Even in the worst of times, Bayonne fought to upgrade its schools, a point Mayor Joseph Doria made twice during the dedications of two new school additions, one at Walter F. Robinson School, and another at Woodrow Wilson School.
Doria noted that Robinson School, constructed in 1909, once served as the high school for Bayonne, and that Woodrow Wilson, constructed in 1931, was one of last schools constructed in Bayonne for 60 years.
“Nearly all of our schools are very old,” he said. “But we have prided ourselves in keeping up our facilities.”
The new additions adjoin older schools to provide more space as well as more modern accommodations, including very large multi-purpose rooms in each school.
Kevin Moran, Robinson School principal, said talks of expanding his school started about five years ago to deal with growth throughout the city. His school has become the center for English as a Second Language and bilingual education for the city.
“We have 700 students here,” he said.
Although the school district dedicated the new wing on Dec. 20, he said through the hard work of teachers and others, the wing was ready for students for the first day of the school year in September. Some teachers worked throughout the summer and on Labor Day to make certain the classrooms were ready.
The 18 classrooms in the new wing is being used various levels of students, although the highlight of the dedications in both schools are the huge multipurpose rooms that will service students as well as the community for such things such as Pasta Night, parent-teacher events and other services.
“We call it the east wing and the west wing, not old and new wings,” Moran said.
In ceremonies at both schools, Superintendent Dr. Patricia McGeehan said while the additions may be made of the strongest steel and the finest brick, they do not become schools until students use them.
The addition at Robinson School is about 60,000 square feet with 20 new restrooms.
Doria said Robinson School served as a high school until the current high school was constructed in the 1930s with the last high school class graduating from Robinson in 1936.
Woodrow Wilson’s addition provides 15 new classrooms, eight new restrooms as well as a renovated library, for a total of about 40,000 square feet.
Built in 1931, Woodrow Wilson was the last elementary school constructed in Bayonne until Midtown Community School was constructed in 1992, Doria said.
Dr. Catherine Quinn, principal of Woodrow Wilson, celebrated officials past and present for their role in making the additions possible during the dedication ceremony later in the evening. Both schools put on a show where children from the school participated in the dedication ceremony by singing school songs, serving as color guard or performing musical renditions.
“This is a great day in Bayonne,” Doria said, giving a history lesson at both schools, both on the founding of each school and the clear indication of how past leaders supported education in the community.
He noted that Woodrow Wilson School opened during the deepest depths of The Great Depression. Doria said that school leaders, whether they are those from the past or those such as Schools Superintendent McGeehan and Schools Business Administrator Clifford Doll understand that education is the key to a community’s success.
He credited McGeehan, the Board of Education and Doll for the foresight to take advantage of the state incentives that allowed schools to recoup up to 40 percent of the construction of the additions.
“Because we have an appointed board of education and a board of school estimate, we were able to move quickly on this,” Doria said, “So that taxpayers did not have to pay the full cost of the construction.”
Board President Will Lawson said those involved with these projects were among the most dedicated in Bayonne.