Teachers excited about bigger, better schools
Improvements complete at Constable, Cambridge and Monmouth Junction
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Monmouth Junction librarian Sharon Ottaviana checks the inventory before relocating the books in the newly renovated facility.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Students and staff at three township schools returned to newly renovated facilities this week.

Monmouth Junction, Cambridge and Constable elementary schools have been overhauled to meet new needs in the second part of a two-stage renovation process in the district. Last year, Greenbook and Brunswick Acres completed similar improvements.

The improvements carried an overall cost of $46.6 million. The costs were cleared by voters as part of a referendum in 2003 to expand the schools to meet increasing enrollment.

All three schools are now larger, with extra classrooms, offices and storage space. In addition, all renovated schools now have new built-in stages, heating and cooling systems, new art rooms, and new music rooms with soundproof booths for instrument practice. Any schools that had combined gyms and cafeterias now have separate rooms for both. All schools were given enough classroom space to provide an average class size of 23 students.

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Second-grade teacher Jennifer Reilly of Constable Elementary School gets ready for the school year as she restores some order to the world in her new classroom on Friday.

Monmouth Junction Elementary got a new cafeteria and kitchen, a new music room, an art room as well as additional storage and restrooms. In addition, there are seven new classrooms, and four small group instructions rooms saw major renovations. The library and various offices were also expanded, and the heating and cooling system was replaced.

Monmouth Junction was also one of the schools that, when it was first designed, was given large, open spaces as per the predominant educational philosophy at the time. This meant that several classes were simultaneously taught within the same very large room, with only small dividers to separate classes. However, many teachers said that this style of classroom was distracting, as other nearby classes could be heard. Many of the new classrooms in the school are the result of walls being put up between what used to be the open-space classrooms.

"I loved open space ... but there were times when it would be very annoying," said fifth-grade teacher Debbie Buonocore.

Now, there are smaller, separate classrooms, with wood-paneled cabinets and closets providing the classrooms with far more storage space than before.

"I think I got a great class, as well as a great place to teach," said Buonocore.

Another change in Monmouth Junction is the conversion of the cafeteria to a new gym, with a stage, and the addition of a new cafeteria and kitchen. In addition, the floor in the auxiliary gym, which was sunken in a bit, was brought up for a faculty lounge. The main office was also redone, so now it is the first thing people see when they come into the main entrance, and there were more lights placed in the ceilings.

"Teachers had worked in conditions that, before, were less than ideal ... but this year is going to be different," said Maribeth Edmunds, the principal at Monmouth Junction. "It's going to be great. It's going to be really great."

Constable School saw the rise of an entirely new section from the ground up, with six additional classrooms, an all new small group instruction room, a conference room and a multipurpose room, in addition to the changes that all three schools underwent. Another large change is that the preschool program, which had been held at Brooks Crossing before, will now be held at Constable, due to the large amount of extra space.

According to Principal Rich Chromey, Constable was most in need of additional private meeting space, which is represented in the new small group instruction room, the conference room as well as the extra teacher space in the classrooms.

"As we began to look at the design, we have more small group instructional space. Teachers have all been very clever in trying to find a nook or small space to work with small groups or parents and so on," said Chromey.

Karen Fleming, a second-grade teacher at the school in one of the new rooms, noted that the increased shelf space gives the students easier access to materials that they need and the walk-in closet keeps bags and jackets out of the way. She also said she liked the new teacher stations in the classrooms, with a computer and space to work with small groups of students for follow-ups on lessons.

"It's just really convenient," said Fleming.

With the addition of a new gym, scheduling conflicts that were a major inconvenience have been resolved - before, when the cafeteria and gym were the same room, lunch and gym could not be held simultaneously, leading to many headaches.

The old gym, meanwhile, was converted into a library.

"When you see the [library], it's the old gym, but you walk in and never would know it's a gym," said Chromey.

The faculty room, which had just enough space for about four people to be seated comfortably, was greatly expanded as well, with seven round tables placed inside, as well as plans to install a computer station or two.

"This has always been a very strong school, with a strong program and people, and now they're going to be working in facilities that equal their efforts," said Chromey.

When Cambridge Elementary School was taking stock in what it needed, it was decided that space was desperately needed. To illustrate the point, Glenn Famous, principal at Cambridge, pointed out the many uses the faculty room has served in the past: as a classroom, as a small group instruction room, as a basic skills room and more. Further, many classes, due to lack of available space, had to be held in trailers outside the building. In addition, overall lack of storage space made things feel cluttered, according to Famous.

The school now has eight additional classrooms, another small group instruction room, as well as much more storage space, in addition to the additions and changes all three schools have received.

"After going so many years without any space, we've got space to really do a lot of stuff. ... I mean, it's great not having to worry which classrooms are out in the trailers ... or whether we have adequate space to run the program," said Famous.

One example, he said, was with the addition of a new art room, which allows students to take part in more long-term projects.

The trailers, according to Famous, will be here for about one more year. They will not be used as classrooms but as small group instruction rooms and places for special projects.

Cambridge had suffered similar scheduling conflicts between gym and lunch but with a dedicated space for both, these issues are no more.

Famous said that he is happy that after three years of waiting, it's good to finally have everything finished.