MILLTOWN — The new and improved Joyce Kilmer School is taking learning to the next level, officials said last week.
“It’s unreal,” Superintendent of Schools Linda Madison said of the recently completed facility upgrades. “The students now don’t have to wait 20 minutes in line for their lunch, and basketballs don’t bounce in different directions because the floorboards are going in different directions at the gym.”
She went on to discuss the replacement of the old library with a new media center with Smartboard technology and can now hold two classes at a time.
“We have bonafide science labs that are exceptional in the middle school level,” Madison said. “This brings pride to the students, since they are in this building most of their waking lives, and it’s important for us to provide them with a clean and safe environment.”
Madison and Joyce Kilmer Principal Janet Ferlazzo joined students and their families for a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 11 to mark the official opening of the new and improved spaces in the school.
The project, which was done by USA Architects of Somerville, spanned two summers and most of this school year after voters overwhelming approved a $7.2 million bond referendum in December 2007, with 942 yes votes and 250 no votes. An estimated $3.5 million of the total cost is being funded through debt service aid from the state.
The first summer saw the replacement of the heating, ventilating and air conditioning system at Parkview School, roofing at both buildings, and two science labs at Joyce Kilmer School.
Madison recalled that the project saw its fair share of excitement that first summer.
“It was a warm summer evening, right before a board meeting, [when] the explosion of a propane tank related to the roof work caused a fire and a blowout of a few windows,” she said, noting that the roof fire was quickly contained.
Students now have three well-equipped middle school science labs, a kitchen capable of providing hot lunches and many options that were formerly unavailable, the new media center that provides instructional space, quiet reading areas, adequate shelf space for books, and a computer lab, as well as a completely renovated gymnasium and a newly renovated façade/school entrance.
“This is one of the most thrilling events that I have experienced as principal here,” Ferlazzo said. “This said. “This space is beneficial for the students.”
She noted that the students have formed a new library club, whose membership is full.E
ighth-graders Jon Milburn, Katya Shkrutz and Jessica Gural said they were all excited about the improvements to their school.
“This is our last year, and we really wanted to see it,” said Shkrutz, who is vice president of the Student Council. “I come to the library to read and to enjoy the space. It’s relaxing.”
Gural, treasurer on the Student Council, said that before the project, the students had a really small library and limited use of computers.
“I really like the new science labs,” she said.
Milburn, Student Council president, said there are a lot more books in the library, and the Smartboard technology makes learning “more fun.”
The Milltown Education Foundation is asking anyone who wants to purchase a brick paver for the Walkway of the Knights in front of the new addition at Kilmer to contact Pam Strahm at 732-249-3987 or email her at [email protected], or to contact Mary Ann Mangarella at 732- 545-3989 or [email protected].