Friday, November 13, 2026
Valley Stream School District 24’s push to reinvent the traditional classroom just got a $100,000 boost.
Assemblywoman Judy Griffin secured the grant to support the district’s Vision 2030 initiative, which is transforming classrooms into flexible, modern spaces meant to prepare students for a fast-changing world. The money will help the district renovate a classroom at Brooklyn Avenue Elementary School and provide new furniture for a second classroom.
“I was thrilled to allocate $100,000 in capital projects funding to Valley Stream 24 to renovate classrooms at Brooklyn Avenue Elementary School,” Griffin said.
Vision 2030 trades rows of desks for spaces built around how students actually learn. The redesigned classrooms feature cafe-style seating, furniture that can be rearranged for group work and desktops that students can write on. District leaders say the goal is to help students become creative, forward-thinking learners with the skills they will need after they graduate.
The program is already underway at Brooklyn Avenue School, Robert W. Carbonaro School and William L. Buck School, and district officials said the grant will allow them to expand that work.
Griffin said she was inspired to fund the project after touring some of the redesigned spaces in January.
“It was incredibly rewarding to hear students enthusiastically describe how the new environment has enhanced their learning and sparked their creativity,” she said. “Featuring cafe-style seating, flexible group arrangements and write-on desktops, these modern spaces completely reimagine the traditional classroom.”
On Oct. 28, Griffin returned to the district, visiting William L. Buck School with Superintendent Unal Karakas and school board Trustee Thomas Dowling. She toured two redesigned classrooms, and students explained how the new layouts have changed the way they learn.
Karakas called the grant a significant investment in the student-centered approach the district has been building in every school.
“There is nothing more important than setting our students up for success, and we are committed to providing engaging, research-backed learning spaces that empower them to be next-generation leaders,” Karakas said. “We are so grateful to Assemblywoman Griffin for supporting innovative public education and securing the resources needed for us to maximize student success.”
Griffin said the funding supports a larger goal: eventually updating the entire Brooklyn Avenue building with classrooms designed for every kind of learner.
“This forward-thinking initiative to update the entire building with dynamic classrooms that embrace and support all student learning styles is a key component of Valley Stream 24’s Vision 2030,” she said.
District officials said the redesigned spaces are meant to help students collaborate, think creatively and stay engaged, skills they believe will matter more than ever as technology and the workforce continue to change.
For Valley Stream 24, the grant marks a major milestone in an initiative that district leaders hope will reshape learning in every classroom by the end of the decade.
