New Providence School District
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The New Providence School District is a comprehensive community public school serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in New Providence in Union County, New Jersey, United States. Students from Murray Hill share the New Providence school facilities.
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[edit] Schools
- Allen W. Roberts Elementary School
- Salt Brook Elementary School
- New Providence Middle School / New Providence High School: Both schools share the same building and some of the same facilities (art rooms, auditorium, east wing, west wing, gyms, music rooms, TV production room and cafeteria). Recently a new gym was added to the building.
[edit] Awards and recognition
The district was selected as one of the top "100 Best Communities for Music Education in America 2005" by the American Music Conference.[1]
[edit] 2005 Racism lawsuit
In December of 2005, the school district was sued by a former student. The student, one of the few black students at New Providence High School, alleges that the school district failed to respond to racial incidents targeting the student. The lawsuit also names a handful of current and former High School students as co defendants. Currently, no date for a trial has been set.
[edit] School design
Allen W. Roberts School, built in 1962, was created in the style of a California high school; this means that students would have to venture outside in order to switch classes, go to the nurse, use the gym facility, etc. Unfortunately, the area does not have a climate that is ideal for this type of construction; most notably a wet and rainy fall, and occasional severe winters. In the early 1990s, a construction project was undertaken to transform the school from this style to be fully enclosed. Even at the conclusion of construction, there is still no internal means of traveling from the main building to the secondary building with gym and art facilities.
[edit] Population and expansion crisis
New Providence used to have another elementary school, Hillview. Hillview was being leased to a local child care provider, since student populations in the 1980s and 1990s did not necessitate a third elementary school. In the early 1990s, it was determined that it was no longer necessary to keep this school. Moreover, it was felt that the cost to modernize the school, mostly in HVAC infrastructure and asbestos removal, was too costly and would not be worth the fund allocation. In an effort spearheaded by then Superintendent Geoffrey Gordon, Hillview was sold to private and public interests: a YMCA currently operates there, as does the Morris-Union Jointure Commission. Right after the Hillview sale, 7th and 8th grade instruction was moved from the elementary schools to the high school, due to rising student populations in the lower grades. During the first few years of this facility merger, the high school population was low enough that they could effectively share facilities but did not have a need to share classrooms. However, school populations readily increased and both the middle and high schools saw the need for extra classrooms. Moreover, during the years of 1997-1998, the school population started to explode at the Kindergarten and first-grade levels, indicating that there would be a future need for expanded facilities.
The district and town recognized the need for expanded facilities. In 1998 the Board of Education floated bonds to pay for several construction efforts. Four new classrooms were added in 1998. A new television studio and music room was added in 2001. In 2003, a new gym was built and the cafeteria was expanded. These construction projects would not have been necessary if the town had retained its Hillview facility, causing some residents to consider the wisdom of selling the facility in the first place. The critics' main concern is the perceivable lack of long-term considerations. Currently, the owners of Hillview have no desire to sell the facility back to the borough. Hillview can be seen here. As of September 27, 2005 a $10 million bond was passed by referendum for additional school construction. Geoffrey Gordon has since moved to another school district in New York State as superintendent, and currently receives a large pension from the State of New Jersey.
