Essex County Donald M. Payne, Sr. School of Technology

Named in honor of New Jersey’s first black Congressman, the Essex County Donald M. Payne, Sr. School of Technology is a state-of-the-art facility that ushered in a new era of modern school buildings and technology-based curriculum for our students when it opened in 2018. Robust programs in environmental science, robotics, music technology and computers are now offered alongside traditional vocational programs such as plumbing, carpentry and masonry. Each subject is taught in specially designed classrooms that allow the curriculum to evolve and enable technology to be introduced. For example, trade classes work in a combined setting so they experience how work sites operate. In addition, the two-story classroom is large enough for students to build a small house as they practice their skills. Located in Newark’s West Ward, the Payne School has become a catalyst jumpstarting young minds preparing for the future and energizing rebirth and growth in the community.