April 30, 2026

Dear Families,

On the morning of May 7, our students will travel downtown. We have a permit to rally on the steps of City Hall.

In New York City, yellow school buses are free for field trips in grades K-12. For pre-K, special buses are expensive, and mostly unavailable. Our second graders called attention to this issue back when they were in pre-K. The lack of pre-K buses still has not been solved.

This year’s advocacy relates to students’ participation in the citywide program, Civics for All. Through Civics for All, students learn about advocacy and vote to fund items important to them. CPE1 students allocated $800 for special pre-K buses for this trip to City Hall.

Pre-K students have been writing about fairness and school buses for all, including letters to the office of the mayor. Through Civics for All, older students promised to lend their voices to May 7’s event at City Hall.

This is a great project for civic advocacy: fixable, fundable, relevant for children. I am hoping representatives of the mayor come out to hear our students, and that, as the city continues to negotiate its bus contracts, negotiators take inspiration from CPE1 students.

Planning for Major Renovations

Within the next few years, our school yard will temporarily close.

The yard will get a new underground drainage system, a new play surface, and new climbing equipment. This photo shows how the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, got involved with our school building.

Water streams through the school basement, far from the doors that the storm breached.

In September 2021, as Hurricane Ida traveled up the Atlantic coast, New York City’s sewar system was overwhelmed.

Water pooled on Madison Avenue, then cascaded down to our playground. The yard could not drain fast enough. Water rushed under the closed doors, across the cafeteria floor, and into this river on the other side.

This was an extreme example of how rain impacts our building. The city’s sewars can absorb about one inch of rain per hour. As downpours intensify, we have experienced more flooding.

Our location makes the building vulnerable. About 170 years ago, the Harlem Creek rolled across the area we now call East 106 Street between Park and Madison. Then, you could follow a stream that flowed from Central Park east to the river; now, the creek flows underground, trapped inside our sewar system. In the late 1800s, the creek beds were filled and new streets built just above sea level. The land above the creek remains lower than the rest of the neighborhood.

Today, our school yard sits at the bottom of a valley. Rain slopes toward East 106 Street, and then, over our playground walls. Trapped water makes the yard crack, pit, and puddle. The yard drains too slowly to keep water away from the building.

That’s why FEMA put up $10,000,000 for renovations. This is protection from climate change.

In the coming years, this major renovation will protect our boiler room, harden the rooftop, and re-do the yard’s drainage. A collection tank below the yard will store rainwater when the city sewars are too full. Digging new drainage means losing the yard, in stages or completely, for more than one year.

The School Construction Authority just opened bidding on this large project. Once the School Construction Authority selects its main contractor, the contractor will determine the work schedule. Will workers start on the roof or in the yard? Will they repair the yard in stages or all at once? How soon will they start? The contractor, supervised by the School Construction Authority, will determine the answers.

If you have seen massive puddles and water damage on our yard, you can understand why this project is needed. Still, I am sad that, eventually, CPE1’s fantastic outdoor space will close temporarily for students.

Once we have more information, CPE1 will plan for changes. Staff will work out how children will arrive in the morning and where to play before lunch.

To me, the biggest issue will be keeping the work on an efficient schedule. Once the yard closes, workers should not lose a day waiting for equipment, permits, or inspections. Fortunately, this high-budget project will have a dedicated project manager and lots of oversight. These are different circumstances than our single-use restroom, a small-budget project awarded to a small contracting company.

I cannot speculate about the start date. Now that bidding is open, a contractor should be selected within months. I do not know whether the school yard re-construction will begin next year, the year after, or the year after that. I just know everyone should stay tuned and participate actively as the project keeps moving closer.