Thomas Paine Elementary School on Tuesday, June 6, hosted the Cherry Hill Public School District’s “Ceremonial Groundbreaking” to kick off the projects planned in the $363 million bond referendum, the largest school district bond referendum ever passed in the state of New Jersey.
The groundbreaking took place on the Paine playground, which will be upgraded as part of the district-wide improvement projects. Projects will officially begin after the close of the school year on June 21.
“We wanted to have an official celebration of the start of this five-year construction process,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Meloche. “This event will allow those who were involved in the development of the bond to mark the next step.”
Honored guests will include current and former board of education members, as well as administrators, who were involved in the formation of the bond; key communicators who spread the word about the referendum; professional partners who are managing and completing the projects; and district bargaining unit leadership.
The event also served as an opportunity to thank the voters of Cherry Hill for their support of the projects, which will positively impact multiple generations of Cherry Hill Public Schools students.
Best of all, said Meloche, is the fact that children will be actively participating in the groundbreaking.
“The entire student body from Thomas Paine will be in attendance. Many of them will participate in some way,” he said. “We plan to highlight the kindergartners – the Class of 2035 – as they are the current students who will benefit from the huge scope of improvements for the largest portion of their Cherry Hill Schools careers.”
