Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla and Hoboken Public School District Superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson today announced a new lease agreement that will provide additional classroom space for the Hoboken Public School District at the Jubilee Center.
The five-year lease permits the district to use all three floors of the Jubilee Center for early childhood education. The space will be allocated to four Head Start preschool classrooms for 60 children in the Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 programs.
“With more families choosing to stay in Hoboken, this additional room at the Jubilee Center will provide much-needed space for our children in Pre-K,” said Mayor Bhalla. “Rather than the center being sold to developers, I’m glad that it will instead be put to good use to support the district’s early childhood education program.”
“I am very excited for the district to utilize the Jubilee Center for four of our Head Start classes,” said Dr. Johnson. “This allows us to free up space in our elementary schools and offer preschool programming in a wonderful location.”
“The board is thrilled to be partnering with the City to lease preschool classroom space in the Jubilee Center for our youngest learners,” said Hoboken Board of Education President Sharyn Angley. “As district enrollment continues to grow, space is of the utmost concern. Securing preschool space in the Jubilee Center will help to alleviate some of the pressures at the elementary level from a facilities perspective.”
Last year, the City purchased the Jubilee Center for $3 million, preventing the building from being sold to a developer and the elimination of a crucial community space following Hoboken City Council authorization in 2021. Acquisition was paid for at no impact to the municipal budget, utilizing federal funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program.
In March, nonprofit TRUE Mentors moved into the first and third floors of the Jubilee Center to provide free one-on-one, group, and educational mentoring programs to Hudson County youth between the ages of 7- and 18-years-old.
Under the terms of the lease agreement, the Hoboken Public School District will use all three floors of the Jubilee Center from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. while TRUE Mentors will continue to use the facility from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. until June 30. Starting in September, the district will have access from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Hoboken City Council adopted an ordinance authorizing the lease agreement on Wednesday, May 4, by an 8-0-1 vote. Councilman Michael DeFusco was absent. Councilmen Phil Cohen and Jim Doyle sponsored the ordinance.
