{"id":344249,"date":"2026-09-11T19:20:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T19:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/344249\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T19:20:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T19:20:32","slug":"queens-students-return-to-school-for-2026-2027-academic-year-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/344249\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens students return to school for 2026-2027 academic year \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many students across Queens started the 2026-2027 school year on Thursday, Sept. 10.
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud\n<\/p>\n

New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, who visited schools across the five boroughs, made a special appearance at Maspeth High School<\/a>, located at 54-40 74th St., where he discussed the new school year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels played soccer with students at Maspeth High School. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

\u201cA message for parents and students: stay connected. For parents, stay present. Make sure you know what your young people are doing, and at least make the effort to get to know some of the work, and let them know it\u2019s important, and they\u2019re important. Their potential is important. They have full potential to do so much, and it\u2019s our jobs to prepare them for the new world,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cWe\u2019re opening up new schools in Queens this year, and to have new accessible buildings, that sends a message to our young people that they are important. We recognize that some of our classes are overcrowded, and we want to create more capacity for young people in Queens, where they can connect with each other in smaller classes and connect with their teacher. Get more one-on-one time from their teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

Samuels also talked about the effort to get student-facing generative AI out of New York City schools<\/a> for grades 2-K through eighth grade. However, a small group of AI-vetted tools will be available to high schoolers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Samuels with Maspeth High School students. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a rally was held outside P.S. 19Q The Marino P. Jeantet School<\/a> in Corona<\/a>, where local elected leaders, organizations and residents called for an end to ICE going after immigrant families in Corona, Jackson Heights<\/a> and East Elmhurst<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With recent ICE activity having occurred in Queens, this rally was meant to address the impact ICE has had on families, including in Corona, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst, which have high immigrant populations. Additionally, this gathering was intended to ensure immigrant communities were prepared and informed as the school year begins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Numerous community members joined local elected officials and organizations in an anti-ICE protest outside P.S. 19Q The Marino P. Jeantet School. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

Among those on hand for the rally were state Sen. Jessica Ramos, Assemblymembers Catalina Cruz, Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas and Larinda Hooks, Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry, state Assembly candidate Brian Romero and representatives from Las Do\u00f1as<\/a>, Make the Road New York<\/a>, the New York Immigration Coalition<\/a>, Siembra Today<\/a> and Together We Can<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t just stand here as an elected official. I stand here as a parent of a Latino child, as a daughter of an immigrant, as a partner to an immigrant, and one who understands viscerally the fear that our parents have in dropping our kids off to school this morning. Many parents in our community this morning kiss their child on their head, walk up to school, and may worry that this could be the last time that they see them. Because ICE is cruel. They\u2019re going after vulnerable communities. They\u2019re targeting our neighborhoods,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas said. \u201cOur community is stepping up. We\u2019re serving as ICE watchers. We are documenting where we\u2019re seeing ICE and also ensuring that we\u2019re holding NYPD accountable to ensure that they are not colluding and supporting the efforts that are happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Assemblymember Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas speaks at the rally against ICE. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re standing out here for those non-criminal parents who take their children to school and want to be able to pick them up at the end of school, take them home, help them with their homework and give them something to eat and take them the next day. What\u2019s being taken away is that right. Every child has a right to education,\u201d Hooks said. \u201cThe parent has to take them and pick them up. Stop preying on our young people. Stop preying on their parents. Imagine if it was your child.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Assemblymember Larinda Hooks addresses attendees of the rally. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, when Trump took office, I remember one of the first times I visited one of my local schools in Queens. There were two kids in that class who, after a long time, mustered the courage. They raised their hand, and the only question they wanted to ask me was, \u2018Am I gonna be taken away from my parents?\u2019 When Trump took office two years ago, we began to see the terrorization of our families, in our streets, in our
neighborhoods, in our communities. Our children should be focused on studying, on making friends, on going on playdates and becoming the leaders that they deserve to be,\u201d Meng said. \u201cThis Trump administration, they are not increasing public safety by what they\u2019re doing. They are not enforcing the law. What they are doing through ICE terrorizing our families is causing chaos. It is causing our children and our families to miss school, causing our families to be separated. And it is decreasing public safety. We know that ICE, as it is, cannot be continued. It must be dismantled. It cannot continue the way that it is right now in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rep. Grace Meng speaks at the anti-ICE rally. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

\u201c[ICE] wants to make us afraid to go to school. They want to make us afraid to go to work. They want to make us afraid to vote. We cannot let that happen,\u201d Romero said. \u201cIt is time for every single member of Congress in the United States to get behind abolishing ICE. This is an agency that is completely dangerous against civilians and everyone alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Brian Romero speaks at the rally. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

After the speakers finished addressing attendees, organizations and volunteers on hand conducted community outreach and distributed \u201cKnow Your Rights\u201d information to parents and residents in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

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