New school welcomes pupils
Wemrock Brook School
will house 546 children
in grades four, five, six
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer

MANALAPAN — The Wemrock Brook School, Millhurst Road, was expected to open its doors to 546 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders yesterday morning.

Administrators in the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District had hoped to open the school in September, but the plans were delayed due to construction-related matters. A planned December opening was also delayed due to the same reason.

Students who will attend Wemrock Brook have been attending other schools in the district up until this point. This week, they will all be together in their new school.

Manalapan construction official Rich Hogan told the News Transcript last week that all safety issues have been satisfied. A punch list of minor construction items will be completed over the next 90 days.

The move of materials to Wemrock Brook was scheduled to have been completed between Feb. 2-4.

"We are absolutely thrilled," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Maureen Lally. "The building is beautiful."

An informal ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled to have been held on Monday morning. Students were to have been welcomed to the new school on Tuesday, passing through an archway filled with balloons provided by the PTA.

"It will be the first time the students get to see their building," Lally said. "When you walk in, the entrance is very dramatic. I’m sure the children will be very excited."

The new 98,000-square-foot school will be home to 546 students and 75 staff members. According to Joseph F. Passiment Jr., business administrator, the school cost approximately $17 million.

A $29.8 million referendum that was passed by voters several years ago also paid for improvements to the Clark Mills and Taylor Mills schools and the construction of a bus depot next door to the Wemrock Brook School.

"We’re obviously glad that it’s finally here," Passiment said. "All of the things that you have to do, making sure the phone lines are in, that the roads are set up correctly, that the lines are on the roads, setting up the cafeteria, transferring records, checking out all of the computers and the networking, the little things — we had to make sure they were all done."

Some of the features of the new school include: a cafetorium which houses a full-sized stage (the stage can be converted to a classroom for instrumental music); a practice room for music students; music rooms; a full-sized gymnasium; and a sprinkler system for each of the two athletics fields — soccer and baseball.

Additionally, Wemrock Brook will have a media center capable of holding 20,000 volumes, two group areas for independent classwork, and a separate special reading area. There is a computer lab adjacent to the media center.

The school’s main office will house the secretary’s reception area, a communication system and an office for Jacqueline Martin, principal.

The school has about three dozen instructional classrooms and several specialty rooms on the first and second floor of the instructional wing. There is a guidance suite and child study team area on the second floor and an office for Assistant Principal Melissa Foy.

"This whole project has been such a long time in coming," Martin said. "The students, parents and staff members have been extremely cooperative."

For the past year Martin and Foy were involved in picking out furniture, designing the secretary office suite, helping with the design of the media center, and selecting the color scheme for the building.

Martin said she couldn’t wait for the day the children arrive at their new school for the first time.

"They are so excited," the principal said. "To me, everything (the delays, the moving, the sharing of facilities, the repacking and unpacking, the waiting,) will be forgotten the moment I see those faces. We have the keys. We are the owners."

"Wemrock Brook School is here," said James Mumolie, school board president. "It’s ready to open its doors and accept the first students and everyone in the community, whether it’s board members, parents or members of the community that have supported us with the referendum, this building is for the community. We are very proud the building is finally opened and ready to come into service for the purpose of educating our children, today and tomorrow."

Mumolie added a special thanks to Manalapan’s construction department, which cooperated with the school district in getting the permits in a timely fashion.

"I’m very happy that the school is finally opening," said Joseph Scozzari, the district’s former superintendent who retired in January. "I appreciate the fact that the teaching staff, the students and the parents did their best to make the situation before the opening as good as it could be."

Looking ahead, Martin said there will be a council of students selected who will choose the school colors and the school mascot.

"They’re going to be creating from the start," said Martin. "They will have a lot to do when they get here."

The time schedule for Wemrock Brook School is 7:45 a.m. to 2:05 p.m., and the telephone number is (732) 786-9694.