Terrific News About the Mendham Township Elementary School Outdoor Learning Center

London and Maddie brought home the following letter in their backpack mail on February 10th, 2009:

Dear Mendham Township Elementary School Parents and Guardians,

I wanted to give you a brief update on the status of the Outdoor Learning Center.  Through the generosity of Mendham Township families within and outside of the school system, the Mendham Township Education Foundation (”MTEF”) has been able to raise about $90,000 in donations, pledges, and in-kind services.  This includes the $30,000 donation made by the Spinnaker Foundation on behalf of the Jennifer L. and Derek T. Malmberg Family.  This project would not be possible without their generous participation and valuable input.

Although our goal is to raise the remaining $20,000 in the upcoming months, I am happy to say that, even with the funds currently available, we would be able to build a substantial part of the Learning Center this summer.  The MTEF is in the process of obtaining the mandatory approvals for construction through the services of an architectural firm.  Summit Design Associates is in the process of conducting an egress study, which will identify safe levels of occupancy and identify evacuation routes in case of emergency.  Preliminary discussions with the architect, township engineer, and others have not revealed any obvious issues, so we are optimistic that we will receive approval to proceed.

After that, the MTEF will make a presentation to the school administration and Board of Education representatives regarding final scope, schedule, and construction procedures, soliciting their agreement to begin construction this summer.  The scope has not changed from the banner in the lobby, but, depending on the final funds available, we may have to reduce the project scope.  The MTEF will continue to pursue funding through June and hope to find patrons who can help us reach our funding goal, maximizing the educational benefits of the Learning Center for all grade levels.

Thank you all for your support over the course of this project.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any comments or questions or if you would like to contribute.  I can be reached at jutka at earthlink dot net or (973) 543-0441.

Thank you all so much!

Judith Kern

President

Mendham Township Education Foundation

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