Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)The new Perth Amboy High School is ready to open its doors to students next week, marking what the New Jersey Schools Development Authority said was its largest school construction project ever undertaken.
The project adds room for nearly 3,300 students and cost $284 million. The three-story building has a 1,000-seat auditorium, three cafeterias, four gyms, a multi-media center and a security operations center. It also includes additions such as an automotive lab, culinary arts lab, black box theater, dance studio, life skills lab and a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, classroom.
“The opening of this new high school is just the beginning. It is a promise, una promesa, to our students, our parents and our community that we will continue to strive for excellence for our students,” said Damian Medina, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.
The wait was ‘worth it’
Tuesday’s opening ceremony held in the new auditorium got off to a late start, which Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) said is fitting based on the project’s timeline. The school district purchased the land for the new building for $7.4 million in 2016 and it will welcome students for the first time on Sept. 5.
“It took years to put things together, longer than any of us had hoped for to get this started, and then when you get started, all the waiting was worth it because you end up with something truly special, magnificent, transformative, and that’s what we have here today,” said Coughlin, whose district covers Perth Amboy.
New Jersey ROTC members led the Pledge of Allegiance to begin the ceremony, followed by a performance of the national anthem by the high school choir. Between speeches from the mayor, superintendent, school board members and state lawmakers, the band performed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” while students danced across the new stage.
Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)“To our students, this school is yours,” Medina said during the ceremony. ‘It is a place where you will grow, learn and discover who you are and what you want to become.”
Bilingual services
Speakers delivered messages in both English and Spanish, a nod to the 71% of students whose primary home language is Spanish, according to school performance report data.
Before 2015, the district’s graduation rate was in the 50s, now it’s approaching 90%. The number of students awarded the Seal of Biliteracy also increased more than 750% in the last nine years.
‘Every student deserves to have a place like this to go to school. We’re committed to developing new schools, not just here in Perth Amboy, but across the state.’ — Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex)
Perth Amboy is one of the former Abbott districts where construction is fully paid for by the Schools Development Authority, the state agency in charge of construction and renovations of school facilities in 31 districts. The authority was developed after a 1998 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that the state must fully fund school construction and renovations in some of the poorest districts at the time.
The condition of school facilities was preventing students in these districts from receiving the “thorough and efficient” education they are entitled to under the state Constitution, according to the ruling. Districts not eligible for full funding can have a minimum of 40% of construction costs covered.
Landmark project
The new high school is the most expensive construction project in the Schools Development Authority’s history, and Coughlin said it is worth it.
“Every student deserves to have a place like this to go to school,” Coughlin said. “We’re committed to developing new schools, not just here in Perth Amboy, but across the state.”
Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)Schools Development Authority Chief Executive Officer Manuel Da Silva said the SDA builds high-quality facilities, noting that the new high school building is fit to serve generations of Perth Amboy students. He joked that he should have brought a hoverboard or Segway to get around the large school building.
The SDA has completed 35 projects and added 30,653 new seats since 2011, according to its strategic plan. This includes the construction of new schools and additions or renovations to existing school facilities. The need for new and improved school buildings is still great in districts across the state, and the authority has little money to fund new projects. Of the agency’s next 19 projects outlined in the strategic plan for advancement, 17 will address capacity needs while two will address aging infrastructure.
Another project, an addition and renovation of Cleveland St. Elementary School in Orange is expected to be completed by the start of the school year, according to the strategic plan. Another active project, a 7-9 school in Union City, is expected to open in September 2025 and have room for 936 students.
