Blanquita B. Valenti Community School Groundbreaking
Health, education and government leaders from the City of New Brunswick took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking on May 12 for a $55 million elementary school at 50 Jersey Avenue on land donated for the project by RWJBarnabas Health Board of Trustee Founding Chair, Jack Morris. Construction of the 125,000 square foot school is part of a sweeping $750 million project funded by RWJBarnabas Health, that includes development of the state’s first free-standing cancer hospital. When completed in 2024, the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey cancer pavilion will stand 12 stories at 510,000 square feet and will house inpatient, outpatient and ancillary services in addition to laboratory space. The school will also be completed in 2024 and will be named The Blanquita B. Valente Community School, named after Valenti who passed away in January, and was a member of the New Brunswick Board of Education, City Council and the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders. View video.