The Coaster

By PAUL BOOTH
The Tinton Falls Borough Council got its first glimpse Tuesday night of what a newly constructed $6.8 million library could look like on the site of the former borough hall.
The proposed library, at 25,800 square feet, is eight times larger than the borough’s current 3,000 square foot structure and would cost $6.8 million in brick and mortar construction, explained project architect Dennis Kowal. If the project were approved and bonded, it could be completed by 2011.
Kowal, of Dennis Kowal Architects in Somerville, told the council that the average library for a community of Tinton Falls’ size would fall in the range of 24,000 to 27,000 square feet and repeatedly described the borough’s current library as woefully inadequate.

By DON STINE
A uniform policy creating a strict dress code for students in pre-school through the fifth grade was adopted by the Neptune Board of Education last week and will go into effect in January.
“I am just pleased that the process has finally come to completion,” said board Vice President Jason Jones, who is the [...]

By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
The Asbury Park School District’s School Business Administrator, who has only been at her post for three weeks, is quickly adapting to her new professional home.
“I love it here,” said Corey Lowell last week.
Lowell comes to the district from the Freehold Regional High School District where she served for six and [...]

By DON STINE
A controversial school uniform policy in Neptune will not be in effect at the beginning of this school year although a survey of parents regarding the issue will be conducted soon.
The ad hoc school uniform committee and the school board discussed the matter and decided that the best course of action right now is to survey parents about what they want, said Board of Education President Beverly J. Holland.
The surveys will be conducted during the Back To School nights in the elementary schools, which will be the first to implement to program if adopted.
The survey will have several questions and seek input from parents on the issue.

By DON STINE
The new multi-million Midtown Community Elementary School in Neptune is scheduled to open in time for the opening of school and parents are invited to attend an open house at the school on Sat., Aug. 30.
Dubbed the Sneak Peak, the tour of the school, at Route 33 and Memorial Drive, will be held from 10 a.m. until noon.
This is truly a community school, said Board of Education President Beverly J. Holland.
Holland said the school will have a wellness center and dental clinic, a police substation, and a district-wide parent center where parents can make use of a resource center with computers and special classes, such as understanding their childs math or on parenting skills.

By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
Thomas Campbell, who is beginning his first year as the top administrator at the Woodrow Wilson School in Neptune City is hoping that all new construction on the school will be completed before school starts.
We are just finishing up construction, were hoping to have everything finished and move the kids into the new rooms at the start of school, he said this week.
The school had been undergoing an expansion as well as renovations of the existing building for several years.
Campbell, who has been in the district for nine years, said its been a busy summer.

By TOM SHORTELL
Tom Pagano, the Superintendent of the Ocean Township School District, calls them Digital Native Americans, and theyre changing the way teachers do their jobs.
Theyre the latest generation of Americans who are now in the elementary schools of America. These children have always had computers in the home, never knew cell phones as a novelty and might have a hard time identifying a cassette tape.
To better teach these young students, all educators in Ocean Township elementary schools are getting Hewlett-Packard laptops so they can make their lessons multimedia experiences.

By TOM SHORTELL
The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey delivered 3,500 books to area health centers and committed $100,000 to a national reading program recently.
Former New Jersey Representative Bob Franks, now president of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey, said at a press conference in Asbury Park the money would go toward creating a full-time staff for the Reach Out and Read program in New Jersey as well as expand the program to new sites and purchase new books. The HINJ is the trade association of pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey.