A New Era in Education: Blanquita B. Valenti Community School 

On Jul 3, 2024

In early 2020, a search for the perfect place to build the new Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey/Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center led the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO) to 165 Somerset St., home of the overcrowded Lincoln Annex School. In exchange for the property, DEVCO negotiated with the project’s major partner, RWJBarnabasHealth, to commit $55 million to build a new school at nearby 50 Jersey Avenue on land donated by the chair of the RWJ University Hospital board and developer Jack Morris.

Ground was broken in May of 2021 on the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School – named after a long-time Central New Jersey educator and the first person of Latin American descent to serve on the New Brunswick Board of Education, New Brunswick City Council, and Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The 126,000-square-foot community school, which employed 300 workers during construction and now has a staff of 110 full-time employees, was completed last September – just in time to welcome the inaugural class of 800 students.

Perhaps most importantly, the project ushered in a new era of education in New Brunswick with an innovative strategy of leveraging healthcare development for educational benefit. As Mayor Jim Cahill notes, “This magnificent structure was built at no cost to the taxpayers of the City of New Brunswick, but provides a benefit that will be enjoyed by our residents to come.” 

Architect

DMR Architects

Hasbrouck Heights

Builder

New Brunswick Development Corporation

New Brunswick

Nominator

Jean Holtz, Vice President, New Brunswick Development Corporation

New Brunswick

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