WESTWOOD REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT—Fingers crossed, construction on the $24 million Regional Middle School expansion, approved by district referendum Dec. 12, 2017, is on track for a September 2020 grand opening.
According to Superintendent of Schools Raymond A. Gonzalez, project highlights earned over winter and spring weather include:
- Completion of the auxiliary parking lot.
- Preparation of the foundations and footings in the center courtyard and gymnasium areas.
- Erection of the steel frame in the courtyard.
- Excavation of the site inclusive of the removal unsuitable soil off-site and relocation of suitable soil next door for the renovation of the A-Field.
- Demolition of two classrooms where the new building will connect.
Excavating the site, preparing the foundation, and erecting steel is scheduled to continue through August.
June–August 2020 will see renovation of the interior sections of the original building.
Asked for his take on progress, Gonzalez told Pascack Press, “It is extremely exciting to see the structure take form before our eyes, but it has taken a tremendous amount of coordination and communication.”
He said the administration works closely with the contractor to keep things moving along while working around the school schedule to minimize disruptions to teaching and learning.
Gonzalez said that during regular project meetings the team assesses the work taking place against the timeline to ensure that the district remains on track to open Westwood Regional Middle School in September 2020.
“Barring unforeseen obstacles,” he said, “we remain optimistic that we will meet our goal. In the meantime, the administration is looking closely at curriculum, schedules, and staff to make sure that everything is in place when we finally have grades 6–8 together in one school.”
He pointed to photos on the district’s Middle School web portal (see wwrsd.org) inviting stakeholders—such as taxpayers in the Borough of Westwood and the Township of Washington—to keep everyone apprised.
Voters in both towns agreed, 1,741 to 1,073, with a district proposal to significantly expand Westwood Regional Middle School. Some $16 million of the cost was planned to be offset from capital reserves and state aid.
The vote is creating a single school for the district’s kids in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, who will have a 50,224-square-foot two-story expansion that includes new and renovated academic and student support spaces.
Hosting the eighth grade at an expanded and updated Westwood facility was sold in part as consolidating age-appropriate counseling and academic and social offerings.
Sixth- and seventh-graders have been making do at the cramped former Ketler Elementary School, 23 Third Ave., Westwood. The district’s eighth-graders are served to capacity at the junior/senior high school, 701 Ridgewood Road in the township.