Newark Tech Expansion to begin

Tuesday, May 7th Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. and Governor Chris Christie announced the construction of an addition at Essex County Newark Tech. The new space will house a Technology Enhanced Active Learning Center (TEALC) that will feature an open, flexible and highly adaptable learning lab to teach technology and act as a new home-base for self-motivated students.

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. said. "The TEAL center is a model of what classrooms will look like in the future." The 3,300-square-foot addition will be a technology enriched classroom that will offer five learning zones where students will learn from on-line, small group and teacher facilitated instruction throughout the day. It is designed to provide work zones that can be changed to fit various teaching and learning needs with shifting seating, equipment and storage systems. The blended learning will enable students to study their core curriculum, receive career training and prepare for a future career at their own pace and in a setting that is most conducive to student engagement for learning. This cutting-edge learning center is modeled after similar facilities located at Penn State University, the University of California-Berkeley and Virginia Tech.

In addition, the renovations to the first floor include the creation of the Emergency Management and Planning classroom. The training space will provide a classroom setting that is similar to a "situation room" where training models unfold on a video wall synchronized to the students' individual computers and work groups.

For more information on Essex County's Vocational Technical Schools, call 973-412-2069 or visit www.essextech.org.