of Technology, Arts, and Research, and P.S. 413, the Joanne Seminara School of Law and Medicine. Seminara was a local politician and attorney who passed away two years ago.
District 13 will welcome P.S. 482, Albee Square Montessori School, the first Montessori public school in the city, while District 15 will have two new additions: M.S. 428, the Global Innovators Academy, and P.S. 456, an unzoned school in downtown Brooklyn near Barclays Center.
The one high school opening is Bard High School Early College in District 19. An accelerated school, it will allow students to take free college courses along with their regular high school courses.
In a statement, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso expressed how grateful he is for Brooklyn to have such a school.
“I’m particularly excited to welcome Bard High School Early College to Brownsville/East New York, a community that has faced generations of barriers to higher education and deserves the accessible accelerated learning opportunities the school will bring," he said.
These schools are among the nine opening citywide; the other two will be in Queens and the Bronx. Brooklyn has the most new schools because of overcrowding, according to the city Department of Education.
"Six of these schools sites were identified and built to address local seat need," said DOE Deputy Press Secretary Chyann Tull. "New schools are an important part of our strategy to serve students in areas that need more seats as well as growing enrollment by providing the exciting and innovative opportunities that families are asking for."
