Proposals Reveal 2,040-Seat Charter School at 79 Caven Point Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey

Proposals to construct a new 2,040-seat charter school at 79 Caven Point Avenue in Jersey City‘s Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood are now under review by the Jersey City Planning Board. Friends of Quality Education is the local non-profit organization behind the applications to construct the school, which will debut as the Canal Crossing Charter Public School Campus.

The development site is a large, asymmetrical assemblage located near the intersection of Caven Point Avenue and Garfield Avenue. If approved, the campus, designed by KSS Architects, will include four mid-rise buildings split between the BelovED Community Charter School and the Empowerment Academy Charter School.

Buildings include a 69,000-square-foot elementary school for 720 students, a 35,000-square-foot middle school for 360 students, and two high school buildings for approximately 960 students. Facilities will include a large gymnasium, a rooftop playground, a 500-seat auditorium, multiple science labs, and maker spaces for digital and physical production.

Rendering of the rooftop playground at the Canal Crossing Charter Public School Campus – KSS Architects

Rendering of the rooftop playground and the surrounding Canal Crossing Charter Public School Campus – KSS Architects

Rendering of the rooftop playground at the Canal Crossing Charter Public School Campus – KSS Architects

To make the campus feel more like a neighborhood park, the plans also include bicycle paths, benches, park-style lighting, walking paths, and 343 off-street parking spaces. Renderings of the property from KSS Architects also depict a central plaza with safe walking areas for pedestrians, light landscaping, and school bus pickup areas. The plaza is flanked by a cleaved four-story building that links the elementary and middle school buildings.

All of the building façades will feature a mix of gray, white, and yellow cement paneling with floor-to-ceiling windows and composite wood accents.

Friends of Quality Education hopes the campus will be completed and open by September 2025.

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