Elizabeth, NJ (January 27, 2009) - Elizabeth Board of Education and New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) officials joined students, faculty, community members and area dignitaries in a ribbon-cutting ceremony tonight to formally dedicate the district’s newly opened Juan Pablo Duarte-José Julián Martí School No. 28.
This is the seventh new school to open in Elizabeth under the funding and management of the SDA.
The school, which opened last month, accommodates 750 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The 119,200-square-foot, three-story school has 36 general classrooms, five special-education classrooms, three small-group instruction rooms, a media center/library, labs for computer technology, science and music, a cafeteria/auditorium, a regulation-sized gym and pre-school gym, athletic fields, parking, and recreational and assembly areas accessible to the community. The environment of the school provides a friendly, inviting and secure building and is designed to accommodate the needs of the district's educational program and the community.
Kris Kolluri, CEO of the SDA, said, “On behalf of the SDA, I am pleased to be able to celebrate this important event. Our collaboration with the Elizabeth school district has been a productive and successful one through the years. This school will provide opportunities for generations of Elizabeth students for year to come.”
Pablo Muñoz, Superintendent of Schools, noted, “Juan Pablo Duarte-José Julián Martí is a fitting name for the school because of their lessons of leadership and community service. They serve as an example to everyone at School No. 28 that through dedication, commitment and unity we can achieve our mission to be one of the best school systems in the State of New Jersey.”
Juan Pablo Duarte, known as the “Father of Dominican Independence,” and José Julián Martí, a Cuban writer and philosopher, are well respected as patriots in the Dominican and Cuban communities. Both dedicated their lives to promoting freedom and independence in their respective countries.
The project was designed by Thomas Associates, of Princeton. Bovis Lend Lease managed it for the SDA. Bergen Engineering Company was the general contractor.
Elizabeth has one project – Victor Mravlag Elementary School No. 21 – under construction. Another project – Academic Magnet High School – is in the current SDA capital plan. Altogether, the SDA has spent or committed more than $462.8 million
for projects in the city.
Overall, the SDA has completed 587 projects: 46 new schools; 41 extensive additions, renovations and/or rehabilitations; three demonstration projects and nearly 400 other projects.