VINELAND – Governor Phil Murphy today highlighted the State’s commitment to educating New Jersey’s youth as he celebrated the opening of the new Lincoln Avenue Middle School in Vineland.  The school is one of four new or renovated facilities the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) is opening this September.

“The 600-plus children who will walk through the doors of this school next Thursday are the latest of the more than one million children who have benefited from the SDA’s efforts to ensure safe, secure, and modern centers of learning for New Jersey’s kids,” Governor Murphy said. “The new Vineland Middle School delivers on our commitment to create a stronger and fairer New Jersey for communities throughout the state by improving our educational infrastructure to let students focus on learning and success. I cannot think of a more important investment that we can make as a state than in the education of the next generation.”

“We have a responsibility to ensure New Jersey children have access to schools that afford them the educational resources they need to grow and continue to dream,” said Lizette Delgado-Polanco, SDA CEO. “New Jersey’s school construction program delivers environmentally-conscious schools that enhance the community and lives of students for generations.”

The new $49.8 million Lincoln Avenue Middle School is a one-story, approximately 99,000 square foot facility designed to accommodate 620 students in grades six through eight. The new school includes 19 general classrooms, five science/project labs, three small group instruction rooms, specialized classrooms, instrumental and vocal music rooms, an art room, a life skills lab, a technology lab, a media center, a multipurpose room with a stage, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and athletic fields.

As a result of SDA’s commitment to building energy-efficient buildings that take the surrounding environment into consideration, this school will be LEED (United States Green Building Council – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. This recognition is achieved through the inclusion of features such as geothermal heating, a rain garden, and significant daylight throughout the building.

The school was constructed using a design-build approach in which the SDA contracts with one firm for both design and construction of a school facilities project. The design-build method also allows for some design and construction activities to proceed concurrently through phased advancement, an approach that potentially allows for improvement upon the original overall schedule.

The SDA is the State agency responsible for fully funding and managing the new construction, modernization and renovation of school facilities projects in 31 SDA Districts. To date, the SDA has invested nearly $150 million in completed projects in Vineland alone, including five capital projects and one demonstration project. Its current portfolio of active projects is valued at approximately $2 billion – including the Capital Project portfolio, emergent projects and Regular Operating District grants.