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The Ringwood School system
currently consists of 4 school buildings.
Each school is relatively small in size. The largest is the Martin J.
Ryerson Middle School (built 1972) which houses more than 500 students in the 6th, 7th, and
8th grades. The two elementary schools and the intermediate school house around 300 students
each. Peter Cooper School (built 1964) and Robert Erskine School
(built 1962) are community schools with Kindergarten through 3rd grade
students. Peter Cooper houses some pre-K students also. The Eleanor G. Hewitt
Intermediate School houses
300+ 4th and 5th graders. E. G. Hewitt School was constructed
in 1937 and was expanded twice. Temporary, portable
classrooms were added in 1959 and are still in place despite a
fire in the late 1980's that did considerable damage to the structures.
The structures were completely repaired from the fire damage.
The NJ Department of
Environmental Protection has prohibited the Ringwood District from building
a new school on the Hewitt property because of Storm Water Regulations.
The committee's focus now is on renovations to the Hewitt School that
will adhere to the current footprint of the building and serve education through the coming years.
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The Ringwood Board of Education has no alternative than to listen to the
voter response to the September, 2007 referendum when the voters told us
they did not want to close the Hewitt School by voting the schools
improvement referendum
down. The direction for the board now is to perform the necessary
refurbishments required to the Hewitt School. The district was
fortunate over the last 3 years since the 2007 referendum, but our luck
has run out and the refurbishments are now urgent. The school will
have to limp through the next 2 years with an inadequate library/media
center as well as down-graded technology capabilities. Space for
band, music, special education, and small group instruction is also at a
premium. |
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