SEE: Plans Revealed For Five-Story Charter School On Clinton Ave

CLINTON HILL, BROOKLYN — A charter school planning to move to 30 Clinton Ave. has officially announced its proposal to build a five-story school in the new space, which is now home to a one-story industrial building.

International Charter School of New York will use the new 50,000-square-foot building, which will face a public hearing next week, to create a permanent school serving 725 children kindergarten through eighth grade. The charter school currently uses two temporary locations in Downtown Brooklyn to teach its 300 or so elementary students.

“ICS already educates children from Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and other nearby neighborhoods in our two existing locations,” ICS founder Matthew Levey said in a release. “We are excited to...consolidate our community under the roof of one convenient, modern building that will serve our families for many years to come."

The new school will be built by developers Barone Management, which have signed a 99-year ground lease for the land at 30 Clinton Ave. The charter school signed a long-term lease with Barone and plans to move into the building in August 2021 should it be approved, developers said.

Levey has previously said that the new building will be custom-designed for International Charter Schools and will "include a regulation gym, cafeteria, playground, roof garden and dedicated classrooms for art, music and science," according to an announcement on ICS' website.

Scott Barone, founder of the development company, said the school's new location will help fill the increasing demand for educational facilities in Clinton Hill, which has seen a population increase given the development boom in the area.

“The area has proven itself as a viable place to put down roots and find that perfect live-work-play balance," he said. "The Brooklyn Navy Yard complex alone is expected to bring over 10,000 jobs to the neighborhood by 2020 and, with that, will come young families in search of quality educational opportunities for their children.”

So far, though, not everyone agrees. Some local advocates, including the group Preserve Our Brooklyn Neighborhoods, have already spoken out about the proposal, saying the "noxious activity" on the Clinton Avenue block makes it an unsafe location for students.

"Outrageous unsafe site for a school!" the group tweeted about the plans. "This MUST NOT be permitted..."

A public hearing on the 30 Clinton Avenue application will one of two scheduled before Community Board 2 on Wednesday, March 20. The hearings will begin at 6 p.m. and the Clinton Avenue application is second on the agenda.

Both will be held in the Metrotech Center and will be followed by the board's Land Use Committee meeting.