A classroom at the city’s new UWS special education school, set to open next month. Photo courtesy of Kristen Berger

By Scott Etkin

The city’s Department of Education (DOE) is opening an Early Childhood Learning center this fall at 1972 Broadway (between West 66th and 67th streets). The elementary program, known as District 75, will be geared toward students with special needs such as autism, cognitive delays, emotional disabilities, and sensory impairments. 

Starting in September, the center is expected to have 36 to 48 students, who will be divided into six specialized classroom settings. Each classroom will have one teacher and one paraprofessional for six to eight students, “based on their individualized education programs,” a DOE spokesperson wrote to the Rag. 

The Early Childhood Education Center is in a building that was once home to a Century 21 store. Photo by Scott Etkin

The school covers three floors that used to be a Century 21 department store, which closed in December 2020. City Councilmember Gale Brewer and Kristen Berger, who co-chairs Community Board 7’s Youth Education & Libraries Committee, did a walkthrough of the renovated space in February. “I was blown away, because it is so beautiful,” Berger said on a call with the Rag. “Any student and any teacher would be really happy and delighted to be in that building.”

The space has gone unused for the past few years due to the DOE’s perception that there wasn’t enough demand in the area for early education classrooms. Brewer brought the issue to the attention of DOE leadership and recently launched a survey for families to indicate their interest, which spurred the opening. 

“We’ve already heard from almost 100 families with one or more children turning four in 2025, 2026, 2027, or 2028 who have completed our survey and are interested in sending them to this space,” Brewer wrote in her newsletter. 

The DOE’s own data also suggests that demand for special education programs has grown. Over the past five years, enrollment of elementary school students attending a District 75 program has increased by approximately 23% in Manhattan and by 8% in public school District 3, which covers the Upper West Side and Lincoln Square, Brewer wrote. 

Inside a classroom. Photo courtesy of Kristen Berger

Berger added that she has often heard from parents over the years about the need for more public elementary school options. “There seems to be a shortage of early childhood seats that offer any special education services in the city as a whole, not just even in the district,” said Berger. “3-K [and] pre-K is game-changing as far as affordability to live in New York City, and in particular to live on the Upper West Side.”

In New York City’s public school system, 3-K is classified for three-year-olds and pre-K is for four-year-olds. 

Starting next year, a DOE representative confirmed that there are plans to expand the site by adding early childhood classes alongside the District 75 program.

Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.