It might have taken nearly six months longer than what was originally planned, but judging by the reaction of the 50 Guttenberg 4-year-old students, their parents and the teachers involved in the township’s new early childhood program, the two new classrooms built exclusively for Anna L. Klein School’s pre-kindergarten are a gigantic hit.
Two former storage rooms have been transformed into classrooms for the toddlers, located in the basement of the school. The classrooms were originally supposed to be ready in time for the opening of school in September, then temporarily delayed until Nov. 28.
Although Guttenberg Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Penna is not pleased that the project was delayed as long as it was, he was elated to officially christen the $500,000 addition to the school Monday.
“We received a promise that they would be done Nov. 28,” Penna said. “I thoroughly believe that the contractor dragged his feet with this project and made us a second priority. But now that it’s open, we’re really happy with the way it turned out.”
The nearly 100-year-old school needed to find a location for the early childhood classrooms after the state Department of Education mandated the installation of the program for 4-year-old students by the start of the 2001-2002 school year.
Penna searched throughout the school for any available space and stumbled across the storage rooms when he was first hired as superintendent nearly 18 months ago.
“When I asked what was in the basement, I was told it was just storage,” Penna said. “I asked why we couldn’t put classrooms there and I was told that it could not be done.”
A proposed extension to the school fell through in 2000. But Penna thoroughly opposed a plan to place the students in portable trailers.
“I don’t believe in trailers,” Penna said. “They’re unhealthy and there’s a sense of dampness.”
His own plan
Penna pushed to transform the storage areas in the basement into classrooms. The construction was similar to that which he designed for the early childhood program in East Orange, where he served as the assistant superintendent of schools for many years.
Considering that the funding for the construction was coming from the state allotment for early childhood programs, Penna believed that the transformation would not be a problem.
The construction delays put a small wrench into the plans. Since the classrooms were not ready in time for the start of the current school year, the students were temporarily housed in the township’s community center, located on 70th Street, about three blocks from the main school.
“We are so grateful to the mayor and the council for allowing us to use the community center,” Penna said. “They really helped us a great deal in our time of need.”
Penna said that he had a special design in mind when drawing up the plans for the classrooms.
“We needed to emphasize bright colors and shapes that the children can identify,” Penna said. “I wanted to have a feeling of a giant circle, that the circle is holding the students, enveloping them.”
So the two classrooms are situated in a circular fashion. There are plenty of bright colors to the new walls, which were once cinderblock. The once concrete floor has been transformed into a bright, colorful floor, also with a circular design.
“Safety was also a top priority,” Penna said. “The rooms are fully heated and air conditioned. Each classroom has a refrigerator, a sink, a drinking fountain and a large bathroom.”
Penna said that he is also not a fan of chalk board, so every instructional board utilizes erasable markers. In time, each room will be fitted with television sets and computers.
Penna is especially pleased with the shared story room, where children sit to hear their teachers, Melody Nolasco and Genevieve Stelter, read to them. Teachers’ aides Rebeca Espinal and Gloria D’Annunzio lend a hand, as four classes of approximately 12 students shuttle through during the course of the day.
“I asked a lot of people for their fondest memories of learning,” Penna said. “And one woman told me her happiest memories were of reading on her front porch. I thought that would be wonderful, so we’ve created our own front porch for the children. It’s a warm, comfortable area for the children to learn.”
The Klein School “front porch” features two tiers of carpeted area, also fitting the circular theme, with room for the teacher to read to the students.
“It really is a positive learning environment for the children,” Penna said.
When the weather warms, the children can also use an adjacent garden area for outside learning, but the garden area is secured away from the rest of the school and the busy streets.
Penna said that he was able to show the new classrooms to several parents, who all gave their seal of approval. “I’m very proud of it,” Penna said. “We were able to build two new classrooms without a single cost to the town. The parents are all ecstatic. They can see it’s a warm and friendly place.”
Although it was only the second day that the new classrooms were being used, Nolasco was overjoyed to be in her new teaching environment and away from the cramped community center.
“This is really helping us a lot,” Nolasco said. “We’re able to do more things here. It’s very nice and the children are very happy.”