Students, parents, residents and community leaders attended the ceremony for the expansion, which will help ease overcrowding and enhance academic opportunities for 434 students in kindergarten through 8th grades.

The Park Avenue Elementary School project calls for constructing a 68,527-square-foot, two- and three-story addition to the existing 32,829-square-foot, two-story Park Avenue School, which will be renovated.

The new addition will consist of eight classrooms, a cafeteria, a library/media center, a gymnasium and an administrative office. The work also will include two playgrounds and a parking lot. The Mount Carmel School will be used as swing space during the Park Avenue School expansion, which is scheduled to be completed in spring 2009.

In April, the SCC awarded a $23.5 million construction contract to Hall Building Corporation. Yezzi Associates is the design firm for the project.

Scott Weiner, CEO of SCC, stated, " Today we mark a milestone in ongoing efforts to provide 21 st century schools for the students and community of Orange. We look forward to working as partners with the Orange School District and collaborating with the Board of Education throughout the construction period."

The SCC has completed one new school in Orange – Main Street Elementary School – and plans to break ground on the new Lincoln Avenue Elementary School this fall.

Orange is one of New Jersey’s 31 Abbott school districts. Overall in the Abbott districts, the SCC has completed 32 new schools and 25 major additions/renovations and nearly 400 health, safety and other projects. Currently, 31 projects are under construction.