Camden, NJ (May 30, 2008) - A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Thomas H. Dudley Elementary School, which will provide 21st century educational opportunities for 539 students in pre-kindergarten through 6th grades, was held today by Camden School District and New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) officials. They were joined by students, teachers, parents, residents, and city and community leaders.
Scott Weiner, SDA Chief Executive Officer, stated, "On behalf of my colleagues at the SDA, I am pleased to celebrate this milestone. This ceremony marks the start of the latest project in the ongoing efforts of the SDA, in partnership with the Camden district, to provide modern, community-based schools that the students, staff and residents of this city so richly deserve and have waited far too long for."
Sara T. Davis, president of the Camden Board of Education, remarked, "he Thomas H. Dudley Elementary School will become a beacon for 21st century learning in the East Camden area. It brings innovative instruction and new technology to a local community that has done without for far too long. The new Dudley school joins together with the new Catto school to form a seamless corridor in Camden full of new promise and fulfilled dreams for the Board of Education and our children."
The 91,853-square-foot, two-story new Dudley Elementary School is being built at Marlton Avenue and Federal Street in the city’s East Camden neighborhood. The school will help ease overcrowding and provide much-needed early childhood educational programs for 3- and 4-year-old children. The school will include 31 classrooms: Pre-Kindergarten (four); Kindergarten (four); grades 1 to 3 (10); grades 4 to 6 (eight); and special education (five). The community-based school will include a gymnasium, library/media center and playground that will be accessible to students and neighborhood residents alike. The 107,140 square-foot playground includes a paved area, play structures and green field area and a 43,500 square foot parking lot. The size of the play area was requested by the district to be used as "safe haven" for the children of Camden and agreed to by the SDA. The project is scheduled to open in September 2009.
Gensler & Associates/Architects Inc. of Morristown, NJ, is the design firm for the new school. Cobra Construction Co. of North Arlington, NJ, is the general contractor. Hill International, Inc. of Marlton, NJ, is managing the project for the SDA.
The new school will replace the present Dudley Elementary School at nearby 23rd and High streets, which will continue to house students during construction of the new school. The old school will be demolished after the new one is completed.
Last summer, SDA opened the Catto Community School, the city’s first new school since 1990. Other SDA projects currently under way in Camden include the new H.B. Wilson Elementary School, Early Childhood Development Center #25 and a façade restoration at Camden High School. Construction of the new Morgan Village Middle School is expected to begin this fall.
The SDA currently has 25 active construction projects in SDA (formerly Abbott) Districts, 4 active Demonstration Projects and 8 ongoing projects in Regular Operating Districts (ROD). Overall the SDA has completed 41 new schools; 38 extensive additions, renovations and/or rehabilitations; 19 other rehabilitation projects; 354 health and safety projects; and 2 demonstration projects in SDA Districts. In addition, 14 ROD projects managed by the SDA have been completed. The program also has distributed $2.2 billion in grants, impacting more than 1,400 suburban ROD schools statewide.