By Lindsey Coulter

GARFIELD, N.J. — Construction is officially underway on the new $87.6 million Woodrow Wilson School No. 5 in Garfield. Leaders from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) joined Garfield School District, State, and local officials last week at a groundbreaking for the new��campus, which will help to reduce overcrowding throughout the district. ��

“As we mark the start of construction for a state-of-the-art school, together we begin a new chapter in the education of Garfield students,” said SDA CEO Manuel Da Silva at the event. “The State’s investment in school infrastructure projects and the work of the SDA have a lasting impact on students in Garfield and throughout New Jersey. Through our shared vision and ongoing collaboration with the school district, city, state, and contracting partners, the Garfield community can begin to envision the school building that will rise on this site in the coming months.” ��

The new school will be an approximately 132,000-square-foot, four-story facility will serve a maximum of 850 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. In addition to general classrooms and kindergarten classrooms, the school will include a vocal music room, an instrumental lesson room, an art room with a kiln, a STEAM lab, a media center, a cafeteria, a multi-purpose room and a gymnasium. As a result of SDA’s commitment to building energy-efficient buildings that consider the surrounding environment, this school will be built to receive LEED Silver certification��from the United States GWoodrow Wilson School No. 5reen Building Council.��

The school is advancing using a design-build approach. The design-build method differs from the traditional design-bid-build approach by allowing the SDA to contract with one firm for both design and construction of a school facilities project. Dobco Inc. was awarded a design-build contract for the design and construction of the new school. As part of the contract, Dobco is working with NK Architects, P.A. on the design. Anser Advisory, part of Accenture, is managing the project. ��

In a message to the district, Tony Lio, Chief Construction Officer for the district, said that the project ‘has been a true collaboration, with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (NJSDA), city and county officials, Educators, Architects, and myself working together to create a space that will foster maximum learning for our students and staff.” ��

Once complete, the school will be the fourth Capital Project completed by the SDA in Garfield since the inception of the school construction program. The SDA previously invested more than $97 million in completed projects in the Garfield School District. ��

The SDA is the State agency responsible for fully funding and managing the new construction, modernization and renovation of school facilities projects in 31 SDA Districts. Woodrow Wilson School No. 5 is one of multiple active projects in the SDA portfolio, which is valued at approximately $2 billion – including the Capital Project portfolio, emergent projects and Regular Operating District grants.��

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BG Consultants predicted that Manhattan’s elementary schools will reach full capacity within the next 10 years, and as a result, has made recommendations for a five-, 10- and 20-year plan for the district — all of which include new facility construction to meet the growing population of the district, said Clint Hibbs, AIA, LEED AP at BG Consultants, according to in Manhattan. The current recommended five-year plan is to build a new elementary school in Blue Township where the district already owns undeveloped land. Blue Township is one of the fastest-growing communities in the district, according to BG Consultants’ calculations, with the community’s students currently being bused to Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Manhattan.

Additional recommendations from BG Consultants include a middle school expansion to prepare for the incoming elementary students that the increasing population growth will certainly need. Further recommendation from the architectural firm include the demolition of all existing mobile and annex school facilities, expansion of safety measures for each school, the addition of dedicated gym space for each of the smaller elementary schools, and an increase in bus lanes and parking for all district schools. As part of the recommended 10-year plan, BG Consultants has recommended the construction of another elementary school on the west side of Manhattan, and if the population increases as predicted in 20 years time, the addition of a third middle school and second high school will also be needed.

All of these recommendations from BG Consultants are still under consideration by the school district board, and no decisions have yet been made, according to Eric Reid, USD 33 assistant superintendent.

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