County’s Hi-Tech High School spreading out
Brookdale-based facility
planning research,
design addition
By Alison Granito
Staff Writer

MARIE ORTIZ Monmouth County’s High Technology High School, located on the campus of Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, is planning a 10,000-square-foot addition to house more research space for students and faculty.

MIDDLETOWN — The High Technology High School of Monmouth County, located on the campus of Brookdale Community College, is already experiencing growing pains.

The Monmouth County Vocational School District, which operates the school, is planning an addition to house state-of-the-art research and development space for students and faculty.

Officials estimate that the 10,000-square-foot addition to the existing building will cost approximately $2 million.

High Technology High School, which opened in the 1990s as the vocational district’s second high school, offers county students a rigorous educational program based in math and science.

The Vocational Board of Education, which is appointed by the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, also runs the four-year Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) located at Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook.

Drawn from school districts county-wide, the student body is accepted on a competitive basis from among those seeking an education focused on technology.

"It is designed to provide young people in high school with the skills necessary to study engineering and various technical fields," said Vocational School Superintendent Brian McAndrew, of Middletown, on Friday.

According to McAndrew, the county Vocational Board of Education is in the process of advertising for construction bids for the High Tech High School addition.

A decision on a contractor is expected in late March.

The project has a tentative start date of April or May. McAndrew also said that, according to architects’ predictions, the construction should take nine to 12 months to complete.

"We’re hoping to be in the space by September 2002," McAndrew said.

"The purpose of the addition is not to house more students but to provide new facilities that can be used for a variety of research and development purposes," McAndrew said.

"The bulk of the space is designed as flex space that could be used for various things students and faculty may work on," he added.

The addition will also house a design lab where students will have access to the latest engineering and design technology and software.

Five workrooms will be included in the research and development space where students and faculty can work on individual research projects.

"More space will allow everyone to work collaboratively on more long-range projects and independent research," said McAndrew.

The extra space will also ensure the safety of the projects created by some of Monmouth County’s best and brightest young scientific minds.

"The projects will have their own space where they are less likely to get knocked around, moved or broken," McAndrew said.

McAndrew also said that the display space will be put to good use for special projects the school participates in throughout the year.

One of those projects, for example, involves creating a robot for a national robotics competition held every year.

"Our students and faculty will have more space in which to build and display their robots," McAndrew said.

"More workspace also creates the possibility for more students to become involved in long-range research in their junior and senior years," he added.

Current space is insufficient to support much long-term research by the student body, according to McAndrew.

Besides its two high schools, the vocational district, whose central offices are located at 41 Route 34 south in Colts Neck, has another 12 facilities located throughout the county. For information on any of them, call (732) 431-6292.