MIDDLE SCHOOL: Fire delays construction, but students are feeling better about changes
Ashes to addition in Aberdeen
Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/8/05
BY JUSTIN VELLUCCI
KEYPORT BUREAU
Like many of her neighbors, Suzanne Pallas watched as a Labor Day fire broke out at Matawan Avenue Middle School in Aberdeen. Like many parents, she also watched the aftermath through her daughter's eyes as officials tried to get construction schedules - and a sense of normalcy - restored at the fire-damaged school."The kids did very well, I think, adjusting to it," said Pallas, 41, whose daughter is a seventh-grader at the school. "The hallways are tight - very, very tight. Other than that, she seems very happy here."On Monday, school officials gave her reason to be even happier, opening an addition that houses three science labs, two classrooms and a hallway connecting the school's "300 wing" to its nearly completed gym and cafeteria space.As teachers instructed students in the new classrooms Monday morning, Principal Walter Uszenski and Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Superintendent Bruce Quinn stood in a locker-lined hallway, glowing."It's outstanding," said Uszenski, after he peered into science labs filled with students."It's a big difference," said Quinn, when asked about the new corridor. "Because we have very congested hallways . . . and everybody has to go to the cafeteria, and everybody has to go to the gym."The addition, dubbed the "D area" by school officials, is only one part of a larger package.
One of the centerpieces in a $36.9 million referendum approved by voters in 2002, the Matawan Avenue Middle School renovations include construction of 22 instructional spaces, three guidance offices, a 9,000-square-foot gymnasium complete with a varsity-sized basketball court, a cafeteria, restrooms, a renovated media center and computer labs, classroom windows, a parking area and a refurbished 420-seat auditorium.By the time the project ends - around Thanksgiving, Quinn hopes - it will have added nearly 42,000 square feet to the 980-student school. The state has agreed to fund $4 million of the project's total $15.16 million price tag, Business Administrator and Board Secretary Laura Venter said.Much of the work has been completed, despite a delayed start to the school year caused by the Labor Day fire, Quinn said.The school's gymnasium should be done this summer, while the cafeteria, set for completion by September, will relieve the pressure in a current space that houses several lunch periods with more than 200 students each. An addition facing Matawan Avenue should be up and running by the end of November, Quinn said.The beige and red trailers used at the middle school were vacant this week, which some parents picking up their children Monday saw as a symbol of construction progress.Aberdeen resident Rudy Rodriguez said his son, an eighth-grader at Matawan Avenue Middle School, had his share of classes in the trailers."He wasn't too crazy about them," Rodriguez, 46, said.Carol O'Neill said her eighth-grade daughter didn't mind them. After all, they had air conditioning.But O'Neill, 44, of Aberdeen still worries about all the work going on simultaneously in the district, something that gives her mixed feelings about the aftermath of the 2002 referendum."There was so much done at one time," O'Neill said. "That was a concern."Even though work at the middle school is not done, Quinn stressed recent progress is a sign of how the projects such as the one at Matawan Avenue Middle School are improving the district. Once improvements are completed, the middle school comfortably will be able to house up to 1,125 students and could even be in the running to host sports tournaments.That's a far cry from the school that in September was facing damages and construction setbacks from an incident allegedly caused by an Aberdeen youth since charged with aggravated arson, Quinn said."Not bad for a year's work," he later added.
Justin Vellucci: (732) 888-2617 or jvellucci@app.com
Ashes to addition in Aberdeen
Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/8/05
BY JUSTIN VELLUCCI
KEYPORT BUREAU
Like many of her neighbors, Suzanne Pallas watched as a Labor Day fire broke out at Matawan Avenue Middle School in Aberdeen. Like many parents, she also watched the aftermath through her daughter's eyes as officials tried to get construction schedules - and a sense of normalcy - restored at the fire-damaged school."The kids did very well, I think, adjusting to it," said Pallas, 41, whose daughter is a seventh-grader at the school. "The hallways are tight - very, very tight. Other than that, she seems very happy here."On Monday, school officials gave her reason to be even happier, opening an addition that houses three science labs, two classrooms and a hallway connecting the school's "300 wing" to its nearly completed gym and cafeteria space.As teachers instructed students in the new classrooms Monday morning, Principal Walter Uszenski and Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Superintendent Bruce Quinn stood in a locker-lined hallway, glowing."It's outstanding," said Uszenski, after he peered into science labs filled with students."It's a big difference," said Quinn, when asked about the new corridor. "Because we have very congested hallways . . . and everybody has to go to the cafeteria, and everybody has to go to the gym."The addition, dubbed the "D area" by school officials, is only one part of a larger package.
One of the centerpieces in a $36.9 million referendum approved by voters in 2002, the Matawan Avenue Middle School renovations include construction of 22 instructional spaces, three guidance offices, a 9,000-square-foot gymnasium complete with a varsity-sized basketball court, a cafeteria, restrooms, a renovated media center and computer labs, classroom windows, a parking area and a refurbished 420-seat auditorium.By the time the project ends - around Thanksgiving, Quinn hopes - it will have added nearly 42,000 square feet to the 980-student school. The state has agreed to fund $4 million of the project's total $15.16 million price tag, Business Administrator and Board Secretary Laura Venter said.Much of the work has been completed, despite a delayed start to the school year caused by the Labor Day fire, Quinn said.The school's gymnasium should be done this summer, while the cafeteria, set for completion by September, will relieve the pressure in a current space that houses several lunch periods with more than 200 students each. An addition facing Matawan Avenue should be up and running by the end of November, Quinn said.The beige and red trailers used at the middle school were vacant this week, which some parents picking up their children Monday saw as a symbol of construction progress.Aberdeen resident Rudy Rodriguez said his son, an eighth-grader at Matawan Avenue Middle School, had his share of classes in the trailers."He wasn't too crazy about them," Rodriguez, 46, said.Carol O'Neill said her eighth-grade daughter didn't mind them. After all, they had air conditioning.But O'Neill, 44, of Aberdeen still worries about all the work going on simultaneously in the district, something that gives her mixed feelings about the aftermath of the 2002 referendum."There was so much done at one time," O'Neill said. "That was a concern."Even though work at the middle school is not done, Quinn stressed recent progress is a sign of how the projects such as the one at Matawan Avenue Middle School are improving the district. Once improvements are completed, the middle school comfortably will be able to house up to 1,125 students and could even be in the running to host sports tournaments.That's a far cry from the school that in September was facing damages and construction setbacks from an incident allegedly caused by an Aberdeen youth since charged with aggravated arson, Quinn said."Not bad for a year's work," he later added.
Justin Vellucci: (732) 888-2617 or jvellucci@app.com
