Among other referendum project updates…
Wednesday, January 20 the newly renovated Deerfield School Media Center in Mountainside had its Grand Opening. The ribbon cutting took place in the morning and in the evening the Mountainside community was invited to an open house. The media center is part of a three year 19 million dollar referendum project, 40% of which was offset by State ROD grants.
The media center contains five new instructional spaces, including a children’s reading room, a state of the art technology lab, and traditional classroom space. All the rooms have wireless internet access that is compatible with the one to one Chromebook program. In addition there is a handicapped accessible bathroom and rear entrance. The media center will be available for use by the community after school hours and in the evenings.
In addition to the media center, both Deerfield and Beechwood have already seen many improvements and upgrades in the last year. Both schools now have new fully insulated roofs (with 30 year warranties), new roof gutters and leaders, new rooftop HVAC units (7 at Deerfield and 11 at Beechwood), a new phone system, new IP security cameras, and a complete replacement of the network infrastructure including a new fiber optic connection between the schools. The internet speeds to the internal servers in both buildings have increased fivefold.
Beechwood now has a new web based energy management program and new gymnasium lighting. Deerfield now has 8 new boys/girls bathrooms, 12 new roof top exhaust fans, a renovated front entrance and front offices, and brand new boys and girls locker rooms in the gym. Deerfield School is now completely asbestos free with the exception of a few classrooms to be competed in the summer of 2016.
Among the remaining projects in process this year are the installation of new exterior classroom and hallway doors (Deerfield), the card swipe access system (both schools), and window replacement at Deerfield. In the summer of 2016, the corridors at Deerfield will be upgraded. The HVAC unit ventilators, including a web based energy management system, will be replaced at both schools.
(above l-r), 6th grader Madison Duca, 7th grader Ethan Proper, and 8th grader J.J. Post cutting the ribbon for the official opening of the Deerfield Media Center.
