Cumberland Students Celebrate New Cafeteria Addition

Cumberland students, parents and teachers broken in the new multipurpose addition to the elementary school Monday afternoon with student choir performances, skits and a PTO family dinner.

Originally built in 1928, the school's newest addition is a multipurpose room that includes a cafeteria and a stage area.  at Richards School earlier this month.

Cumberland School Principal Jayne Heffron thanked the community for its support of the addition, as it was part of the November 2009 referendum. The space limitations of the previous cafeteria required multiple lunch shifts to handle all of the students, so students were thrilled by the new expanded cafeteria space.

At the ceremony, students sang songs and acted out a skit that depicted an argumentative, crowded cafeteria sitting at one of the old bench tables. When the students moved to one of the new tables with individual seats, they commented on the spaciousness of the new cafeteria and the sunlight coming in from the large windows.

The school's previous cafeteria space will be converted into two classrooms, a cognitively disabled classroom and an art space.

Other improvements at the school include the renovation of two 4th grade classrooms, the conversion of the staff work room to a kindergarten classroom, the conversion of a classroom to a staff work room and other minor renovations.

The program was held immediately before the PTO Family Dinner, which featured food from Rosati's and City Market.