On Thursday, March 27, city officials, board members, students, and friends of Friends of Quality Education, Inc. (FQE) gathered to witness the groundbreaking of the revolutionary Canal Crossing Charter School Campus is a project over a decade in the making.
Among those in attendance to celebrate the new school initiative were Council President Joyce Watterman, Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley, Ward E Councilman James Solomon, Senator Angela McKnight, County Commissioner Bill O’Dea, and Former Governor Jim McGreevey.
Prior to the groundbreaking, with an introduction by Bret Schundler, Consulting Founder of BelovED and Empowerment Academy Charter Schools, several members of the BelovED Board of Trustees and leaders on the project – including Pat Kelleher, President of Hudson County Building; Construction Trades Council; Jersey City’s Business Administrator Jon Metro on behalf of Mayor Fulop; and Jenny Davis, Chief of Staff on behalf of Craig Guy – spoke to the impact and personal importance that opening a new school has on them.
Chairperson Nicole Jackson, whose daughters currently attend the schools, one being a high school senior recently accepted to 21 colleges, attributed part of their academic success to the lasting effect BelovED teachers had on them, while Chairperson Monica Zaslower stated, “Education has always been the equalizer. This campus is a declaration that opportunity still lives here in Jersey City.”
Not Just a School – A Campus
FQE is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that develops facilities for charter public schools in Jersey City and then leases them at cost.
Their Canal Crossing Charter School Campus Project consists of two elements: the development of a charter public school campus for 2,040 new and relocated students from the existing K-12 BelovED Community Charter School and Empowerment Academy Charter School, and an adjacent segment of the Morris Canal Greenway, which when extended by others, will run across New Jersey from the Hudson River to the Delaware River.
The site of the Project is located on several formerly city-owned parcels of vacant land in Jersey City’s Canal Crossing Redevelopment Area. The parcels have been consolidated into two lots: 79 Caven Point Avenue will house the school campus with BelovED Community Charter School as the principal tenant on 6 acres while the 0.8-acre Morris Canal Greenway segment will be built on the second lot.
The campus will include:
- One elementary school for 720 BelovED students
- One middle school for 360 BelovED students
- Two high schools, one for 480 BelovED students and the second for 480 Empowerment
Academy students - Commons Building that will house spaces shared by the schools (e.g., gymnasiums,
cafeterias, a theater, and music practice rooms) - Parking garage/deck beneath and adjacent to the Commons Building, which will eliminate
off-property parking by school staff and visitors - Field and children’s playground on the roof of the Commons Building
- 28,900 sf of landscaped plazas
- Driveways provide for circulation throughout the site
The planned Greenway consists of a landscaped walkway and bikeway adjacent to the campus main driveway. This segment will connect city streets north of the campus to the larger Greenway, which is expected to run for 1.1 miles and includes public woodlands and green space for residents to enjoy. The project is anticipated to select the Facilities Construction Manager by mid-June, and it will take two years to complete.
Zero Cost to Taxpayers
BelovedED and Empowerment are free public schools that currently serve students from all over Jersey City with free bus transportation to every neighborhood. The percentage of BelovED students who are economically disadvantaged is twice as high as the statewide percentage, and achieve greater than average learning gains than their peers statewide, according to the most recently published New Jersey Department of Education data.
In the school year 2017-2018, Empowerment Academy received less funding per student than 95% of other public school districts in New Jersey and continued to outperform their demographic peers. With this project, their education programs will be bolstered by cutting-edge, modern facilities that provide the highest level of support for the schools’ education programs.
Traditionally, the construction of public school facilities is undertaken by public entities and paid for by taxpayers. In contrast, no taxpayer money will be used to construct the facilities at the Canal Crossing campus and Greenway segment. Instead, FQE will pay for the facility construction using bond proceeds raised from the private sector via a “conduit” tax-exempt bond financing arranged through the Hudson County Improvement Authority.
FQE will be the only party responsible for paying back the borrowed funds, but the tax deductibility of the interest on the bonds that are issued this way will result in significant debt service savings.
A Positive Impact
The campus will not only benefit students, but the surrounding community as a whole. Along with the public Greenway for outdoor activities, the school facilities will also be used by the community outside of off hours for everything from adult rec sports leagues to night classes, to community-group events, and more.
“When we built the facilities over at BelovED, that really dramatically accelerated the redevelopment in Lafayette, and I think we’ll be able to do that here as well,” said Schundler.
“In Jersey City, we have the whole world here, so it’s a privilege to be working with this student body. Education in America is the door to opportunity.”
Schundler emphasized that although he is proud of the work BelovED and Jersey City schools as a whole are doing to provide a great education to our city’s children, the facility support needed for higher levels with broader education needs – technology, equipment, space for new electives and sports – is not there yet. As development and population grow, schools need to keep up with the influx of new families looking for the best education for their children, and currently, facilities are not able to fully support the type of educational opportunities a brand-new campus can offer.
“I’ve always believed that our Jersey City children deserve school facilities that are as modern and supportive of high-quality educational programming as those in New Jersey’s affluent suburbs,” said Schundler. “Ultimately, we’re hoping that not only does that do wonderful things for our children, but also provides an example that you can do this kind of thing for other children. When you have facilities like this, it’ll revolutionize what’s possible.”
With open space dwindling in Jersey City, the Canal Crossing project has the unique opportunity to show what’s possible when a significant investment of space is made in empowering the advancement of education and well-being of our city’s children, finally allowing them the right amount of room they need to grow. For more information, please email Bret Schundler at bds@schundler.org.
