'Deeply grateful': Justice Sonia Sotomayor visits Yonkers school named in her honor

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor heralded the opening of a Yonkers public school bearing her name in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday afternoon.

"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," she said in prepared remarks. "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."

Though she was born in the Bronx, Sotomayor has familial connections to Yonkers. She spoke of frequent visits to Yonkers to meet with a young love interest who would later become her husband.

She also highlighted the linguistic opportunities the school will offer students, contrasting that with her own experience as a child of the Bronx in the 1950s and 60s. Students at the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School will be literate in English and Spanish, learning in one language one day, the other the next.

"I know enough Spanish to speak it with family and friends, to write simple messages and to read and enjoy its beauty, but I wish I had been formally educated," she said. "The children who will attend this school will be privileged to learn and be proficient in two languages and two cultural experiences. That is an incredibly valuable gift."

The Sotomayor School opened Sept. 5 for grades Pre-K to 7 (eighth grade will be added next year) in a dense, largely Hispanic neighborhood in southwest Yonkers. It is intended to be a community school, meaning a neighborhood hub for students, parents and others. The school will soon offer a full medical and dental clinic for students. There will also be adult education classes.

One section of the school will be open to the community after school hours and on weekends, so that families and community groups can access the gym/multipurpose room, cafeteria and health clinic.

Yonkers officials worked for well over a decade to line up the financing to build new schools. The city is believed to have one of oldest fleets of school buildings in the country, with an average age of about 75 years, and is forced to spend tens of millions each year to keep its buildings operating and safe.

The Sotomayor School cost about $85 million to build, and New York state will reimburse about 74% of that cost, far less than what it reimbursed the cities of Buffalo and Rochester to build new schools. The building has solar panels on the roof with all-electric heating and cooling systems.

Mayor Mike Spano hopes that by the time his unprecedented fourth term ends in 2027, work will have started on a new elementary school off Ashburton Avenue and that plans will be in place to renovate Gorton High School or to knock it down and build a new school in its place.

Asher Stockler is a reporter for the USA Today Network New York. You can send him an email at astockler@lohud.com . Reach him securely: asher.stockler@protonmail.com .

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: 'Deeply grateful': Justice Sonia Sotomayor visits Yonkers school named in her honor