Mission Statement:
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
​P.S. 119 has been a symbol of “Excellence in Education” in a community that values education highly. P.S. 119 is committed to the pursuit of excellence in learning that focuses on the highest potential of each student. Within each student, we endeavor to instill an enthusiasm for learning, pride of accomplishments, self-discipline, self-esteem, and consideration for the ideas and values of others. Educating for a culture of peace and understanding is being stressed throughout the school community. Working together to believe and achieve is the global idea for our school. We are a community that thinks globally and acts locally.
School History
P.S. 119 is in an area originally settled by the native Lenape people. The Dutch arrived in this part of Brooklyn around 1624 and called their settlement New Amersfoot, after the city of Amersfoot in the Netherlands.
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In 1664, this area was taken over by the English and renamed Flatlands, and it remained a mostly Dutch speaking rural area. This part of Flatlands was historically significant during the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and the British army marched past the Flatlands Dutch Reform Church on Kings Highway and East 40th Street on August 26,1776. A stone marker commemorates the event. In 1790, after independence was won from England, George Washington passed the same churchyard on the same road.
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Throughout the 1800s the area was mostly a farming community. In 1903, P.S. 119 was built to replace a smaller school on a nearby site. At that time, surrounding area continued to be a farming community with dirt roads, and no transit system to connect it to other parts of Brooklyn. P.S. 119 is called the Amersfort School in honor of the original Dutch name of the community. It started as an eighth grade school, but through the years was converted to a sixth grade school and finally in 1985 became a fifth grade school. In 2003, P.S. 119 celebrated its 100th anniversary.
P.S. 119 has a rich tradition of being a symbol of “Excellence in Education” in the community. P.S. 119 is committed to the pursuit of excellence in learning that focuses on the highest potential of each student.
