9.15.2023 

 This has been a very exciting, albeit busy, summer as every detail, big and small, was ironed out with respect to the new addition on Mountain Way School.  After the community of Morris Plains so graciously passed the Referendum (with a 75% approval rate), the district team (Mr. Maire, Mrs. Jenisch, Mr. Beattie, Mrs. Gropp and Mrs.  Lion-Bailey) quickly got to work with the architect team to finalize the drawings and the specs aligned to the project.  After numerous meetings and several iterations of different aspects of the project, an incredible vision was born for what the addition will truly look like upon completion.  

Once all of the drawings and design were completed, and necessary local and state approvals were awarded, it was time for the project to be opened up for contractors to bid the job.  We were very fortunate to receive a bid that fell within the fiscal budget of the project from a contractor who clearly understands the intimate details of the addition.  Upon meeting with the contractor, we have been assured that there is every intent to provide a TCO (temporary certificate of occupancy) no later than August 17th, 2024.  This will allow us to furnish and occupy the new space for the start of the upcoming (2024-2025) school year.  The new space will be instrumental in allowing us to restore and/or expand many of our programs and will be a tremendous benefit to the students.

We will be holding a pre-construction meeting the week of September 25th at which time we will review all aspects of the job, including mandatory safety protocols that the district has included as part of the overall project.  Those safety protocols include, but are not limited to, specific times at which construction vehicles can enter and exit the property, arrangements to minimize sound disruption during the school day, restricted access to the existing school building, etc.  We are grateful to have Officer Mike Rolph joining us for this meeting as we work together to support the construction process.  Additionally, we will be working very closely with the project manager to ensure a safe, smooth, and seamless construction process through bi-weekly check-in meetings.

It also gives us great joy to inform the community that the playground that was formerly located at Mountain Way School has been removed by the DPW and will be repurposed somewhere with the town.  The ability to recycle the playground and put it to good use elsewhere is something for which we are very grateful.  We thank the DPW for their assistance in this effort.

We are very excited to be breaking ground in the next few weeks and look forward to keeping our school community updated along the way.  Please check back here regularly for updates via future posts.