Library Hosts Triple Feature as Schools Remain Closed

It’s been three days of no school for students at and , and two days of no school for students—and parents are not sure how the district will make up for this change in the calendar.

“The biggest challenge is we don’t know our day-to-day schedules,” said Bridgewater resident Lisa Berchoff, who has a child at Eisenhower. “We are juggling our schedules to make sure we have back-up, and everyone is abuzz about makeups, and what to do with some schools off and some not.”

After the unusual Oct. 29 snowstorm knocked out power lines all over the township, when JCP&L and PSE&G failed to restore power to several buildings.

On Monday, Van Holten, Eisenhower and the were closed. The middle school reopened again Wednesday after PSE&G restored power Tuesday night, but the other two schools, and Hamilton, have remained closed.

The decided to help with keeping the students entertained Wednesday with a triple-feature airing, especially for children who have been out of school for days. The library showed “Monsters, Inc.,” “Cars 2” and “Toy Story 3.”

“We had about a dozen kids for the first showing, and a few more for the second,” said Carol Levin, youth services librarian. “We decided to informally do this for the kids not in school.”

“This actually came out of a patron request, asking if we were going to do anything for the kids,” she added. “If schools are closed Thursday, we will talk about doing something tomorrow too.”

Parents said they were pleased with the opportunity to come to the library and get their kids out of the house.

“This is really great they’re doing this at the library,” Berchoff said.

For Bridgewater resident Dawn Brady, who has a child at Hamilton, it has been difficult to arrange work schedules.

“I work at a hospital, and they’re not happy with me taking off, but there’s no way around it,” she said.

And for both her and Bridgewater resident Tammy Sicat, it is strange for them to have one child at home with no school and the other out in one of the schools that is still open.

“We’re not sure how you fix this in the future for people with multiple kids,” said Brady, who has another child at . “It is strange for the older kids.”

Sicat said she is hoping there is continued communication with the school district, particularly because this change will affect teachers too, especially those who are parents themselves.

“And it’s hard on working parents who are taking off,” she said, adding that because she never lost power, she has been hosting families who don’t have it. “They should declare a state of emergency and what days are lost are lost.”