Eastside High students adjust to much smaller, temporary home at a former elementary school: ‘There’s no place to hide’

Principal Gloria Martinez-Vega was prepared to deal with an upheaval when Eastside High School students and staff moved to a new location at the beginning of the school year.

Despite a few growing pains, they have largely adjusted to a new routine at the former Alfred Cramer College Preparatory School, a three-story building that will serve as a swing space for about five years while construction replaces Eastside on the same location on Federal Street. The $105 million project is slated for completion in 2029.

Located in the 2800 block of Mickle Street, the former elementary school is much smaller than Eastside. There is no gym for physical education, and lunch must be served in three shifts for a few months until modular units that will be used as a cafeteria are installed on the property.

“I thought there were going to be a lot of challenges,” Martinez-Vega said Monday, referencing concerns raised that the new Eastside location would not comfortably handle students.

The district spent about $13 million renovating Cramer, which had been closed for several years. Because the school previously housed younger students, some facilities had to be converted to accommodate older students.

Martinez-Vega warmly greeted students during a tour Monday. There were positive messages posted in the hallways and in classrooms to encourage students. One read: “You were born to shine.”

“We’re happy we’re here,” said Star Cebollero, 16, a junior. She especially enjoys smaller classes, but misses practicing for theatrical productions in the large auditorium at the old building.

At the old Eastside, a century-old, sprawling 229,000-square-foot building that served about 486 students in grades nine through 12, it was common for Martinez-Vega not to see some students daily, she said.

Now, the smaller building makes it easier for security officers to patrol, with at least two or three on each floor, she said. The old school had an annex and more than 60 exits that were difficult to monitor.

“If the kids even think about cutting class, there’s no place to hide,” said Martinez-Vega, who has been the school’s principal for several years. “We’re using every space.”

Students lined up orderly for lunch outside the school’s multipurpose room that serves as a cafeteria. Previously, the room was used for gym when the school housed elementary students. Meals are prepared in a kitchen in the basement and transported upstairs.

Students can also eat in several classrooms designated to ease crowding and outdoors on picnic tables under orange umbrellas, weather permitting.

Because there is no gym, students are bussed to a community center or the Kroc Center in North Camden for physical education. They take health education in their regular classrooms.

The basketball team will have to practice at other locations and play home games at Camden High, a disappointment for Tyrone Washam, a three-time varsity team player.

“I feel like it is sad to not play my senior year in … Eastside,” said Washam, 18. He said the new school, though, was “a step in the right direction.”

Eastside launched its first-ever swim club this year and hopes to have a team soon, said Sheena Yera, a district spokesperson. So far, two students have signed up.

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Senior Caleigh Moon, 17, said the new Eastside has a welcoming feeling that makes him look forward to school. It is easier to make friends in the cozier environment, he said.

“When I come into school, I come in less sad,” Moon said. “I come in more happy. It just becomes like home.”

Built in 1929, Eastside had fallen into disrepair over the years. It was formerly known as Woodrow Wilson High, but the name was changed because of the segregationist past of the former president and New Jersey governor.

District officials initially considered a $50 million project to refurbish the building, but scrapped those plans after some preliminary work showed renovations would not be enough to bring it up to standard.

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The plan for the new Eastside calls for a 203,000-square-foot school that includes new computers, welding, performing arts and video labs, and additional self-contained special education classrooms. Eastside is the last stand-alone traditional high school in Camden.

The district underwent a similar transition when it demolished the iconic Camden High and replaced it in 2021 with a complex that added three other high schools to the site. Camden High students were relocated during the $130 million construction.

Moon said he was sorry that he would not be around to see the new school. But he was happy for his younger brother and other students who will attend.

“We’re taking that sacrifice for another generation,” Moon said.