Brick school district ready for a new year

Curriculum reviews, expansion projects
took place this summer

BY DANIELLE MEDINA
Correspondent

Brick Township Memorial High School Principal William Dutton stands in front of the new expansion at the school. The Mustangs finally have some more room to roam.When Brick Township Memorial High School (BTMHS) students returned to class on Tuesday, they found a brand new 36,000-square-foot addition to their school ready for use.

“Everyone is anxiously anticipating the new building and thankful for the new facilities,” Principal William Dutton said last week.

According to Dutton, class sizes at BTMHS, Lanes Mill Road, were over 30 students and teachers and students were constantly being shuffled around.

“Over the years this building and this side of town has grown at a disproportionate rate,” Dutton said. “It was like the saying, ‘There’s no room at the inn.’ ”

Dutton estimated that the school has about 2,000 students and 160 staff members. Approximately five new teachers have been added this year.

The addition includes 18 regular classrooms, two art rooms, a music room, a health suite, four science labs and several offices.

Because of the complexity of the rooms, the science labs were not ready for use on Sept. 7, the first day of school, but Dutton said he expects the labs to be completed within the next few weeks.

In addition to the new rooms, another 10,000 square feet of the existing building was renovated to add a second dining hall, which shares a kitchen with the original cafeteria. Three classrooms were displaced by the addition of the new dining hall, so a small addition was built to house the culinary arts program, electronics program and the life skills program.

“We were really cramped educationally,” Dutton said. “Now we have some more elbow room.”

The $7.2 million project was funded in part through a grant from the state and was approved by voters in a 2001 referendum.

In addition to BTMHS expansion, the district also saw the opening of the new Educational Enrichment Center (EEC), Hendrickson Avenue, on Tuesday. The 20,000-square-foot facility houses special education students who were previously sent out of district for schooling.

The EEC has eight classrooms, a small group instruction area, a multipurpose room, a life skills area and several offices for the director and child study team members.

Throughout the district, the curriculum has been updated in several levels, according to Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas L. Seidenberger.

At the elementary level, the technology and gifted and talented course guides have been reviewed.

On the middle school level, the district is piloting a health curriculum that includes stress management, human growth, emotional health and nutrition and fitness.

New courses at the high school level have also been introduced for the 2004-05 school year. Among those classes are advanced placement world history, digital publications, personal finance, problem solving for math mastery and Spanish V.

Additionally, several high school curricula have been updated to come into alignment with state guidelines. The areas include Advanced Placement U.S. History II, Algebra 1, genetics, oceanography, senior English, Spanish IV, U.S. History I and U.S. History II Honors.

The district will also be piloting the concept of small learning communities at Brick Township High School (BTHS). Teachers from BTHS and Lake Riviera Middle School will also be designing and piloting lessons that engage students in high-quality knowledge work.

Finally, the Board of Education announced that it has changed the location for its meetings, beginning on Sept. 9. Board meetings will now be held at 7:30 p.m. in the all-purpose room at Lake Riviera Middle School, Beaverson Boulevard.

Brick Township Public Schools

’04-’05 Calendar

September

7Schools open

16Schools closed

Rosh Hashanah

October

11Schools closed - Columbus Day

November

4-5Schools closed - NJEA Convention

11Schools closed - Veterans Day

25-26Schools closed - Thanksgiving

December

24-31Schools closed - Winter recess

January

3Schools reopen

17Schools closed-

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

28Schools closed- Professional day

February

21Schools closed- Presidents Day

March

25Schools closed - Good Friday

28Schools closed - Easter Monday

April

19School Board election

25-29Schools closed - Spring recess

May

30Schools closed - Memorial Day

June

17Last day of school*

*subject to change