The completion date for the $9.2 million in preschool classroom additions to the Malberg Early Childhood Center and Joyce Kilmer Elementary in Cherry Hill is December 10, with furniture delivery set for December 15, according to the school district.
"If everything continues progressing the way it has, teachers should be able to get into and get their classroom set up, and classes begin as soon as we return from winter break," Cherry Hill schools Business Administrator Jason Schimpf told board members in a briefing at the October 14 meeting. Each building will have eight additional classrooms.
It's "starting to look like preschool classrooms if you get over there," Schimpf told the board.
The expansions were paid for in part with Cherry Hill's record $363 million bond passed by voters in 2022, to improve 19 schools. A preschool Regular Operating Districts (ROD) grant from New Jersey also helped to pay for the projects.
The upgraded entrance to Carusi Middle School.
Other updates to the district's massive rebuilding program shared by Schimpf included:
Rosa Middle School
Substantial completion of the $16.2 million Rosa International Middle School additions and renovations is expected by August next year. The main office renovation should be done by November 28 and the cafeteria addition will be done by next July. The existing cafeteria will be reconfigured into an instrumental music room, two additional instrument storage rooms, a new general classroom and student toilets. The second phase of the project will begin next June on the A and C wings and be complete by late August.
Carusi Middle School
Abatement and renovation of some wings of Carusi Middle School is scheduled for next May. Abatement and renovation then will move to other parts of Carusi. The Carusi project, which Schimpf said has the longest time horizon, is scheduled to finish by spring 2028.
Beck Middle School
The interior renovation project at Beck Middle School was scheduled to begin next June. The low bidder for construction withdrew their bid after discovering a mathematical error. "We're probably going to have to rescope the project a little bit to get it to bring the cost down a little bit and then go back out to bid," Schimpf told the board. He said the district is early enough in the process to possibly still support a June start date.
East and West high schools
Plans to renovate the East and West auditoriums and HVAC upgrades now are out to bid with a November deadline and a start date scheduled for the East auditorium and gym projects next April. The two areas will be closed until next December. After East, the West auditorium and gym HVAC upgrades will start in April 2027 and last until December 2027.
Security vestibule installations
The district expects to soon announce what four schools are next in line for the addition of security vestibules. One issue is that "some of the buildings will require substantial asbestos abatement," Schimpf said.
Parking lot, playground improvements
Included are improvements to parking lots, sidewalks, stormwater drainage and accessibility at Johnson, Kilmer, Knight and Mann elementary schools. With parking at Cherry Hill East, "we're looking at and really diving into the site over there to try to make the ingress and egress a little more palatable or efficient." That plan includes redoing the East administrative lot and possibly taking over the area of grass separating the administrative lot from the student lots. A playground enhancement is possible for the second playground at Mann (the first one has been done) and at Stockton.
