Princeton schools showcase new facilities

Crowds jam buildings and streets during Saturday celebration

By: Jake Uitti
   Droves of Princeton High School alumni, residents and business professionals came together to celebrate the opening of the additions to the two Princeton schools on Walnut Lane on Saturday. It was a sunny autumn day with a cool wind blowing, but the chilly air wasn’t enough to keep the community from having its day to enjoy the new facilities.
   Myriad events took place both inside and outside the school buildings. Inside, visitors packed the new addition to Princeton High School for tours, choir and orchestra performances and a sculpture dedication. Outside, music by the Princeton Garage Orchestra and The Session filled the ears of attendees.
   Dozens of booths lined Walnut Lane, which was closed to traffic for the day, and as the people milled about — buying cups of hot chocolate, receiving free packets of wildflower seeds to plant in their gardens and learning about area groups like HiTOPS — local student bands warmed up in the parking lot by the new PHS performing arts center awaiting their time to play.
   "I’ve been up and down Walnut Lane seeing everything," said Judith Wilson, Princeton Regional Schools superintendent, as a harmonica player behind her warmed up for the battle of the bands. "It’s a great celebration for the community. It’s a blend of school activities with community organizations."
   Saturday was a day marking the partnerships between the community and the schools. In the courtyard at John Witherspoon Middle School, the Whole Earth Center set up a booth showing its partnership with The Bent Spoon, an ice cream shop that uses herbs from the elementary schools’ edible herb gardens in its homemade ice cream, which Whole Earth sells at its Nassau Street store.
   On the football field, student-athletes played "Powder Puff" flag football — with girls on the field making the throws and running the ball and boys on the sidelines cheering. The game was conducted with the participation of Princeton teacher Bob Vivens, who was cheering and coaching with a boisterous voice and his famous smile on the sidelines.
   Inside the high school, tours were under way. Over the past three years, there have been additions and renovations done to PHS, John Witherspoon and the district’s four elementary schools.
   One of the biggest undertakings in the high school — and perhaps the most anticipated — was the construction of the new performing arts center auditorium, officially named Trego-Biancosino Hall.
   At 1 p.m., 125 fifth graders from the four elementary schools — Littlebrook, Riverside, Community Park and Johnson Park — held the first-ever performance in the state-of-the-art center.
   Princeton resident Kevin Curran, who was walking into the new hall to see daughter Elizabeth sing, said, "I’m looking forward to it. It’s a wonderful facility."
   Nathan Powell of Production Technology Consultants Group, the firm that designed the digital sound system in the new hall, said the full digital system in the high school is one of the first of its kind in any school in the country.
   "It’s the same stuff you see in major concert halls," Mr. Powell said, adding that the system is comparable to the one at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
   The auditorium, he said, is equipped with an orchestra pit that is convertible to a full Broadway-type performance hall.
   Princeton residents Eric and Laura Strong were out enjoying Saturday’s festivities with their children.
   "It’s so nice out here," Ms. Strong said. "I am looking forward to seeing the new pool (at the middle school)."
   She said her family had just stopped off at the Skate Jam booth, which was set up to inform residents of the Skate Jam event slated for 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Community Park pool parking lot, and after they saw the pool they were going to stop and get some lunch.
   "It’s a great day," said Charlotte Bialek, a member of the Board of Education who helped organize Saturday’s event, along with Joann Singer, Linda Shaw and Angela Siso. "I’m checking out everything. I wish I was four people, there is so much to see going on. It’s been a large effort on the part of our staff and kids. It’s only been a month since school started and they got all this done."
   Laurénce Thebault, a resident of Chestnut Street and teacher of French and German at the high school, was on hand for the afternoon’s event. Ms. Thebault said she had just returned from a year abroad where she was on a Fulbright teacher exchange program.
   "I’m here to see the wonderful achievements and to see former students," she said as old friends kept coming up to her. "There is a real community feel today."
   Indeed, the day was for the community. Along with the hot chocolate, Small World coffee and food booths, there were organizations seeking to raise money and awareness of important programs in the area.
   One such organization was the Princeton Regional Scholarship Foundation, a group that raises money from the private sector so that Princeton High School graduates can go on to college. The foundation dispenses the money on the basis of need.
   "We are here to raise awareness of our organization," said Carol Golden, co-president of the foundation.
   As the day wound down, there were still people walking through the new additions to the schools — the pool at John Witherspoon Middle School and, in addition to the performing arts center, new lab rooms, a new gymnasium, ensemble and practice rooms, a school store and the Numina Gallery, a unique, student-run art gallery, in the high school.
   At 4 p.m., there was still more to celebrate. In the new gymnasium, 21 banners donated by the Friends of Princeton Athletics were raised representing the 21 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association-sanctioned sports in which PHS participates. In addition, 30 pennants were raised, one for each state championship PHS has won since the school was built at its current location, beginning with a cross country championship in 1928.
   "The theme of the event was to welcome the present, look forward to the future, but always remembering the past accomplishments of our athletic programs," said FOPA President Bob James.
   An invitation-only gala in Trego-Biancosino Hall on Saturday evening completed the full day of celebratory events.