By jane meggitt
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN — Students will be surrounded by construction this year in the Upper Freehold Regional School District.
"It’s an exciting year with the referendum project," said Superintendent of Schools Robert Connelly.
Certain aspects of the referendum passed by voters are well under way. The elementary school building has a new roof, and Allentown High School’s new roof should be completed shortly after the school reopens.
The high school track is being replaced, with new irrigation and bleachers to be installed, and should be completed by the start of the first home game in October.
Windows in the oldest section of the elementary school will be replaced this fall.
Bids are expected to come in by Sept. 10 for the excavation of new fields, a new parking lot, and two additional classrooms in the annex building at the high school. In addition, there will be ongoing replacement of lockers, among other projects in the building.
A community meeting is scheduled for Oct. 7, going back to the original strategic planning committee. There were about 50 members on the committee from both in and out of the school community, and they worked on a mission statement for the district.
Connelly urged attendance so people could see "what the community wants for your children."
The construction was planned to accommodate future increases in the student populations.
Allentown High School, which serves Allentown Borough and Upper Freehold Township, also receives students from Millstone Township, which is one of the fastest growing residential communities in Monmouth County.
Enrollment at the Upper Freehold Regional elementary and middle schools is also going up, according to Connelly.
Last year, 974 students were registered at the school. This year, reflecting the growth in the township, the number will be 1,017. Five years ago, the school population was in the 600s.
Allentown High School’s enrollment is down to 827 students because this is the first year Plumsted Township would not be sending students to the school, the superintendent said.
"We haven’t recouped the loss of students," said Connelly, but he estimated that in the next five years enrollment would increase to 1,200 students at Allentown High School.
Connelly said the Board of Education has discussed the Panhandle Regionalization Study and will come to a formal resolution at its September meeting.
"After reviewing the financial study, the most cost-effective option is to stay the same," said Connelly, meaning the receiving relationship with Millstone Township should continue. Taxes would increase the least under this option.
Separating the districts would be the most costly, and a regional K-12 district would benefit Millstone somewhat but be costly to Upper Freehold and Allentown.
"Until circumstances change, at some future date we will continue in the send/receive relationship," he said. The expansion of the high school has been done to accommodate Millstone’s growth through 2005.
New programs at the high school this year include advanced placement in U.S. history, a new computer programming elective, a journalism class, "Literature and the Land," and a ninth-grade world cultures honors class. Also, a distance-learning pilot project is offered in conjunction with Drexel University, Philadelphia, featuring an online college course in microeconomics.
"We are also close to closing the lease on the Indian Run rhododendron farm for expansion of the agricultural program," said Connelly.
In the elementary school, there are two new reading series for grades 1-3, a new social studies program for the third grade, and a character education program for pre K-eighth grade. The math curriculum has been revised, and there are expanded offerings in world languages.
The theme for the 2002-03 school year at Allentown High School is "Caring and Citizenship." Principal Christopher Nagy confirmed that Rep. Christopher Smith (R-4) would come to the high school on Sept. 9 and speak to students about their role as citizens and their responsibility to look out for one another and treat each other with dignity and respect.
The is part of the school’s 9/11 remembrance and will also feature a talk by a New York City fireman who worked at Ground Zero for the first 14 days.
Another change this year is that homeroom will be held after first period, from 8:45-9 a.m., not at the beginning of the day. The change is to "make sure students arrive on time," said Nagy. "Homeroom is not an extension of arrival time."
There are several new teachers at Allentown High School this year, many of whom are in transition from previous careers in science and research, said Nagy.
"This will enrich the lives of students in the classroom," he said.
Nagy said that the school is also looking to purchase electronic academic portfolio software that would allow the school to compile an online portfolio of each student’s work. At the end of their high school careers, students could have their portfolios downloaded onto a disk and sent out with their college applications.