After a nationwide search for the ultimate examples of community school development, KnowledgeWorks Foundation designated Neptune Community School as part of the organization’s “Schools as Centers of Community Honor Society,” calling it “one of the most interesting schools in the country.” Formal recognition will come during the Foundation’s annual conference in Columbus, Ohio on September 28.

KnowledgeWorks, with offices in Cincinnati and Columbus, is an organization formed to provide funding and leadership for the State of Ohio’s plan to spend more than $23 billion on new school construction and renovation over the next decade, allocating $10.2 billion in state funds to be matched by $12.9 billion in local dollars.

The 149,000-square-foot Neptune Community School, being built in a park setting near a new Early Childhood Center, will offer 21st century opportunities in science, math and technology for 700 pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade students and special education classes. Construction began last spring, with completion scheduled for fall 2005.

SCC is funding and managing construction of the Neptune Community School, as well as many other school facilities in Neptune, as part of the district’s multimillion-dollar expansion under the state’s unprecedented $8.6 billion school construction program.

The Community School, designed to meet LEED environmental guidelines, will be a “textbook” itself. The building will feature Plexiglas sections of floors, walls and ceilings to reveal aspects of mechanical and other inner workings for students to study as part of the curriculum. Its community-oriented features include intergenerational tutoring – senior citizens and students working together – and it also will serve as a district security site for the Cops in Schools Program and as a district health services center.

The school’s unique aspects of have drawn praise at various presentations, including ones in Georgia, Florida, and Edison and Trenton, NJ. SCC and district officials, architects SSP, and project management firm Gilbane are pleased by such acknowledgements.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Lake said, "We are pleased to receive national recognition for the design of our facility. It is an outgrowth of Governor McGreevey’s Smart Growth initiative and his direction that school construction in New Jersey be multifaceted to meet both the educational and community needs of our children."

Other SCC projects in Neptune include the new Neptune Early Childhood Center – a former light-industrial factory now transformed into a state-of-the-art learning facility for 270 3- and 4-year-olds. The $7.4 million, 46,000-square-foot ECC on Memorial Drive includes 18 classrooms, a Learning Center, multi-purpose room and recreation areas that are available for community use. In keeping with the state’s Smart Growth guidelines, SCC relocated the light-industry – Sea Jay Manufacturing, makers of plastic injector molding machinery – to a rehabilitated derelict building across the street – retaining its 17 jobs and township tax ratables.

In February, Neptune High School Annex – an abandoned bank turned into a state-of-the-art facility – opened on Neptune Boulevard across from Neptune High School. The 45,000-square-foot, four-story Annex underwent a $5.5 million makeover and will be swing space for 9th graders during the current $47 million renovation and expansion of Neptune High School. Once the high school project is completed – by fall 2005 – the Annex will house administrative offices, a specialized high school for Career Academy programs, and a police sub-station in the former bank’s drive-through area.

The schools are in an area designated by Governor McGreevey as a School Renaissance Zone and are the focal point of revitalization efforts by SCC and other state agencies.