Morris Avenue School Redesign Finished in Time for Start of School Year

Students and parents who have not walked into the Morris Avenue School since the end of the last school year may not not recognize it when school reopens on Thursday.

The pre-K to second grade school, located at 318 Morris Avenue, Long Branch, originally featured an open air, pod-style design, has been redesigned to make it more modern and to improve the learning experience for children.

The project, which was completed on Aug. 24, transformed the school which now features separate classrooms and hallways. The former design featured four pods separated by dividers that contained four classrooms each.

The classrooms were also given whiteboards, overheard projectors and cubby hole storage areas for children to place their belongings.

"It's going to be better for instruction and we will have a great learning environment with these new wall," Morris Avenue School Principal Matt Johnson said. "The teachers are happy about the changes and they now have a place to call their own."

Johnson said in the past, noise would carry from one classroom to another and that it was a distraction.

"It's the little things that will be better now like being able to play music without distracting others," Johnson said.

Long Branch School District Facilities Manager Ann Degnan said a bulk of the $725,000 project was done by McCauley Construction Company Inc. and other aspects, mostly exterior renovations, were done by another company hired by the district.

Other than the major classroom redesign, other aspects of the project included painting, new computers and a new design for the school's media center, new desks and chairs for all teachers, the replacement of 15 windows, new ceiling tiles and the replacement and painting of metal panels outside the school.

Other changes included the addition of the steps at the side entrance of the school, a new playground, new sidewalk in front of the school and a portion of the parking lot was regraded.

"It was a seven-week project and a tremendous amount of work got done each week," Degnan said.

Long Branch School District Superintendent Michael Salvatore has said he would like to keep the building's roof design the same because it creates revenue for the school.

Solar panels were placed on the top of the building's flat roof last year, and that design allows the panels to absorb more sun which helps the district cut its electric costs and create solar renewable energy credits, which could generate money for the schools.

Degnan said the building is the district's third-largest generator of solar energy.

Morris Avenue School Second Grade Teacher Michele Morey, who has been at the school for six years, said she is excited for the new design.

"They really did a wonderful job and they need to be commended for all the hard work they did," Morey said. "I feel like a kid in a candy store."