New Fitness Center Means New Swimming Program for New Brunswick Students

New Brunswick students will soon take to the water with the commencement of a partnership between the school district and the new Robert Wood Johnson Fitness and Wellness Center.

The school district has implemented a swimming instruction program for fourth graders in the district that will begin with the basics of swimming and aims to guide them through intermediate swimming.

According to superintendent Richard Kaplan, for the duration of one semester, fourth graders will be transported by bus to the fitness center two days a week, where they will have 50 minutes of swim instruction per day.

All students will begin with swimming basics, regardless of their skill level, and then will be split up into groups as they advance into intermediate swimming instruction, he said.

The students will have private use of the pool during the lessons, he said.

Livingston and Roosevelt elementary schools will be the first to take lessons and will begin this month. Other elementary schools in the district will follow in subsequent semesters.

Last year, the district purchased a new, 54-seat bus to transport students to and from the pool, Kaplan said.