SCHOOLS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY BREAKS GROUND FOR NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN GARFIELD

GARFIELD - The New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) joined Garfield School District, State, and local officials today at a groundbreaking for the new Woodrow Wilson School No. 5 in Garfield. With an active construction site underway, today's event ceremoniously marked the start of construction of a new school that will help to reduce overcrowding throughout the district.

"As we mark the start of construction for a state-of-the-art school, together we begin a new chapter in the education of Garfield students," said SDA CEO Manuel Da Silva. "The State's investment in school infrastructure projects and the work of the SDA have a lasting impact on students in Garfield and throughout New Jersey. Through our shared vision and ongoing collaboration with the school district, city, state, and contracting partners, the Garfield community can begin to envision the school building that will rise on this site in the coming months."

"What an incredible day for the students and families in the City of Garfield," said Dr. Richard Tomko, Garfield Superintendent. "The groundbreaking ceremony for the new school 5 really is a testament to the hard work and partnerships among the present and past Board members, school administration, and city and state officials who continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our students receive the facilities and programs that they truly deserve."

The new school will be an approximately 132,000 square-foot, four-story facility designed to educate a maximum of 850 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. In addition to general classrooms and kindergarten classrooms, the school will include a vocal music room, an instrumental lesson room, an art room with a kiln, a STEAM lab, a media center, a cafeteria, a multi-purpose room, and a gymnasium.

The school is advancing using a design-build approach. The design-build method differs from the traditional design-bid-build approach by allowing the SDA to contract with one firm for both design and construction of a school facilities project. Dobco, Inc. was awarded a design-build contract for the design and construction of the new school. As part of the contract, Dobco is working with NK Architects, P.A. on the design. Anser Advisory, part of Accenture, is managing the project.

An early site preparation contract, completed in 2024, allowed for abatement, demolition, and site preparation activities at the site of the former Woodrow Wilson School No. 5. This initial site work prepared the site for construction of the new school.

As a result of SDA's commitment to building energy-efficient buildings that consider the surrounding environment, this school will be built to receive LEED (United States Green Building Council - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.

The $87.6 million State investment in this new educational facility will significantly reduce district-wide overcrowding while supporting hundreds of construction and other jobs throughout the project.

Once complete, the school will be the fourth Capital Project completed by the SDA in Garfield since the inception of the school construction program. The SDA previously invested more than $97 million in completed projects in the Garfield School District.

About the New Jersey Schools Development Authority

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. Its current portfolio of active projects is valued at approximately $2 billion - including the Capital Project portfolio, emergent projects and Regular Operating District grants. Since the program's inception, the SDA has provided funding for and management oversight of more than 900 completed school facilities projects in SDA Districts and has executed more than 5,400 grants for Regular Operating Districts throughout the State of New Jersey. For more information about the SDA, please visit our website at:: www.njsda.gov or follow us on social media at: Facebook; Instagram; LinkedIn; or Twitter.