Two historic buildings along the main drag of the Mile Square City have been repurposed and linked to house a comprehensive educational campus as a two-decade effort to find a permanent home for students has finally come to fruition.
Hoboken Charter School recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to introduce its high school facility at 711 Washington Street. The four-story brick building was purchased by Friends of Hoboken Charter School two years ago and saw its original exterior preserved with significant input from the Hoboken Historical Commission.
Hoboken Charter High School offers six spacious classrooms spread throughout four floors and features both an outdoor roof deck and rear courtyard. The building also includes a larger space for community meetings and is connected to Hoboken Charter School’s adjacent lower and middle school facility at 713 Washington Street via several glass-enclosed bridges.
The bridges additionally include a cantilevered external stair system, which allows the school to provide efficient space for high school student lockers. The result is a cohesive campus for the full K-12 program that will serve the Hoboken community for years to come.
“I am so happy to see this vibrant public high school program finally have permanent space to continue to fulfill its mission of social justice and service-learning,” commented Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla during the ribbon cutting. “Over the past years, I have personally seen the benefit HCS Upper School has brought to the community in providing a small, personalized program with a unique mission.”
Bhalla cited several initiatives, including Hoboken Charter’s annual March on Washington Street, as positive contributions to the community. The school, founded in 1997, emphasizes civic growth as part of its broader curriculum.
The opening of the facility was undoubtedly sweeter for those who have witnessed the many hurdles the school has encountered over the years including a devastating fire that swept through the K-8 building during the second day of the 2012 school year. More recently, classroom and instructional adjustments were necessitated amid the COVID-19 pandemic before the building welcomed students in the fall.
