Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School - Overview

Overview

The area of MEMS is over 275,000 ft². Since there are about 1,400 students, MEMS sorts its many students into ten "communities" that are named after Greek letters. This school also runs through an A-F schedule. MEMS currently has two stories and underwent renovation from June 2005 to September 2006 (fifteen months, which yielded twenty-seven new classrooms, air conditioning throughout the school, a new courtyard, two new science laboratories, one new computer laboratory, an expansion of the cafeteria, an expansion of the nurse's office, an expansion of the art classrooms, and a new gym. Facilities include girls' and boys' locker rooms, more than one soccer field, a track, and a cafeteria. MEMS is noted for its electronic equipment, including smart boards, three to five computers in every room, 20-30 computers in each computer lab, and an electronic account for every lunch-purchasing student.

Clubs, teams, and committees include a student council, a newspaper called the Paw Print Press, a soccer team, a basketball team, a yearbook committee, a cheerleading squad, a tennis team, a track team, a softball team, a baseball team, a wrestling team, a field hockey team, a math club, a Battle of the Books team, etc. There are also programs such as Teen Talk, in which students meet in groups with a guidance counselor to discuss their problems, and a stamp club, in which students meet with the elderly, who share their collection of stamps and sometimes photographs with them. There also is a knitting and embroidery class where students can learn the art of needle point. MEMS also has their own television channel on all televisions in MEMS. MEMS Television 64 is on every morning at 7:40 and give all important announcements and upcoming events

This school is noted for its Academically Talented and With Distinction programs for each subject, which are special projects for those students who wish to challenge themselves. To participate in a WD project, the student's grades in that subject must be B+ or higher, and in AT projects, the student's grades in that subject must be A- or higher. AT/WD projects are usually submitted in competitions such as the New Jersey Social Studies Fair. MEMS is also noted for its above average scores in the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA) in the math department.

Other significant programs in MEMS include SITES, a program for advanced science students. SITES stands for science investigations that excite students. It is a year long class which challenges students to exceed in the scientific field while keeping up with the normal science curriculum. Many SITES students participate in the Jersey Shore Science Fair; several of them place each year.

Lockers are either full-sized (five or six feet), half-sized (two to three feet), or medium sized (two to three feet with a separate compartment on top). They used to be all beige (with some dark blue ones), but after construction, were painted either red, blue, or yellow.