Designed as a community school, the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School features multi-functional spaces that are accessible evenings and weekends without the need to open the entire school building. Special amenities include a multi-purpose gymnasium and meeting room with stage; a full-sized basketball court and locker rooms; a cafeteria and meeting room with full kitchen; and a health suite with two exam rooms and a dental exam room. It is also the district’s first school to be constructed in accordance with the Yonkers green building standards.

“The Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School is the first of its kind in our District and is a model moving forward as we continue to rebuild our schools,” said Mayor Mike Spano, who was joined by Superintendent of Schools Aníbal Soler, Jr., along with local and state officials on Sept, 16. “Our local schools are the heart of our neighborhoods and should be made accessible not only for educational enrichment, but also for the benefit of the families who live in the area. We are fortunate for the opportunity to welcome and dedicate a new school in recognition of the positive change Justice Sotomayor represents to our students and District.”

The Journal News reported that Justice Sotomayor said in prepared remarks: “I have often said that equality among people in the United States will not occur until there is equality in the education of all of our children. I am deeply grateful to the many people—and the state is filled with them, as is the audience— who have sponsored and promoted this project and brought it to life.”

The Justice School is the first phase in implementing the Yonkers Joint Schools Construction and Modernization Plan, which began in 2016. The average age of a Yonkers Public School is 75 years old with many as old as 100 years old, making them some of the oldest in New York State. New York State passed legislation that enabled the creation of the Yonkers Joint Schools Construction Board, which bonded for the cost of the new $75.6 million, 96,000 square foot facility. New York State allocated $53 million of the project’s total cost.

The Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School will also serve as a new Dual Language school that provides students with a rigorous academic program of instruction affirming multilingualism and multiculturalism, as well as the social, emotional and intellectual development of each child. Dual language schools are designed for native and nonnative English speakers to achieve bilingualism, biliteracy, cross-cultural competence, and academic proficiency equal to the levels achieved by students in non- English Language Learning programs.

Built on the site of the former St. Denis Catholic School, the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School is the first Yonkers Public School constructed since 2000 and is designed in accordance with the Yonkers green building standards. The school’s sustainable features include photo voltaic solar panels, green roofs, high-efficiency electric heat pumps (no fossil fuels used for heating), extensive natural daylighting with sunshades, low water use plumbing fixtures, fresh air ventilation with MERV 13 filtration, LED light fixtures, recycled content in materials and low VOC interior finishes and furnishings.