County ready to move
on bio-tech high school
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Monmouth County is poised to begin construction of a new career oriented high school, similar to four other highly touted schools in the Monmouth County Vocational School District.
The new Bio-Technology Academy for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will be built behind the Monmouth County Career Center on Kozloski Road. According to Monmouth County Vocational School District Superintendent of Schools Brian D. McAndrew, the county owns about 80 acres at that site.
The school will open in September 2004 with a limited enrollment, he said.
"We will start with a freshman class of about 60 students and add a class each year. It’s the same pattern we used with the other career academies. Once the school is fully operational there will be between 250 to 280 students in grades nine through 12," he said.
The 75,000-square-foot school will cost about $19 million. McAndrew said 40 percent of the cost will be covered by the state, with the balance of the project being paid through the capital budget of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders.
The school will include nine classrooms, science labs and biotechnology labs.
"There will not be any large [athletic] fields or things of that nature, because all of the students who wish to participate in scholastic sports would participate through their local school districts," the superintendent explained.
The theme will be bio-technology, McAndrew said, explaining that the career academy will be involved in partnerships with Rutgers University’s Cook College bio-technology program, as well as the New Jersey Council of Bio-Technology and pharmaceutical companies.
"The whole concept is to provide young people with an understanding of a career pathway," he said.
The program will also include agricultural science research so the school will be working with the college and univer-sity in terms of research in the agricultural sciences.
As is the case in the other four career-oriented schools, the students that will be attending the new school will come from throughout Monmouth Coun-ty and will be provided with a rigorous academic program, McAndrew said.
The Monmouth County Vocational School District also operates:
• The Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) at Sandy Hook, a four-year high school program that offers students the opportunity to pursue studies in marine science and marine engineering.
• High Technology High School on the campus of Brookdale Community College in the Lincroft section of Middletown. The school is designed to offer students programs relevant to a pre-engineering career.
• The Academy of Allied Health and Science in Neptune, which prepares students to pursue further education in medical sciences.
• Communications High School in Wall Township prepares college-bound and career-oriented students using the field of communications technology as an educational foundation.