HILLSDALE, N.J. — Their names will soon disappear inside the walls and roofline of George G. White Middle School — but they could remain there for the next century.
Current and former Board of Education trustees, district administrators and others who helped advance the school’s sweeping renovation gathered at the construction site Friday morning, July 24, to sign one of the final steel beams planned for the new addition.
The traditional beam-signing ceremony marked a visible milestone in the transformation of the century-old school. Covered in signatures and brief messages written in paint marker, the beam will eventually be hoisted into place near the roof of the new construction and enclosed within the completed building.
Among those taking their turn with the paint markers were current board President Kevin Donatello, Vice President Justin Saxon and trustees Sal Sileo, Kathleen Puerta and Michael Kenduck. They were joined by former trustees Christina Jennings, Nicole Klas, Shane Svorec, Kathleen O’Flynn and Leta Gordon.
Superintendent Robert Lombardy, School Business Administrator Sacha Pouliot and George G. White Principal Jaclyn Derwin also signed the beam, adding their names to a physical record of the people who helped move the long-planned project forward.
Lombardy thanked the participants, noting that everyone present had played a part in bringing the project to this stage — whether through service on the school board, work on the referendum committee, planning or professional support.
“Everybody had a hand in this,” Lombardy said. “Your name deserves to be on there. It’ll be with the building for a very long time.”
One by one, participants stepped forward to sign the steel as construction continued around them. The gathering brought together present-day district leadership and former board members who had helped guide the project through its earlier planning and referendum stages.
“I’m just excited to see the renovation and the new work take place, and for this to be a great home for kids for the next 100 years,” Lombardy told Pascack Press after the signing.
The new construction includes six classrooms, a multipurpose room and two additional classrooms extending from the rear of that space. Across the street, a tidy, fenced-in compound of modular classrooms stood as a temporary solution — and, increasingly, a glimpse of what the completed project is designed to leave behind.
The district also reported that the school gymnasium is being prepared for a full return to use when classes resume. Officials anticipate that student lunch periods will again be held there, along with physical education classes and after-school athletics.
The ceremony was brief, informal and cheery, starting with hugs and ending in group photographs beneath the signed beam before participants cleared the active construction area.
The renovation is the result of a $62.4 million bond referendum approved by Hillsdale voters in September 2024. The project is intended to renew and expand George G. White Middle School while preserving the school as a central part of the community.
Work is advancing on several fronts. Structural steel is being erected for the new construction, while selective demolition continues inside the existing building. Electrical rough-in work is also underway, and project teams are coordinating the mechanical and digital control systems that will tie the renovated building together.
The district is working toward opening the renovated building for the 2027–28 school year. Under the current construction schedule, substantial completion and a temporary certificate of occupancy are anticipated by Aug. 7, 2027.
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