VIDEO: New Classrooms Open at Chatham High
A footpath has been installed; a few finishing touches are still outstanding.
Four new classrooms were opened up for instruction at Chatham High School this month, putting an end to the construction project that has been ongoing since last summer.
Principal Darren Groh opened the classrooms on March 9 for use. The rooms are part of the B wing and currently used by world language instructors.
The classrooms have a maximum capacity of about 100 students, enough to contain the high school's student population until about 2015. Should enrollment continue to increase, the district can add a second floor onto the new addition with an additional six classrooms, according to Board of Education Member Al Burgunder.
Contractors have also installed a walking path leading from Longwood Avenue to both Chatham High and Lafayette Avenue School. The path is intended to alleviate traffic along Lafayette Avenue by giving parents an alternative spot to drop off and pick up students.
Currently there are still a few final touches to be completed before the project can close out, including landscaping, difficult to complete until the weather warms up, and making alterations to the fence leading to the baseball fields on Longwood Avenue.
Groh took Chatham Patch on a tour of the new classrooms and the walking path, and gave us an idea of what the path will look like and how it will be utilized when completed.
In This article
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Chatham High School
255 Lafayette Ave, Chatham, NJ -
Board of Education: School District of the Chathams
58 Meyersville Rd, Chatham, NJ -
Lafayette Avenue Elementary School
221 Lafayette Ave, Chatham, NJ
Ellen O'Loughlin
12:09 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
My understanding was that the WALKING path by the baseball fields was to provide a safe way for the neighborhood children to WALK to the high school . With all the traffic congestion at the corner of Lafayette and Longwood , a WALKING path sounded like the right plan. Sounds like the C.H.S. principal is encouraging parents to use the location of this walking path as an alternative drop off and pick up point. Which side of Longwood Avenue will the cars line up on to wait to pick up their children? Which side to drop off on in the morning? One side of Longwood has no parking from 7-10 AM and the other side is no parking from 8-4 . Longwood Avenue from the corner of Washington Avenue to the corner of Lafayette is very congested especially during the school pick up and drop off time frames. Having parents trying to pull over to the side to drop off and pick up will certainly tie up traffic even more as cars may not be able to get around them to get up or down the street Isn't there also a WALKING path on Dellwood Avenue? How many paths / How many drop off locations does the school need? Please let's keep the idea of the WALKING path, just to WALKING .
Kiko Hernandez-Monoli
4:21 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I happen to love the idea of the Dellwood Path, if it wasn't there, many kids who live behind the school would add about 0.5 miles to their walking destination to get to the school. The school has the circle as a drop-off location, or you can drop your child off in front of the school or let them walk to the Dellwood Path or just simply let them walk to school.