The Pyne Point Middle School will be transformed to serve hundreds of high school-aged North Camden residents.
CAMDEN -- Home to roughly 7,500 people and officially the city's very first neighborhood dating back to the 1700s, North Camden has never had a high school of its own.
That was the case right up until Tuesday night, when city school district officials announced plans to educate hundreds of students who otherwise had to find somewhere else in Camden to continue their education.
"If you talk to these families, they'll tell you their voices weren't always valued," Camden City School District Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard said Wednesday after the community meeting where the announcement was made.
Rouhanifard said Mastery Charter Schools will step in to remodel the Pyne Point Middle School, located near Pyne Point Park and the mouth of the Cooper River, into a high school for the 2017-2018 school year.
Some parents and students teared up at the news, Rouhanifard said, while other 7th and 8th graders in attendance openly discussed their options for their future.
MORE: How N.J. school district is making enrollment easier
"Mastery has a long record of running great schools," Rouhanifard said, adding that the structure being renovated is currently serving as an elementary school.
Although there are five high schools within the school district and three other charters in the city, none were easily accessible to North Camden students. As part of a recently-rolled out enrollment program, students living more than two miles from their school will be provided with transportation.
The absence of a high school in North Camden was initially addressed by Bryan Morton, a city resident of 44 years and leader of Parents for Great Camden Schools, who started making calls earlier this fall before a formal request was made.
Mastery had applied and been approved to open a high school and feedback from parents "significantly impacted" when and where a school would be built, district officials said.
"Safety is the biggest issue and public transportation to Woodrow Wilson [High School, just shy of Merchantville and Pennsauken] is not sufficient," Rouhanifard said. "Families want a neighborhood school."
The facility is expected to serve between 400 and 600 students, district officials estimated. Asked about dropout rates, Rouhanifard said he would expect an easily-accessible high school to contribute to a decrease.
"A lot of families started to vote with their feet," he added when asked why no high school had even been designated to serve North Camden.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.