Huaxia School celebrates the Year of the Rabbit

The following report was submitted to the News by the Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro.

The Spring Festival Spectacular of the Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro returned to celebrate the first day of the Lunar New

Year in person on Jan. 22. After a three-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, the dedication and hard work of teachers and students made for a festive celebration.

The event began with traditional games, including paper cutting, Chinese calligraphy, lantern making, riddles, costume design, chopsticks challenges and a Chinese culture corner. These games were prepared by senior students of the HXPCS and provided a fun and interactive way for parents and students to come together and embrace their cultural heritage. The celebration continued with See LUNAR NEW YEAR, Page 3

Bridge is leasing the site from Atlantic Realty, which purchased the property from the Howard Hughes Corporation in 2019 for $40 million.

In 2020, the township reached a settlement agreement with Atlantic Realty to resolve litigation that had been filed by Howard Hughes.

The lawsuit challenged the zoning of the property and argued that the township had not provided its fair share of affordable housing.

The developer was pushing a plan to build a mixed-use project featuring retail businesses, commercial offices and some 1,900 res- idential homes, including low- and moderate-income affordable units.

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The settlement agreement with Atlantic Realty ultimately resulted in the Bridge Point 8 warehouse development.

For township officials, the issue created a Hobson’s choice—allow the warehouse development or be faced with a massive housing complex that would have created an influx of thousands of students into the school district.

Currently the district’s per-pupil cost is more than $19,000 and increasing every year. Adding that number of school kids could ultimately result in tens of millions of dollars in costs to the district.

The warehouse project, on the other hand, could boost township tax revenues by about $15 million a year, township officials have estimated.

Although township residents and officials had historically been opposed to building residences on the property, there were some who argued during the Bridge Point 8 application process that housing would be preferable to the truck traffic and pollution caused by the development.

In January, two West Windsor residents filed a lawsuit against the township in an effort to stop

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O: 609-921-9202 a Dragon Dance performance, followed by musical ensembles “Golden Snake Dance” and “Joyous”, which set the mood for the Lunar New Year.

The eight MCs of the Spectacular did an excellent job introducing each program and keeping the show flowing smoothly. The school’s principal, Ying Zhang, welcomed everyone and thanked the teachers and students for their support during the pandemic.

School Board Chair Dr. Meimei Gao expressed her gratitude to the sponsors and welcomed the guests in attendance.

There were numerous guests at the 2023 Spring Festival Spectacular, including: State Senator Linda Greenstein; State Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson; State assemblymen Daniel Benson, Wayne P. DeAngelo and Anthony Verrelli; Mercer County Commissioner Kristin Mclaughlin; Senior Aide to the Governor Rajpal S. Bath; Mercer County Community College President Deborah Preston; Plainsboro Township Mayor Peter Cantu; Deputy Mayor Ed Yates; West Windsor Township Mayor Hemant Marathe; West Windsor Township Council President Andrea Mandel; Vice President Michael Stevens; Councilwoman Linda Geevers; West Windsor-Plainsboro School District Superintendent David Aderhold; Board of

Education President Rachel Juliana; Vice President Graelynn McKeown; Board members Elizabeth George-Cheniara, Louisa Ho, Dana Krug and Shwetha Shetty; the Vice President of the Central

New Jersey Chinese-American Association Cujin Yu; the Co-Chair of United Chinese Americans in New Jersey Yingchao Zhang; HuaXia Chinese School President Liang Zhang; HuaXia Chinese School

Board Chair Yingkan Bo; and the owner of Windsor Athletic Club Zhenzhong Li. Representatives from the towns in the neighborhood and local schools were See LUNAR NEW YEAR, Page 4

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