Paramus–The Borough of Paramus has approved Yavneh Academy’s application to proceed with a gym expansion project. The project was conceived last spring, but faced challenges. The Yavneh board and planning committee worked diligently and in partnership with the Borough Mayor and Council to engineer a plan of value to the school and the Borough. The new gym will be constructed in place of the school’s lower baseball field. Yavneh Academy president Pamela Scheininger announced the approval at the 72nd annual Yavneh dinner last week.
One of the biggest hurdles was the school’s physical location in a residential zone where large-scale construction projects are complicated and controversial. From the outset, the school board was committed to transparency and worked collaboratively with the community to make sure the project worked for everyone. The town was sensitive to Yavneh’s growth and its lack of indoor space for physical education on a regular day, as well as periodic special assemblies and events. The lack of gym space is not a problem that is unique to Yavneh, as Paramus is also short on indoor gym space. Yavneh was happy to donate time to the town to use its new facility.
Scheininger told JLNJ, “I am very proud that every element of our gym construction, and our building project overall, has been narrowly tailored to meet our children’s education, social, emotional, physical, and security needs. We know what our parents sacrifice for a yeshiva day school education for their children and we take the sacrifice very seriously.”
The committee has secured significant root funding, but if you would like to help in the effort please contact the school’s development director Michelle Weinraub at [email protected].
