What's in a name? For some Queens schools, not much

The inspired wizards at the Department of Education have done some hocus pocus magic and given our borough’s “failing” schools new and inspired names, according the the NYT. The names will take effect in July. Shazaam!

August Martin High School in South Jamaica, Queens, where the name is carved into the building’s frieze, will open as the School of Opportunities at the August Martin Campus.

And William Cullen Bryant High School in Astoria, Queens, will become the Academy of Humanities and Applied Science at the William Cullen Bryant Campus, a title that is far from the poetry that fell from the pen of the famous American writer.

At Flushing High School in Queens, the principal decided to rename the school after Rupert B. Thomas, a member of the city’s Board of Education in the early 20th century who pushed for the city to build a new high school in Flushing.

According to the Times, city officials said they “gave the schools the leeway to reinvent themselves.” If this is what they do with leeway, we can only imagine what they do with restrictions.