Central Queens Academy Charter Schools

We're so proud to be a part of the Charter School Growth Fund Seed portfolio and we're grateful for the support and partnership it provides our school community. Thank you for visiting us, Althea!

Yesterday, CQA scholars took to the polls to participate in the democratic process of casting their vote for student council. We're proud of our scholars who campaigned for a position on the student council and shared their goals for their peers and their school. And we are proud of all of our scholars who made their voices heard, stood firmly for their beliefs and values, and voted. We congratulate all of our scholars for engaging in the democratic process and wish all of our candidates good luck! #CQAdecides #vote #castyourvote (This post was not paid for by any PAC and CQA does not endorse any specific student council candidate. ??)

Recently, we partnered with Goldman Sachs for their Community TeamWorks Day. Goldman Sachs employee volunteers came to CQA to help teach financial literacy to our 8th grade scholars. This is a critical skill for our young scholars to learn and we're grateful for the team for sharing their time and expertise. Special thanks to our NextGen Board member Wanda Nyairo for organizing the day for our scholars. They learned a lot and had fun doing it! #FinancialLiteracy #middleschool #nyccharterschools

Today, we're thrilled to introduce Ashish Kapadia, another member of our 2024 Seed Grant Cohort, from Central Queens Academy Charter Schools. Join us in celebrating the exciting work at Central Queens Academy Charter School, designed to serve the multilingual, multi-ethnic neighborhood of Elmhurst New York, rooted in a belief that education is equal parts knowledge and character. Central Queens Academy nurtures the whole child through social-emotional learning in concert with scholarship at the highest level and is currently the highest-performing charter middle school in Queens. https://lnkd.in/gxh38WDt #CharterEducation #Charter #CharterSchools #Education #CharterGrowth #CSGF

CQA II is open! This week we reached two milestones in our goal to expand CQA and double our impact in our community. We completed the expansion of CQA I with the opening of fourth grade. We welcomed 100 new scholars to the school, which is now a full-scale K-8 serving 900 total scholars. Also with much excitement on Tuesday, we opened the doors of CQA II to 200 Kindergarten and first grade scholars. We were first approved by our authorizer, SUNY Charter Schools Institute to open CQA II in 2019. Four years later, in 2023 we received the official green light from the State legislature to move forward with planning for the opening of the school. One very short and busy year later, CQA II is a reality! CQA II opened in a brand new facility, adjacent to CQA I. Together our two facilities create one high-impact learning campus in the heart of our community in Elmhurst. Over the next few years CQA II will grow to be a second K-8 school serving an additional 900 scholars. To celebrate the opening of CQA II, we held a small ribbon-cutting ceremony with our students and staff. We were honored to be joined by?Office of Assemblymember Steven Raga and our authorizer for the occasion. #nyccharterschools #backtoschoolnyc

We're so honored to be recognized by Charter School Growth Fund and to be a part of their Seed cohort. Thank you for believing in our school, our staff, and the boundless potential of our scholars. #chartereducation #nyccharterschools #diversityineducation

We're proud to have the opportunity to help meet the demand for more quality, public school seats in Queens. We open CQA II and welcome new scholars and families to our community next Tuesday! #backtoschool #nyccharterschools #charterschools #wearehiring #education

Every graduation is a reminder of how critically important our work is. Our families pour generations of dreams and hope into their children. We are so grateful that they trusted us to educate and care of their greatest gift. We're so proud of our scholars who are one step closer to being high school and college graduates. “To be here in front of you all, is truly a dream come true. My origin story is like that of many Mexican immigrants. Being here on this podium meant my parents made so many sacrifices. My parents were teenagers when they arrived here and had a journey that involved walking in the heat…with no food and water just to get here to the United States. It is a literal journey that allowed me to be with all of you at CQA.” -Emily, 8th Grade Valedictorian #schoolofimmigrants #diversityineducation #nyccharterschools

We continue to expand and enrich our arts programming at CQA, including our jazz band. Learning to play a musical instrument has been proven to increase academic scores, graduation rates, college entrance exam scores and to support social and emotional skills. The arts are critical to our scholars' success. This spring our advanced and beginner jazz bands performed at our school for their community and at two different jazz clubs in Brooklyn for the public. We're so proud of their progress and dedication. #jazz #music #musicclass #education #middleschool #nyccharterschools #wearehiring

We've had so much fun celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! All month long our scholars have learned about members of the AANHPI community who have made historical contributions to our communities, our nation, and our world. CQA was founded by a group of first- and second-generation Asian American New Yorkers who saw a need for our school in the community. They aimed to create a school that centers and celebrates the experiences of our diverse community and provides our unique group of scholars with the support they need to excel. As we work to open CQA II this August to serve even more scholars and families, we are strengthened and guided by our founders' vision and commitment to the success of our school community. #wearehiring #AANHPIMonth #diversityineducation #nyccharterschools #AAPIMonth