Superintendent's Corner: An Update for the East Ramapo Community
Interim Superintendent of Schools Anthony DiCarlo invites the East Ramapo community to view the first edition of “Superintendent’s Corner”, which is providing the community with a comprehensive update on facilities upgrades taking place in our buildings this summer.
Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, Mr. DiCarlo will be sharing many Superintendent's Corner clips in order to keep East Ramapo community informed of the progress and happenings across the District. Click HERE to watch the video.
The first edition of “Superintendent’s Corner” features Matt Tindall, Director of Facilities, who walks through several buildings with Superintendent DiCarlo pointing out the various renovation projects and explaining how these important upgrades impact student learning.
This summer, gymnasium floors are being replaced in five schools, including Spring Valley High School, Ramapo High School, Pomona Middle School, Kakiat S.T.E.A.M. Academy, and Hempstead. Ramapo High School is also getting new bleachers installed, an essential replacement which will allow spectators to attend games and tournaments again.
Mr. Tindall also shows the shiny new water filtration systems being installed in many of our East Ramapo buildings. This summer, 18 new water filtration systems will be installed. Since these require sophisticated plumbing adjustments and construction before installment, the rest of the water filtration systems will be installed throughout the school year. Until all the schools have new water filtration systems installed, the District continues to have Culligan drinking water systems placed all throughout the schools providing filtered, purified water to students.
By the time school opens on September 4th, new windows and doors will have been replaced in nine of our schools, and the remainder will be installed this fall. The window units open easily, and have blinds with a reflective property, which will decrease the amount of sunlight and heat entering the room. The new doors have closure devices which allow for the door to automatically close slowly without slamming. They also have ADA-compliant handles that allow for the teacher to lock the door from the inside. Cross corridor doors are being installed, which will automatically close when the fire alarm is activated, creating smoke zones which block smoke from filling up entire floors.
Also, brand new univents have been installed in two buildings, and they are some of the most energy efficient ones on the market. They are equipped with heating pipes that take the fresh air outside, heat it, filter it, and warm the classroom.
Also this summer, the District is bringing many aspects of our educational facilities up to code in regards to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance. By installing handicapped accessible bathrooms in 13 of our buildings and installing a new ramp at the front entrance of Ramapo High School, the District is making these buildings more accessible to our students with disabilities.
Click HERE to watch the video.