Charter School adds
grades K
Red Bank
Charter School adds
grades K – 3
By JANE WATERHOUSE
Staff Writer
JANE WATERHOUSE Red Bank Charter School students will soon be filling the Century House, which has undergone a major transformation over the summer.
RED BANK — On the walls going up to the second floor an artistic parent has painted a mural in three parts — a friendly caterpillar, a big cocoon and, at the top, a colorful butterfly.
The mural could serve as an allegory for the old Victorian building known as Century House, which has seen many incarnations, most recently as a resident rehabilitation center on the Front Street campus of Riverview Medical Center.
But on Monday morning it will be filled with the sounds of learning and laughter when the Red Bank Charter School opens its doors to 162 new students in grades kindergarten through third. This marks an expansion of the charter school’s fourth- through eighth-grade program which is housed just down the block in the Trinity Episcopal Church.
"It’s an exciting moment in our history," said principal Meredith Pennotti on Friday, as she stepped gingerly through the still-empty administrative offices on the first floor.
The smell of fresh paint wafted through the air, a buzz of steady activity from the workmen on the front lawn drifting with it up the winding staircase.
On the second floor, the first and third grade classrooms are bright and cheery — chairs aligned to desks, books neatly stacked on shelves, rocking chairs facing the empty reading circles — waiting in a perfect state of suspended animation for the first child to step inside.
"It’s been a labor of love," said Donna Ilvento, who serves as both business manager and board secretary.
"The parents have been here working all week. One grandmother arrived with her bucket and vacuum. The employees at the school have even called in their families to help."
After a particularly grueling session, Ilvento’s daughter — herself a math teacher in Long Branch — told her mother, "Remind me to kiss my janitor on the lips when I start school."
The shiny new classrooms sit comfortably in these gracious surroundings. There are marble fireplaces and custom built-ins everywhere.
Sun streams through the polished panes; the windows in the rear of the building offer an astonishing view of the river.
"Because this was once a resident rehabilitation home, each classroom has its own bathroom," said Ilvento.
"The third-graders even have their own kitchen."
She explained that the teachers drew lots to see where their classrooms would be.
In addition to the first and third grades on the second floor, there is a kindergarten on the third floor.
The second grade classroom runs the length of the first floor, behind the library and administrative offices.
The cafeteria and music room will be located downstairs.
While parking remains an issue, Ilvento said the yard facing Front Street would be fenced.
"It won’t be installed until our second week of school," she stated, "so teachers’ aides from both schools will be here to greet the children as they arrive during our first week."
The secretary paused for a moment to discuss the placement of office telephones with Pennotti.
"This renovation’s been going on all summer. If you could only have seen this place when we started," she said with a sigh.
"We had the teachers in for a small holiday reception when we first got the house in December. We put a Christmas tree by the fireplace in the corner, and lit lights and had trays of finger food. But the ceiling tiles were hanging, and the walls were cracked and damaged."
Her eyes sparkled as they took in the ornate plaster scrollwork, the freshly painted walls, clean windows, and rooms awash with light.
"Who knew it would end up looking like this?"