Union City – The New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) joined Union City School District officials, state and local officials, and Union City students at a ceremonial beam signing for the new Grade 7 to 9 School. The event highlights the construction progress of the new school, with the six-story steel structure nearly complete.

“Today’s event is an opportunity to celebrate the progress of this new facility which will have the educational spaces needed to provide Union City students with a robust education,” said Manuel Da Silva, SDA CEO. “We know that access to a high-quality education is the ultimate equalizer, and the construction of new facilities like this one helps to provide New Jersey students with the education they need to succeed in a 21st century economy. Thanks to the successful partnership with the school district, city, and our construction partners on this project, this school remains on target to open to students in September 2025.”

“This state-of-the-art facility will impact and inspire generations to come in our Union City Schools,” said Silvia Abbato, Superintendent of Union City Schools. “We are grateful for the support of Governor Murphy, our Mayor and State Senator Brian P. Stack and the Schools Development Authority (SDA) for this wonderful project."

The new school will be an approximately 132,000 square-foot, six-story facility designed to educate a maximum of more than 930 students in seventh to ninth grades. In addition to general classrooms and science labs, the school will include specialized educational spaces such as three art rooms, a stem/robotics lab, a hydroponics lab, a technology lab, vocal music room, a dance studio, a rooftop environmental science lab with an outdoor growing area, a media center, a gymnasium, and a cafetorium with a stage/instrumental room.

With the steel structure nearly complete, work to enclose the building (exterior walls, masonry, roofing) will soon commence. The project is anticipated to open to students in September 2025.

The $93.7 million School is being built using a design-build approach. The design-build method differs from the traditional design-bid-build approach by allowing the SDA to contract with one firm for both design and construction of a school facilities project. Dobco, Inc. was awarded a design-build contract for the design and construction of the new school. As part of the design-build contract, Dobco is working with NK Architects on the design. Anser Advisory is the Construction Manager on the project.

As a result of SDA's commitment to building energy-efficient buildings that consider the surrounding environment, this school will be built to receive USGBC LEED (United States Green Building Council – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.

Once complete, this new school will be the sixth Capital Project completed by the SDA in Union City since the inception of the school construction program. The SDA previously invested more than $270 million in completed projects in the Union City School District.

About the New Jersey Schools Development Authority

The SDA is the State agency responsible for fully funding and managing the new construction, modernization and renovation of school facilities projects in 31 SDA Districts. Its current portfolio of active projects is valued at approximately $1.2 billion – including the Capital Project portfolio, emergent projects and Regular Operating District grants. Since the program’s inception, the SDA has provided funding for and management oversight of more than 880 completed school facilities projects in SDA Districts and has executed more than 5,400 grants for Regular Operating Districts throughout the State of New Jersey. For more information about the SDA, please visit our website at: www.njsda.gov or follow us on social media at: Facebook; Instagram; LinkedIn; or Twitter.