FAQ​

Questions about the Capital Campaign:

• What is happening?

  • Phase 1: (yellow) converting the current gym into classrooms, tearing down 40 year old trailers in order to building a brand-new gymnasium, all site work

    • Phase 1 part A timeline- convert existing gymnasium to classrooms December 2024- April 2025

    • Phase 1 part B timeline- demolition of trailers, construction of new gymnasium and sitework April 2025-end of calendar year 2025

  • Phase 2: (green) additional classrooms

  • Phase 3: (orange) Kosher kitchen and cafeteria

    • We are working on a version where the cafeteria is under the classrooms

    • Possibly combining phases 2&3

  • Phase 4: (blue) Beit Midrash and sanctuary

• What is the timeline for phases 2-4?

  • Unsure at this time. Once the funds are in place, we will have a more accurate timeframe. 

  • We are fully funded for phase 1 

• Are the timelines of the different phases solidified?

  • Yes barring Acts of God, Sweetwater Construction is comfortable with the proposed schedule

  • Any additional changes from RHA could disrupt the schedule or deadlines

• When will the high school open?

  • Yoti is working on a curriculum this year (2024/25). In the age of information sharing and technology, creating a curriculum is easier and not as time consuming as it was a decade ago. 

  • Some of our current teachers are certified to teach high school

• What is the budget for this project? How much are we funded?

  • $8-9Million total of which over $4Million has been secured for phase 1. 

  • The first phase is completely funded.

• How are funds being raised?

  • So far all of our funds have been secured through private major and minor gifts and diversified funding sources. We will continue our fundraising efforts within the larger community

 

• Who will sign the construction contract on behalf of the school?

  • Maxine Macnow has signed the contract, with board approval.

• Will the school change its name during construction?

  • Yes, throughout the process everything that has The Hebrew Academy or Solomon Schechter Day School on it will be changed to Reich Hebrew Academy

• Who is the point person for the Capital Campaign? 

  • Anne Goodman You can reach her by emailing Anne@thanj.org

• Who is on the Capital Campaign Committee?

  • Maxine Macnow- Chair

  • Anne Goodman- Director of Advancement

  • Joe Macnow

  • Nathan Reich

  • Daniel Reich

  • Tomer Furyan

  • Dan Portilla
    
    Who is on the Board of Trustees?

  • Shari Steinfeld- PResident

  • Dan POrtilla- Vice President

  • Ruth Abady- Treasurer

  • Peter Opatut- Secretary

  • Maxine Macnow- President Emeritus

  • Jackie Chaise

  • Ariel Freud

  • Tomer Furyan

  • Richard Kallman

  • Erika Goldman

  • Anne Goodman

  • Daniel Reich

  • Nathan Reich

  • Scott Tepper
     

Questions about the students:

Gym

• Will school be in session while demolition of the gym redone and trailers is taking place? 

  • Yes

• Where will the students have lunch while the gym is under construction?

  • In their classrooms

  • Yoti is working on a buddy system where the older grades are paired with the younger

• What is the plan for Shabbat lunch, Tefillah, school ceremonies while the current gym is under demolition/rebuilding?

  • Kabbalat shabbat to be done virtually, hosted by a different grade each Friday (buddies)

  • Tefillah Thursdays to be done virtually hosted by a different grade each Thursday

  • Program alternatives- contact synagogues to host, hosted by different families, use other RHA facilities

• What is the plan for where graduation will be held?

  • Graduation dinner at the Macnow’s residence in Colt’s Neck

 

Playground

• Is the playground changing size?

  • We are planning for a 20,000 sq ft turf soccer field

• Will the playground be accessible during construction, and if not, where will the young children play?

  • For the 40 days that the construction will be affecting the playground (After Pesach break to summer break), the kids will use an alternative play site, eg: inside classrooms/hallways, outside, etc

 

Kitchen

• Because the kitchen will remain functioning during renovation of the gym, how will the kitchen be protected from the construction dust?

  • Temporary structures will be in place, ie: walls, plastic sheeting

  • Sweetwater Construction will create negative airflow with large industrial fans

  • Sweetwater Construction takes pride in minimizing the dust

  • Sweetwater Construction has done prior work in Pharmaceuticals where there are federal regulations to the amount of dust and debris floating in the air

 

Drop Off/Pick UP/ Traffic

• How will drop off/pick-up be impacted?

  • No change until April; From April -June 2025:

    • Arrivals 

      • already staggered with place and time: 7am (early care)/ 8am (grades 1-8)/ 9am (Early childhood) and using both front and side entrance

    • Dismissals

      • use the front entrance 

      • Staggered between 3-3:30pm, divided into groups

        • Also staggered with Kids Care/After school activities

    • 8th grade and middle school are on their class trips during this time

• How will parking be affected during construction?

  • No change until April. After Pesach to Summer vacation, there will be changes to the parking lot, but Flavio will direct traffic during these months.

 

• Will the noise be hindering the kids during the school day?

  • There are always quiet periods and loud periods of construction

  • Once the demolition of the gym is done, the noise will be minimal. Demolition is the quickest phase of construction.

  • Sweetwater is open to the possibility of particular moments throughout construction where tours are offered to make the process a learning opportunity for students and the public.

  • Disruption will occur between spring and summer (after pesach break to summer vacation, approx 35 school days)

• Will kids need new uniforms?

  • Yes, the new logo on the uniforms will be rolled out in phases

• Will camp be held next summer?

  • Construction will not affect camp

 

Questions about parents/families/staff?

• How will we continue to show the school to prospective families while the work is being completed?

  • Linda will fully disclose that there will be a brand now gym and brand new classrooms by the end of next year

• What sets RHA apart over public school or local district schools?

  • family atmosphere

  • Love and understanding of judaism

  • Connection to other like-minded parents

  • Combat antisemitism by creating a strong Jewish community

 

Questions about the construction

• What developer is doing the construction?

  • Sweetwater Construction Corporation 

    • founded over 50 years ago

    • Recommended by Edon a construction supervisor who does a lot of work for the Wilf family and who supervised the Rutgers Hillel project and a Gold Ochs project

    • Applicable experience- Oheb Shalom Congregation, Monmouth University Rumson Day School, among others

    • David Johnson- Vice President and Chief Estimator at Sweetwater Construction Corporation 

    • Samuel Friedman- Senior Project Manager at Sweetwater Construction Corporation and a Solomon Schechter alumnae

    • Derek Plevy- Senior Project Manager at Sweetwater Construction 

    • Insurance coverage: general liability, including umbrella $15M

• Will OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) be on site?

  • OSHA has the ability to stop into the construction process at any time, if they want and they may not give Sweetwater prior notice. 

  • Sweetwater will have a safety inspector on site every week. 

• Will there be construction workers on site while school is in session?

  • Yes, the contractors will have their representative on sight 100% of the time. That person will admit subcontractors/workers to the school. No one other than him will have gate access. The contractor that we hired is extremely security conscious and has dealt with this type of situation before. 

  • Sweetwater uses a color coded badge system: for example yellow badge workers remain within the construction site, blue badge have gate access, etc

• What type of interaction will workers have with our students?

  • none

• How will construction affect school security in terms of gates being removed and/or left open during the school day? At the end of the construction workday, how will school be secured?

  • Sweetwater reps will have access to the gate. No subcontractors will. 

• Is the construction work being paid for in phases and what happens when the contractors are over budget?

  • Contractors are paid based on percentage completed with 10% retainage. Therefore, we should always owe them money until the job is 100% completed to our satisfaction. Each payment will be supported by a certificate of Lien Free Completion. The job is 100% bid out so there should be little to no overages unless we put through change orders. 

• Who is handling the day-to-day business of the construction project?

  • Dan & Nathan Reich

• Who is the project manager of the construction project to answer day to day questions posed by the contractors? 

  • Subcontractors will go directly to Sweetwater. Sweetwater will talk to Nathan Reich and Joe Macnow.

• What is the plan for dealing with increased utilities during construction? i.e., electricity, water, (plugging in heavy machinery)

  • The contractor will be using the school’s utilities. Since heavy machinery is gasoline powered, not electrical, incremental cost is expected to be nominal.

• Will there be portable toilets on school grounds for construction workers to use instead of school bathrooms? 

  • Sweetwater has agreed to use port-a-johns and not the school’s bathrooms.

• Will construction be performed on Shabbat/Jewish holidays? What are the hours of construction?

  • The contractors do not have work scheduled for Saturdays, but may work Sundays

  • Sweetwater will be working roughly 7am-3pm; however there may be times when they’re in at 5am or 6am in order to work before the school day begins.