“Northwell remains committed to education. It invests $5 million a year in its Northwell Community Scholars Program, in which students in seven economically disadvantaged, underrepresented school districts receive mentorship, college preparation, career guidance, shadowing and internship opportunities and financial support to pursue associate’s degrees or certificates at area community colleges,” said Dr. Deb Salas-Lopez, SVP of Community and Population Health at Northwell Health. Other initiatives include ambassador programs, numerous medical school pipeline programs — such as the Medical Scholars Pipeline Program — and a 10-week management internship for college juniors to gain exposure to healthcare administration and leadership.

Bloomberg Philanthropies’ investment will support school start-up costs including personnel needs, classroom and lab renovations, and other work-based learning requirements. The Northwell School of Health Sciences will be specifically designed to provide traditional academic courses based on state graduation requirements, as well as specialized healthcare classes taught with support from Northwell Health guest-lecturers using the co-designed curricula. Students will also engage in immersive work-based learning at Northwell.

In ninth and 10th grades, students will participate in job-shadowing and practice their skills in cutting-edge simulation labs. Starting in 11th grade, students will have access to paid clinical internships and professional mentoring, among other work-based learning experiences. High schools will also offer well-rounded, co-curricular programs based on local interest including but not limited to arts, physical education and affinity group activities.

“The School Construction Authority (SCA) is proud to be building a state-of-the-art facility on Northern Boulevard that will house this incredible new school,” SCA President and CEO, Nina Kubota said. “It’s one of the largest projects in the SCA’s history and will address one of our biggest needs, adding high school seats in Queens. Building spaces to allow for the fostering of this type of hands-on and transformative learning is at the core of the SCA’s mission to provide the resources our students need to learn and grow.”