New Year Brings ‘New’ School to Morristown

Generally, the summertime is a quiet time in the halls of the mostly dormant school buildings. Classrooms sit empty, and desks become infused with the warmth of the stale summer air until the fall arrives and sweeps in change and order.

At Frelinghuysen Middle School however, the summer brought about major changes as the school underwent a major renovation the minute classes ended.

And according to Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ficarra, despite the size and scope of the project, the school stands ready to receive students and faculty for the Sept. 9 start date.

“You always are concerned when you do inside construction,” Ficarra said to the Morris School board Monday. “You never quite know what you are going to find when you start opening up walls.”

The renovation was done, according to school officials, to address a growing need for classrooms as enrollment has slowly increased in recent years. Di Cara | Rubino Architects provided the design work for the improvements and renovations at Frelinghuysen Middle School.

The changes began by moving the Community School Offices and Child Study Team offices to new modular buildings that have been placed on the grounds of the middle school.

In that space now stands five new classrooms and one renovated classroom. Students will also be greeted by two new small group instruction rooms, a pair of renovated science labs, and a renovated nurses office.

Ficarra said that the construction caps another busy summer for the school administrators.

“People always ask me if I enjoy my summers off,” Ficarra said. “But we have 5,000 new bus schedules to put together and retiring teachers to replace. And it all has to get done.”

The bus schedules should all arrive home by next week, and the middle school will be ready for the first day of school.