Mat-Ab Middle rises from the ashes
A year after fire, school has new name and facilities
BY MICHELLE ROSENBERG
Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff Construction continues on the exterior walls of the new sixth-grade wing at the Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School on Friday.

The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders will start school today in what may feel like a brand-new building.

The Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School, formerly the Matawan Avenue Middle School, is sporting a lot more than a name change this school year. Students will get the opportunity to take advantage of roughly $14 million of referendum work and $2 million worth of restoration from last year’s Labor Day fire.

FILE PHOTO The Matawan Avenue Middle School was set on fire last Labor Day, causing over $2,000,000 in water and smoke damage. Police later arrested a 13-year-old Aberdeen boy.

"It feels good," Schools Superintendent Bruce Quinn said as he looked around the building just days before it was set to open.

The building was set on fire last Labor Day, just days before it was due to open. Authorities later arrested a 14-year-old Aberdeen boy in connection with the crime, but the matter has not yet been heard in Juvenile Court.

Superintendent Bruce Quinn looks at the old gym, which was renovated due to damage sustained in last year's Labor Day fire. At right, a worker assembles the book shelf in the new media center.

Nevertheless, Quinn said the district has left the fire behind and is looking forward to starting off the school year on a positive note.

"We're excited for the new school year," said Joel Glastein, assistant superintendent of general administration. "It's an exciting school year for the students and the staff."

A couple of sections of the school are not quite available for use just yet, but will be ready to go by the end of the year. One of these is a new gymnasium, the size of the high school's, which is waiting for the floor to settle. The gym will be open for back-to-school night on Sept. 28, Quinn said.

PHOTOSBYJEFF GRANIT staff

The other is the new sixth-grade wing, which consists of a total of nine classrooms. There are three new science laboratories, a science prep room, a computer lab and four regular classrooms, Quinn said. This section will be open for business sometime around November or December, Quinn said. The district knew this a long time ago and prepared accordingly, he said.

The sixth-graders aren't the only students that are getting new science labs. All three grades have three new state-of-the-art science labs each.

"Every child will have an up-to-date science classroom," Quinn said. "It was one of our goals."

In addition to the science labs and new gym, students will also enjoy a new cafeteria, a new media center and a new commons area, among other things.

The student body can enjoy the newly renovated auditorium, which needed a lot of work due to substantial fire and water damage from last year. Also, the nurse's office, which was damaged in the fire, has been renovated to include a new rest room in compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

The school also got back a classroom that had to be transformed into a corridor to the gym as a result of the fire. A knocked-down wall has been put back up, and the room is a classroom again, Quinn said.

An art room, which was not included in the referendum, received renovations that include all new cabinetry due to fire damage.

Also, the old gym had a significant amount of renovations, including a resurfaced floor. This room was damaged during the fire, and was fixed and used as a classroom last year.

As part of the referendum, students can enjoy a new and large commons area in the middle of the building. The corridor that used to lead to the sixth- and seventh-grade wings was knocked down, and a classroom in the area was made into a smaller special education room to clear room for the commons, Quinn said.

The only two rooms that have doors located in the commons are the special education and a faculty rooms, Quinn said. The arrangement will work well because there will not be a lot of foot traffic loading out into the area, he said.

Quinn also said that the commons will be good because of the abundance of students - the population is expected to reach roughly 1,000 - the school will house this year. Down the road, the district is going to look into adding benches to the commons to accommodate students before and after school.

At the end of the commons lies the new media center. Sixth-grade students will have to use the media center as a pathway to classes until the new wing is open. Next to the media center there is a blocked-off corridor to the new wing, which will open once the new wing is ready, Quinn said. Until then, personnel will be located in the library to guide students to their classes.

There are currently six classrooms available just for sixth-graders, and they will be sharing space until their new wing is ready, Quinn said. Their current science labs will turn into regular classrooms when the new wing opens, he said. The new wing also creates a new entrance into the building.

On the other side of the media center is the corridor to the seventh-grade wing. This wing has a total of seven new classrooms, which includes the new science rooms. Two of the classrooms are located directly in the middle of the sixth- and seventh-grade wings, and will be used for both grades as needed, Quinn said.

The seventh-graders also got a new and unique computer lab, which is located next to the media center. What sets the lab apart from others is that the walls are made of the bricks that used to be the outside of the building. The workers built the renovations and additions around the room, and the district decided that it looked sharp to keep the bricks as the walls, Quinn said.

Quinn said the district is also excited that the corridors have all been widened to accommodate the large number of students that will be passing through each day.

In the eighth-grade wing there are five new classrooms, three of which are the science labs. All three labs have doors that lead directly outside. These rooms have been ready since last spring. Also, the steps that lead down to the science labs have been renovated due to damage sustained in the fire.

Each wing now has a central guidance office to accommodate students in need of a counselor, Quinn said.

The school's cafeteria has also been expanded, and can now hold two teams at a time during one lunch period. Next to the expansion is a gym lobby, which has a ticket-selling window.

Buses will now use a new road that is located behind the school to pick up students. There is a parking lot located behind the cafeteria expansion where students can wait for their bus, Quinn said. The front and the side of the building will be designated areas for parents picking up students, he said. This new road is expected to alleviate traffic congestion, he said.

"We are ecstatic at the amount of space and room that we have now," Principal Walter Uszenski said. "We're elated with what we have and are looking forward to a very productive school year."

At this time last year, the building had significant fire and water damage, forcing the district to postpone the opening day of school twice. When school finally did open, there was not sufficient space to hold all the students, and the district had to hold half-day sessions, with the seventh- and eighth-graders going in the morning, and the sixth-graders attending in the afternoon. When the district was finally ready to open for full days, one team of sixth-graders had to be send to Lloyd Road Elementary School due to a lack of space.

Students had an orientation yesterday, and have half-days today and tomorrow. Full-day classes start on Sept. 12