BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

Top to bottom: Dee Kourkounakis, Long Branch, takes a moment to look at the bulletin board decorated with children's art projects at the new Gregory Elementary School, Long Branch, during a tour of the new building. A group walks by the window looking into the school's library. A view of the front of the new school. LONG BRANCH - The Long Branch Public School District marked another milestone last week with the opening of its new state-of-the-art Gregory Elementary School.

The prekindergarten-through-fifth-grade school on Monmouth Avenue is the third new school building to be opened in the past two years in Long Branch.

"I am really very excited the Gregory School project is complete," said Long Branch Superintendent of Schools Joseph M. Ferraina in a press release last week.

"With the progress here in Long Branch, we have seen not only improvement in student behavior, but improvement in student achievement as well," Ferraina said.

The new Gregory School houses 550 students and 36 classrooms in a three-story, 94,000-square-foot facility. The building also accommodates a library/media center, a cafetorium, a community health center, a computer lab and a science and music room.

The 7-acre parcel on Monmouth Avenue that the new Gregory School occupies was secured by the city in conjunction with its lower Broadway redevelopment plan, according to the release.

The new school building replaces the north Seventh Avenue location of the old Gregory School, which was constructed in 1924. The original building is now being turned over to the city, according to Ferraina.

The project broke ground in January 2005 and officially opened its doors to the public at a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.

School officials were joined by officials of the state Schools Construction Corp. (SCC) July 12 at the ribbon cutting to mark the opening of the new facility. The ceremony was followed by tours of the school.

The $24.3 million school was funded by the SCC as part of its goal to streamline a building of much-needed quality educational facilities using funds from the state's school construction program.

Long Branch is designated as a district with special needs, and is one of the state's 31 Abbott Districts that receive additional state funding to provide a "through and efficient" education.

The Long Branch school system comprises some 5,000 students and 11 schools.

The opening of the new Gregory School was preceded by the openings of the new Amerigo A. Anastasia and Long Branch middle schools, and a fourth new facility, the Long Branch High School, is scheduled to open this September.

The new A.A. Anastasia building on Seventh Avenue opened in 2005 and replaces the original building on Morris Avenue. The new middle school also opened in 2005 at a new location on Indiana Avenue. The new high school is undergoing its final phases of construction and will open this school year at its new location on Indiana Avenue.

According to Ferraina, the school district is still discussing how it will use the former site of the Anastasia School, whether as fields, a pool or another new school.

The former high school building on Westwood Avenue is slated to remain intact and be converted as an alternate annex school building, Ferraina said.

He added that the old middle school building on Indiana Avenue was demolished and new sports fields will be constructed in its place.

The total cost for the four new buildings is estimated at $160 million, according to Ferraina, who added that the estimated costs could be as high as $200 million.