This year has been a busy one for all of us at CQA. 2024 marked the completion of the expansion of CQA I as well as the opening of CQA II. We continued to work to meet our strategic goals including adding new, high-quality public school seats, expanding CQA’s footprint in our community, and enhancing and expanding our programming to better serve our scholars.
We are so proud of our teachers and staff for their tireless efforts which help create positive academic results and the inclusive and diverse culture that makes our school special. We are thankful to our families who continue to trust in us to educate and care for their children. And we are profoundly grateful to our donors and supporters whose partnership has been invaluable during this pivotal time for our school. Together, we are making a positive, generational impact in our community.
The opening of CQA II brought new families and new staff
With the opening of CQA II this year we continued to grow our school community. In total, we welcomed 300 new scholars across CQA and we now serve approximately 1,100 scholars and their families. We added 51 new staff members this school year, including the leadership, teachers, support staff, and operations personnel needed to open and maintain our new school. Each of them brings the expertise and diversity in experience and background necessary to help CQA remain an institution of excellence.
Our school campus expanded
Our brand new construction CQA II elementary school building is located adjacent to CQA I in the heart of our community in Elmhurst. Together these two privately operated, connected facilities create one 118,000 square foot campus allowing us to maximize teaching and learning and to expand our high-quality program. With decades-long leases, the CQA campus will stand as a permanent testament to the value and potential of our community.
We added to our enrichment and arts programming
Our newly expanded facilities have provided the space needed to grow our enrichment and arts programming. This year we opened two gymnasiums, one in each of CQA I and CQA II, which are used by scholars daily for enrichment and after-school activities. We added to our arts programming across elementary and middle school, including adding art, music and dance classes in elementary school and expanding our middle school jazz music and theater programs.
our scholars OUTPERFORMED THEIR PEERS
Overall, our scholars outperformed their peers across our home district, New York City and New York State again this year. This was the first year some students in our elementary school were eligible to take the State exams. We were incredibly pleased to see promising results from our third grade scholars. We are hopeful this trend will continue and reinforce our belief that by enrolling scholars as early as possible in our program we will reduce the need for remediation and give them the best chance at success.
we prepared the class of 2028 for high school
We celebrated our 8th grade college-going class of 2028 at a graduation ceremony in June. In ELA, 71% of the class tested proficient on the New York State assessment exam as compared to 52% statewide. On the high-school level Regents exams, 88% passed Algebra 1 and 77% passed Earth Science Regents. Twenty-one percent of the 8th grade class moved on to selective, specialized or private high schools. We are incredibly proud of their hard work and perseverance and we are confident they are prepared for high school.
