Steelman School Sold

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

Eatontown —€“ The former Fred G. Steelman School, unused for more than a decade, located at 215 Broad Street, has been sold for an undisclosed amount. The school had a large red bow and ribbon covering the front entrance on February 12.

The school, which was originally Eatontown Public School No. 1, opened in 1907. Fred G. Steeman started his teaching career in the borough in 1916. He took a leave of absence to fight during World War 1. He returned to Eatontown and went back to teaching and was eventually promoted to principal until 1940. In 1955 the school was named in his honor.

Fred G. Steelman School closed to students in 1976. Several years ago, Eatontown sold the school to a group that was planning on opening a Jewish High School. However, that group ran into financial issues and boarded up the school to keep vandals out.

The last owners of the property, Ilan HS Building Association sold the building on December 31, 2014 to C.E.D. Properties, L.L.C. who are planning on turning the school into a private K-12 day school, Voyagers’€ Community School.

Currently Voyagers’ Community School is located in Framingdale, and according to their representatives, it will stay open until the end of this current school calendar. They are hoping that the new Eatontown location will be ready for students for the 2015-2016 calendar.

The property had a listed value of $1.5 million; however the actual sale price has not been disclosed at this time. February 13, several trucks and men were seen going into the building apparently getting ready for renovations.

According to Voyagers’ website, they offer small group classes and are structured academically for literacy, science, math, global studies, foreign language, art, music, electives, library and physical education.

A normal Voyagers’ day starts off at 9:00 a.m. when students and teachers get together and discuss current news, ideas or questions on each other’s minds and plan the day.