Renaissance Middle School (Montclair, New Jersey)

Infobox_School
name = Renaissance Middle School


imagesize = frameless
motto = Where Learning is a Constant and Standards are Exceeded [http://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/WebPage.aspx?Id=297 school webpage]
established = 1997
grades = 6 - 8
district = Montclair Public Schools
type = Public Middle School
principal = Dr. Charles A. Cobb
asst principal =
enrollment = 239 [School Statistics site http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/nj/1215]
faculty = 31
ratio = 7.7:1
nickname =
conference =
colors = Blue and White
publication =
location = 17 Munn Street
Montclair, NJ 07042
coord|40.485821|N|74.130094|W|
information = 973-509-5741
website = [http://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/WebPage.aspx?Id=297 School website]

Renaissance Middle School is a middle school in Montclair, New Jersey, in Essex County. It is run by the Montclair Public Schools. It is the newest and smallest of the three middle schools in Montclair, the others being Glenfield and Mt. Hebron Middle Schools.

Grounds

Most classes take place in a building called Tegakwita Hall, owned by the Archdiocese of Newark, who own the adjacent Holy Conception Catholic Church, Holy Conception Chatetechnical Center, and the Immaculate Conception High School, is leased to the school district. The building is named after a local Lenni-Lenape girl who was killed for practicing Catholicism, and was build in 1899. The main office, most classrooms, and the school nurse are located here. Not all of this building is used by Renaissance Middle school; the basement and one room on the first floor is used by the Immaculate Conception High School. Recess is held in the parking lot of this building, the same place where school buses board and the faculty's cars are parked.

Lunch was formerly held in the Immaculate Conception Church's basement, sometimes called "Madonna Hall", which served as a cafeteria. Asbestos contamination ended the use of this space.

There are many religious symbols around the school's facilities, like the large crucifix atop Tegakwita Hall's Copula, a statue of the virgin Mary guarding the door to the religiously named Madonna Hall, and mosaics of various Christian icons on the building's exterior.

Some classes take place in local businesses and organizations. Swimming classes (for sixth and seventh grades only) take place at the local YMCA, as do gym classes for the same grades. The gym classes are led by Renaissance Teachers, and swimming classes by YMCA staff. Drama and dance classes take place at the Sharon Miller Academy of Performing Arts (also known as SMAPA or Sharon Miller's), and are taught by SMAPA's employees [SMAPA website http://www.smapa.org/] . The YMCA is one block away from the school's main building; SMAPA is two blocks away. Soccer classes for all grades and gym classes for the eighth grade are taught at Ashley's Soccer Domain (aka the 'Soccer Dome'), an artificial soccer field covered in a bubble, which is half of a mile's walk away. Gym classes there are taught by Renaissance teachers, but Soccer classes are taught by Ashley's Soccer Dome staff.

Organization

Groups of teachers form teams, by both the grade they teach and the subject they teach. There is a 6th grade team, 7th grade tam, and an 8th grade team, and there is a Foreign Language Team, Math Team, Social Studies Team, Language Arts Team, and Science team. Each team is led by one of its members. These teams choose a curriculum in their meetings. All of these teams report to the Principal.

Teaching method

The school opens at 8:15 AM and starts classes at 8:25 AM. From Monday to Thursday, the school lets out at 4:05 PM. On Fridays, classes end at 2:30 PM. The late closing time was instituted so that the school district could use the same school buses which they hired for the other schools for Renaissance, reducing costs. It was also instituted to increase instruction time by an hour and a half, adding about 200 hours per year of classes.

Renaissance is more exclusive than other Montclair Middle schools, and has gained a reputation as the "smart students' school", Although one of the school's policies is to not relate students' test scores and grades to the classes they take, and teaching less and at a slower pace that the other schools in town.

Renaissance student do not take normal classes on Fridays, they take classes such as board games, public speaking, bridge design, oral history, architecture, and watch movies related to the other class's curricula. Students are also sent to work in local preschools and elementary schools.

At Renaissance the students all take Algebra in the 8th grade, as opposed to 7th grade at the other Montclair middle schools, and do not learn geometry, for the sake of maintaining an all-inclusive school. The classes are all the same for every student in each grade for the same reason, and also because it is easier for such a small school to operate that way.

Asbestos contamination

The Tegakwita Hall building in May 2008 was contaminated with Asbestos, and was closed for three days.

In March 2008, construction in the Madonna Hall cafeteria started, without the ending of the student's lunch in the room. Asbestos panels in the ceiling were broken through, and asbestos particles spread across the room. About a month and a half later, the danger was realized by the school staff, and lunches were moved into Tegakwita Hall. Neither students nor their parents were informed on the risk then.

In May 2008, the Catholic Diocese, owner of the school building, sent workers to install fireproof doors to the school, to replace older fireproof doors. Communication between the Diocese and the school was poor, and asbestos particles in the walls' plaster were exposed and distributed. A whole week after the construction, the asbestos contamination was noticed and days later the school was suddenly evacuated, two months after the first exposure of the students and staff to the asbestos. The danger was covered up as 'poor circulation' by the school administration. Students were transported to other nearby schools for the rest of the day, and later that day a memo to their parents to the students was given about the asbestos. The Board of Education of Montclair did not for a plan about the asbestos for weeks, and by the time they were finished with the issue, schools had closed, much angering the students and parents.Fact|date=October 2008

Clean-up was done, and with the asbestos having been removed school resumed after five days with the school closed.Cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/asbestos_scare_keeps_montclair.html|title=Asbestos scare keeps Montclair school closed for another day|author=Philip Read|pub=The Star-Ledger|date=May 19, 2008] Cite web|url=http://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/Article.aspx?Id=302|title=Renaissance to Remain Closed on Tuesday|author=Business Office|pub=Montclair Public Schools|date=May 19, 2008] Cite web|url=http://www.montclairtimes.com/page.php?page=17113|title=Renaissance students evacuated|author=Tanya Drobness|pub=The Montclair Times|date=May 16, 2008] Cite web|url=http://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/Article.aspx?Id=300|title=Renaissance Students Evacuated after Discovery of Asbestos|author=Superintendent's Office|pub=Montclair Public Schools|date=May 16, 2008]

References