Bishop dedicates Pope John's $4.6 million addition to expand student capacity, academic endeavors

By MICHAEL WOJCIK
News Editor

SPARTA - Today students of the ever-expanding Pope John XXIII Regional High School here can breathe easier, as they walk through hallways that are less crowded and participate in many classes that are smaller in size - thanks to a new $4.6 million, two-story 22,000-square-foot addition Bishop Serratelli dedicated last week that also connects two parts of the Sussex County school's history.

The new addition adds significantly to Pope John's facilities, including seven new classrooms; two new science labs, one for chemistry and one for physics; an administrative suite of six offices; two new bathrooms; new lockers; and a classroom for eighth-graders for its program for public school students. The school built the addition to meet the pressing needs of the school's growing population, now up to 902 students, and expanding curriculum, said Msgr. Kieran McHugh, Pope John's president.

In October, students and staff started to occupy the new structure, which houses the classes of several of Pope John's academic departments, such as math, foreign languages, science, English, theology and social studies. It's also home to the distinguished school's ever-expanding array of advanced-placement courses, among them physics, chemistry and several foreign languages, such as French, Msgr. McHugh said.

"Now traffic flow in the halls is less congested. We are not squished together like before. The class sizes are also smaller," said David Reeth, a Pope John senior, who takes physics and Latin classes in the new addition, which Bishop Serratelli blessed and dedicated Jan. 24 during a ceremony, which featured an address by the bishop and Msgr. McHugh and songs of praise by the school's choir. "The quality of the work is exquisite," Reeth said.

Also, the new addition connects two other buildings that have been significant parts of Pope John's dynamic history of expansion - the more than 47,000 square-foot, two-story Science, Arts and Athletic Center, dedicated in 2001 and funded in part by a $500,000 grant from the diocesan "Prepare the Way" campaign, and another addition, dedicated in 1987, that at the time, housed 15 classrooms, a computer center and a music room. Because of this new linkage between buildings, students and staff no longer have to step outside to walk between classes, Msgr. McHugh said.

"Everybody loves the new addition," said Msgr. McHugh, who added that during this major capital project, two existing bathrooms were renovated, two halls were retiled and contractors matched the exterior tan brick of the new building with the tan brick of the original school building. "It's accessible for parents, students and faculty. Teachers now have their own rooms. Because the classes of each department are grouped together, it's easier for teachers to collaborate."

Aerial photos of Pope John show that the addition has closed up the school's footprint from a "U" shape to a hollow rectangle with an outdoor courtyard in the center, which soon will welcome a memorial garden to be dedicated to alumni and former parents. Now all previous additions are connected to Pope John's original main building, opened in the late 1950s.

The most recent addition project also refurbished the existing Bella Biando Research Center - a facility that offers students access to the latest research technology - which received 36 iMac computers. All the rooms of the new addition have become part of Pope John's "wireless campus." Each classroom in the school has been outfitted with Internet access, SmartBoards and projectors, said Gloria Shope, principal.

Planning for the new addition started four years ago with the formation of a planning committee - amid concerns about the continued expansion of Pope John's population - which topped 900 four years ago - and curriculum, which has added many new courses, notably in science and foreign languages, which include Arabic. Groundbreaking for the new facility took place March 2008, Msgr. McHugh said.

The new addition also asserts Pope John's confidence in a bright future, which now has a capacity for 1,000 students, Shope said.

Over the years, these facilities expansions - which also have included a new lacrosse field and tennis court and a refurbished field hockey field - go a long way to supporting those academic and spiritual programs that have helped develop students, whose "bright minds are disciplined and hearts are charitable," Msgr. McHugh said.

"We at Pope John thank so many people for their support of the new addition, among them Bishop Serratelli, the diocesan School Office, diocesan administration, parents and our benefactors," Msgr. McHugh said.