When students turned out for the first day of school at Lenox Academy M.S. 961 on Thursday, September 7th, Parent Coordinator Ronald Harris was waiting outside to greet them before they and their parents assembled in the schoolyard at 100-01 Flatlands Avenue for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that symbolized a new beginning at the academy.
Principal Patrick Berry welcomed everyone and made a special acknowledgement of School Superintendent Celeste Terry and State Senator Roxanne Persaud (SD 19) who later presented a proclamation to the principal, “Recognizing the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony of Lenox Academy M.S. 961.”
Superintendent Terry, a lifelong Canarsie resident, told the gathering, “This school is a neighborhood school that’s destined for greatness,” a prediction the superintendent strongly attributed to the “receipts” of Principal Berry. “When he was a teacher in Bedford-Stuyvesant, he had the highest performance test scores. Not only that, he was the first Big Apple Teacher of The Year and was also Head of the Dream Program,” Terry announced proudly. “We recruited and we got the best! Best principal! Best teachers! Best students! So, this is the best school!”
The ribbon-cutting was performed by Superintendent Terry, Principal Berry, Senator Persaud and two 8th graders. “Guess what, 8th graders?” Berry said to them. “You are going to be the first group of graduates from Lenox Academy M.S. 961!
