Monroe Township School District

The original building for Monroe Township High School, designed to serve 1,100 students, was constructed at a cost of $4.7 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|4.7|1974|fmt=c|r=1}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}). Groundbreaking for the new facility was held in July 1971 after a bond issue to cover the costs of the building was approved by voters in May 1971. Students started using the building in January 1974.Ellis, Linda. [https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/03/archives/contrasting-jersey-schools-show-dollars-almightiness.html "Contrasting Jersey Schools Show Dollar's Almightiness"], The New York Times, February 3, 1974. Accessed February 21, 2025.

The New Jersey Board of Education voted in May 1979 to shutdown Jamesburg High School, which with an enrollment of 182 students was the smallest in the state. Starting with the 1979-80 school year, Jamesburg began sending students to Monroe Township High School.Waldron, Martin. [https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/13/archives/new-jersey-weekly-new-jersey-journal.html "New Jersey Journal"], The New York Times, May 13, 1979. Accessed February 21, 2025. "The state's smallest high school, at Jamesburg in Middlesex County, is being closed. The 40-year-old school has 182 students this year. The State Board of Education voted to send the school's students to nearby Monroe after July 1."[https://books.google.com/books?id=069OAQAAIAAJ&q=attended+%22jamesburg+high+school%22 Reports of cases argued and determined in the Superior Court, Appellate Division, Chancery Division, Law Division, and in the County Courts of the State of New Jersey, Volume 169], p. 332. New Jersey Superior Court. Accessed February 21, 2025. "In a prior related appeal, Docket No. A-3257-78, we upheld a determination of the state board ordering the closing of Jamesburg High School, effective June 30, 1979, and designating pupils of Jamesburg in the 9th through the 12th grades as tuition pupils at Monroe Township High School, effective July 1, 1979."

The Marasco Center for the Performing Arts, named for a former superintendent, was constructed at a cost of $2.5 million and added to the high school in the mid-1990s, which added an auditorium of 1,000 seats. More classrooms were added in the early 2000s.Luby, Tami. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-marasco/166325489/ "Monroe gets bids for $2.5M school auditorium wing", Home News Tribune, March 27, 1994. Accessed February 21, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Bids for the newly named Richard P. Marasco Center for the Performing Arts were received Friday and officials expect to award the bid for the high school addition soon. More than 30 contractors were expected to vie for the $2.5 million project, said project manager Jerry Tague. Tague said he expects construction to begin on the high school addition by mid-April and be finished by September 1996. The center will have a 1,000-seat auditorium and several office spaces.... Jay Ellis Brown, president of the board, announced the decision to name the center after Marasco, the outgoing superintendent who presided over the district for 18 years, at Wednesday's board meeting."

In 1996, the New Jersey Department of Education revised the elementary school core curriculum to require foreign language classes. In mid-October 1999 the district sent a questionnaire to 13,000 houses regarding what language should be taught to elementary students. The district received 458 back. 271 of those questionnaires chose Spanish, 96 of the returned questionnaires indicated a preference for Mandarin Chinese and the remaining 91 requested other languages that included Latin, Russian, and English itself. Stephen E. Derkoski, the assistant superintendent, stated that "We can't ignore" that residents had a preference of Spanish over Chinese on a 3 to 1 basis.Moroz, Jennifer. [https://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_multi=PI|&p_product=PHNP&p_theme=phnp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_trackval=PHNP&s_dispstring=Monroe%20Picks%20Spanish%20For%20Its%20Grade%20Schools%20A%20Panel%20Urged%20Chinese%20To%20Fulfill%20The%20Foreign-language%20Requirement.%20But%20Parents%27%20Wishes%20Swayed%20The%20Board.%20AND%20date(all)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(Monroe%20Picks%20Spanish%20For%20Its%20Grade%20Schools%20A%20Panel%20Urged%20Chinese%20To%20Fulfill%20The%20Foreign-language%20Requirement.%20But%20Parents%27%20Wishes%20Swayed%20The%20Board.)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=_rank_:D&xcal_ranksort=4&xcal_useweights=yes#nBasdiv625 "Monroe Picks Spanish For Its Grade Schools A Panel Urged Chinese To Fulfill The Foreign-language Requirement. But Parents' Wishes Swayed The Board."], The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 17, 1999. Accessed May 16, 2014. In November 1999, the school board voted 7–1 to designate Spanish as the foreign language used in elementary schools.

Growth in the population of Monroe Township led to a proposal for relocation of the high school onto what was then part of the soccer fields of Thompson Park, a county-operated park located across the road from the previous high school building. Opponents of the site of the proposed high school claim that historical records show that the proposed location was the 18th century site of Bethel Indian Town. An archaeological study found mostly European artifacts in portions of the {{convert|35|acre|m2}} of the proposed site, with only about eight or so Native American artifacts among them. The new Monroe Township High School building was completed in time for the 2011-12 school year, despite discovery of an old farmstead on the site.Racz, Gene. [http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806130343 "Farm remnants at Monroe site won't halt H.S. construction"], Courier News, June 13, 2008. Accessed October 28, 2008. With the completion of the $125 million project to create a new {{Convert|365000|sqft|adj=on}} building for the new high school, the previous high school building (across the street from the current one) was turned into the township's middle school, and what was called "Applegarth Middle School" was converted into an elementary school building.Sparta, Christine. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-progres/166320468/ "Monroe school on time, on budget"], Home News Tribune, August 31, 2009. Accessed February 21, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "The new Monroe Township High School expected to open in 2011 is now more than half built, according to a school official. "Everything is on schedule in terms of budget and time," said Board Secretary and School Business Administrator Wayne Holliday on Friday. He said the three-story school, with a price tag of just under $125 million, will encompass about 365,000 square feet....Tentative plans are for the old high school building to become a middle school for grades 6 to 8, alleviating overcrowding at Applegarth Middle School and the elementary schools."Petersen, Tara. [https://archive.centraljersey.com/2003/11/13/officials-detail-costs-of-high-school-project/ "Officials detail costs of high school project"], Sentinel, November 13, 2003. Accessed February 21, 2025. "Three other components are part of the plan, but would not be funded as part of it. The current high school would be converted to a middle school, Applegarth would become the district's fifth elementary school, and the Brookside and Woodland schools would also need some alterations as part of a grade reconfiguration. The middle school would take the sixth grade along with the seventh and eighth grades, thus opening up more space in the elementary schools."

The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "FG", the fourth highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts], New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 1, 2024.

During the 1991–92 academic school year, Mill Lake Elementary School received the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve. This honor was followed during the 1998–99 academic school year at Barclay Brook Elementary School. Both of the district's Pre-K through third grade schools have received the honor.[https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/programs/nclbbrs/list-1982.pdf Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF)], United States Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2025.

Schools in the district (with 2023–24 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3410500 School Data for the Monroe Township School District], National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.) are:[https://www.monroe.k12.nj.us/contact-us/district-contact-information District Contact Information], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025.[http://www.nj.gov/education/pr/1213/narrative/23/3290/23-3290-000.html Monroe Township School District 2013 Report Card Narrative], New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 7, 2014. "The district is rapidly growing and now serves over 6000 students in eight schools: Barclay Brook (pre-k-2), Mill Lake (pre-k-2), Oak Tree (pre-k-3), Brookside (3-5), Woodland (3-5), Applegarth (4-5), Monroe Township Middle School (6-8), and Monroe Township High School (9-12)."[https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/selectreport/2022-2023/23/3290 School Performance Reports for the Monroe Township School District], New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.[https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/school/districtid/3290 New Jersey School Directory for the Monroe Township School District], New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.

;Elementary schools

• Applegarth Elementary School[https://aes.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Applegarth Elementary School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 442 students in grades 4–5
• Dawn Graziano, principal
• Barclay Brook Elementary School[https://bbs.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Barclay Brook Elementary School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 366 students in grades PreK–2
• Erinn Mahoney, principal
• Brookside Elementary School[https://bes.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Brookside Elementary School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 406 students in grades 3–5
• Scott Sidler, principal
• Mill Lake Elementary School[https://mls.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Mill Lake Elementary School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 479 students in grades PreK–2
• Pamela Ackerman-Garcia, principal
• Oak Tree Elementary School[https://ots.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Oak Tree Elementary School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 588 students in grades PreK–3
• Patricia Dinsmore, principal
• Woodland Elementary School[https://wes.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Woodland Elementary School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 252 students in grades 3–5
• Orsolina Cetta, principal

;Middle school

• Monroe Township Middle School[https://mtms.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Monroe Township Middle School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 1,704 students in grades 6–8
• James Higgins, principal

;High school

• Monroe Township High School[https://mths.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Monroe Township High School], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025. with 2,620 students in grades 9–12
• Kevin Higgins, principal

Core members of the district's administration are:[https://www.monroe.k12.nj.us/our-district/mtsd-administration District Administration], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025.[https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/district/county/middlesex New Jersey School Directory for Middlesex County], New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.

• Chari Robynne Chanley, superintendent[https://www.monroe.k12.nj.us/our-district/superintendents-office Superintendent's Office], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025.
• Laura Allen, business administrator and board secretary[https://www.monroe.k12.nj.us/our-district/business-office/overview Business Office], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025.

The district's board of education, comprised of nine elected members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election; a tenth member is appointed by the Jamesburg district to represent its interests on the Monroe Township school board. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.[https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/DistrictByTypeList2018.pdf New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election], New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.[https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/acfr/search/24/3290.pdf#page=53 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Monroe Township School District], New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2024. Accessed February 21, 2025. "The Monroe Township School District (the 'District') is a Type II district located in the County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the District functions independently through a Board of Education (the 'Board'). The Board is comprised of ten (10) members, nine (9) from the Township of Monroe are elected to three (3) year staggered terms and one (1) is appointed to an annual term from the Borough of Jamesburg (sending district). The purpose of the District is to educate students in grades K-12." See "Roster of Officials" on page 14.[https://www.monroe.k12.nj.us/board-of-education-2/board-members Board of Education Members], Monroe Township School District. Accessed February 21, 2025.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.monroe.k12.nj.us/ Monroe Township School District]
• {{NJReportCard|23|3290|0|Monroe Township School District}}
• [https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3410500 Data for the Monroe Township School District], National Center for Education Statistics

{{Middlesex County, New Jersey School Districts}}

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Category:Jamesburg, New Jersey

Category:Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey

Category:New Jersey District Factor Group FG

Category:School districts in Middlesex County, New Jersey