APP.COM - Project gets "A+"

(PHOTOS: JOSEPH J. DELCONZO/SPEICAL TO THE PRESS)

School District Business Administrator Laura Venter sits in the new biology room at Matawan Regional High School.

Exterior work was part of the renovations at Matawan Regional High School, which was showcased Tuesday.

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ABERDEEN — If there was one word on parents' lips Tuesday as they got their first glimpse of renovations at Matawan Regional High School, it was "Impressive."

"It was wonderful," said Matawan resident Diana Noble, whose 17-year-old daughter is a junior at the school. "I heard nothing but wonderful comments all around me. I just found myself smiling at people I didn't even know."

From the look of those who filled the school for a special tour and program, more than a few probably smiled back.

One of the centerpieces of $36.8 million in work approved by voters in a 2002 referendum, the high school renovations included the installation of a roof and windows, renovation of the school's main entrance, phone upgrades and new computer equipment, Business Administrator and Board Secretary Laura Venter said.

But what seemed to captivate most parents about the $10.8 million project, supported by $2.8 million in state funds, was the construction of state-of-the-art science labs, renovated art classrooms and locker rooms, and new special-education classrooms.

"My husband and I were impressed with the improvements — they were a long time coming," said Aberdeen resident Marlene Carrante, whose 16-year-old daughter is a sophomore at the school. "I'm glad that my daughter is going to be able to take advantage of them."

Carrante said she also was impressed with the school's new entrance, which, at night, features illuminated columns, and is vastly different from the boxy corridors and entrances one may expect from a school built in 1962.

"It's a great addition to the school, aesthetically speaking," Carrante said. "We're surrounded by more affluent towns, and they had done a lot of this stuff previous to this district. So, it's nice to see us coming to the forefront."

Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Superintendent Bruce Quinn said the district isn't just moving to the forefront. It's doing it within budget and right on the time lines it set when voters approved the projects three years ago.

Even at Matawan Avenue Middle School, where construction time lines were disrupted by a Labor Day fire, the bulk of construction should be done by its anticipated September completion, Quinn said.

"The thing that I'll be the most proud of (when the work is complete) is the fact that we told the people, "If you vote for this, we're going to bring this project in under budget, we're going to give you a quality project, and we're going to build it within the time frame that we talked about,' " Quinn said. "We've done what we said we were going to do."

Even an architect behind the high school project was beaming.

"After you do all this work for years . . . you kind of see all of your hard work in print, so to speak," said John Montoro of The Montoro Architectural Group. "You see the kids that have actually used the school and made something out of their lives. So, to me, that was the best part of the whole night."

Janice Quattrocchi said she's been closely following much of the referendum work, which also included installation of new roofs and windows at four elementary schools, renovations at the middle school and installation of new high school bleachers.

After walking through Matawan Regional High School, which her seventh-grade daughter will soon enter, she said she was most taken with the new science labs.

"That was the big thing," Quattrocchi said. "I was impressed with the (new) computers and the technology they had in there."

Quattrocchi also sees completion of work at the high school sort of as a fulfilled promise. That's something she often tells her daughter.

"My daughter, being at the middle school this year, (deals) with all the construction and everything going on there, the fire and whatnot," she said. "It's been hard for them . . . I just keep saying, "Wait until September, until you see everything finished.'

"They have to deal with all the mess now," she added. "In the long run, it's going to pay off."

Justin Vellucci: (732) 888-2617 or jvellucci@app.com

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