Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-02-21
SCHOOL MOVE
|. FOR METUCHEN
Board of Education Will Take
Up Important Work When
Reorganized

METUCHEN, Feb. 21-Prepara-
tons for additional school facilities
in the borough are expected to be
gotten under way shortly after the
reorganization of the Board Of Ed
ucatlon next month, as the members
OF the board foresee the possibility
of o~ver-crowded conditions in the
class rooms in the very near future.
AT the present time the two
schools have accommodations to
properly care for the present enroll
ment. but with the continued growth
of the town and the influx of res
idents from other points. the board
members see the possibility of mad
equate class oom space with tue
rapidly mounting enrolment of stu
dents.
About two years ago the school
facilities reached their rated ca
pacities, which caused the educa-
tional authorities no little concern.
n at hat time the erection of a
new school vas favored by many
of the residents of the town. That
emergency was met. however, by the
erection of an addition t. the
Franklin school, which has tempo
rarily relieved the situation.
The Franklin school now serves
"a IWO-lOIu II pSllS nOL OILY
| a grade school, but contains the
class rooms of the high school as
well. This condition is felt to be
somewhat unsatisfactory and it is
generally expected that the mem
hers of the Board OF Education will
before long advocate the building of
a new school, as a means of separat-
ing the students of the elementary
and high school grades.
Both the Franklin and Edgar
schools are situated in the northern
and southern section of the town,
respectively, though the eastern Sec
ltion, which is probably building up
at a more rapid rate than any other
section, and is ultimately destined
to be the most thickly populated.
This fact is expected to be the de-
Gliding factor in the selection of a
new site, which will probably be
between Amboy and Woodbridge
avenues.
While the erection of a new
school has not been openly adj
~vocated at the school board meet
ings, the progressive members of the
board who are showing a vital in
terest in the towns DEVELOPMENT,
are known to be whole-heartedly in
favor of erecting a new building,
plans for which are expected to be
undar way before the end of the
year.
With the erection of a third school
there is no doubt but that one of
them will be designated as a high
school only, several members of the
board having expressed themselves
as ~favoring the building of a high
school and utilizing the existing
schools for elementary grades only.
The first plans in this connection
to be considered by the educators
will be in seeking the cooperation of
the boards of education in Raritan
| and Piscataway townships toward
erecting a high school jointly for the
three municipalities.
This plan is declared to be not
only feasible but highly desirable, in
that a larger building fund might be-
come available which would insure
the erection of a high school second
to none in the county. At the present
time the two townships have no high
school and are compelled to send
their students to Perth Amboy and
New Brunswick, for which they pay
on a pro rata basis.
While the high school students of
Metuchen have fairly good classroom
facilities it is generally felt that
there is big room for improvement.
With the cooperation of the adjoin-
ing municipalities in this matter. in
erecting a centrally located high
school, it is pointed out that the
higher grade students in the three
municipalities might be afforded
more complete and adequate educa-
tional facilities, and at the same time
finances could be provided to insure
a teaching staff on a par with any