Carteret, NJ – Mayor Daniel J. Reiman has been joined by Superintendent of Schools Rosa Diaz, and Board of Education President Marty Murray to announce that Acelero Learning is now offering Pre-K 3 and 4 for additional Carteret Public School Students.
The new Acelero Learning facility has partnered with the Carteret Board of Education to expand early childhood education for 39 three-year-old and 46 four-year-old public school students out of the former Holy Family Parochial School at 132 Emerson Street. The districts three elementary schools educate a total of 153 pre -school children, bringing the total amount of pre-school students in the district to 238.
The former Holy Family School, which was constructed in 1924 by the Bernardine Sisters as a Catholic education facility, operated until its closure in 2002. Soon after, the school was rented to Newmark High School which provided educational service to special needs students. In May of 2017, Holy Family School and Holy Family Convent, along with the Parish Center, were acquired by the Borough of Carteret for $2.5 million for the purpose of educational use. Mayor Reiman led the charge to acquire the building after the Board of Education at the time decided not to purchase or lease the building for school expansion. The Borough is now leasing the facility to Acelero.
“I’m very happy that Acelero has agreed to lease the former Holy Family School site as a benefit for our children here in Carteret,” said Mayor Reiman. “The space was previously offered to the Carteret Board of Education years ago. The board and school administration at time, declined to acquire or use the property for expansion. Today we have a great working relationship with the school administration and we look forward to improving the schools by working together.”
Carteret School District Superintendent Rosa Diaz said “Many studies conducted around the long-term effects of pre-school have shown a strong relationship between early childhood education and success in diverse areas of life. We recognize the importance of affording all students with a strong foundation that sets the stage for lifelong learning. Our efforts to ensure full-day, quality preschool education has been made possible through the partnership between Carteret Public Schools, Acelero Learning, and the Borough of Carteret.”
“Acelero Learning believes that all children, regardless of the economic conditions of their family, can meet their development goals and have a successful future,” said Acelero of Carteret’s Director Sherring Clark. Acelero Learning serves more than 5,000 kids in 44 education centers in 4 states.
Carteret Board of Education President Marty Murray said “In my role as Board President, I have developed a strong working relationship with Mayor Reiman and his administration. I’m glad we are able to partner with Acelero to expand early education at the Pre-K 3 and 4 level and I look forward to future opportunities for the Borough and School Board to work together in expanding our school district.”
Mayor Reiman continued, “Though we have less students in the district today then we have had in the past, this expansion of Pre-K 3 and 4 early childhood education will benefit these kids as they learn at an accelerated rate and progress through the public schools. This would free up significant space in the Middle School and allow for reduced class room counts in terms of the number of students per class. The Borough has already taken the necessary step of putting the owners of the site on notice that it may be acquired for public educational use.”
In 2017, the Mayor offered a commercial building on Washington Ave to the School District to be used as an industrial and culinary school. The district has yet to take any action on that offer, but recently engaged an architectural group to evaluate all of the existing buildings for possible retrofit or expansion.
“The issue always comes down to funding,” said Mayor Reiman. “If the state actually funds Governor Murphy’s education program, then we are looking at close to $8 million more a year in school funding within 3 years. The problem is that we have seen this show before. In 2009, former Governor Corzine unveiled his school funding formula in Carteret. And based upon the state’s own formula, the state underfunds Carteret schools by $16 million each year. Corzine gave us a down payment of $4 million, and the following year Chris Christie took it back. The state has short-changed Carteret by hundreds of millions of dollars in school funding.”
The Carteret School District has received $2,275,371 in Preschool Education Expansion Aid this year. For more information about Acelero Learning in Carteret, please call: 732-969-2626.
