By Donald Gilpin

As teachers, staff, parents, and more than 3,800 students of the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) prepare for the first day of school on Thursday, September 9, the district remains committed to in-person, full-day school for all.

“The past two school years have been unprecedented for schools everywhere,” new Superintendent Carol Kelley wrote to PPS families on August 20. “This three-pronged crisis (health, financial, and social) has been overwhelming for families, students, and staff. Yet I am encouraged and optimistic about the school year ahead.”

Kelley, who took over as superintendent two months ago, was scheduled to meet parents on September 2 on the front lawn of the Valley Road administrative building from 9 to 10 a.m. and again from 6 to 7 p.m. The event was postponed due to the local flooding.

She continued, “In terms of the health and safety of our students, we have a strong foundation to build on. Last school year, we had zero COVID cases transmitted in our schools. To date, we are fortunate that 77 percent of people (over age 12) in our Princeton community have been vaccinated. Through the safety protocols we have in place, we hope to maintain this record once we reopen school in September.”

Kelley highlighted the dedication of educators, parents, and community supporters and emphasized, “we are prepared to foster a school culture that’s welcoming and affirming for all, which is even more critical during this time. For the first time in over a year, our students will engage in full-day learning, five days a week in their respective school buildings.” more

By Donald Gilpin

On Monday, August 30, the Princeton Health Department reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 in Princeton in the previous seven days, 31 cases in the previous 14 days. Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser noted that the recent surge, with the spread of the Delta variant, has been about 50 percent as big as the COVID-19 surge Princeton experienced last winter.

The Delta variant is “a much more contagious strain that has spread on a much different scale from what we saw with the Alpha variant,” he said. “With Delta, it felt as if once someone from a household was infected it was a waiting game for everyone else in that house. There was certainly vaccine protection in situations where households were not completely infected, but in low vaccination-rate households infection rates neared 100 percent of the dwelling’s inhabitants.”

Grosser emphasized the need for mask-wearing, social distancing, and vaccinations as the way to reduce transmission of all strains of the virus.

The Princeton vaccination rate, as of August 24, was 79 percent (ages 12 and over) and 98 percent for residents 65 and over. The vaccination rate for Mercer County (age 12 and over) is 65 percent, 75 percent for 65 and over. For New Jersey it’s 72 percent (12 and over), 85 percent for 65 and over, and for the United States as a whole, the vaccination rate is 61 percent (ages 12 and over) and 82 percent for age 65 and over. more

By Donald Gilpin

A new Princeton University-led regional innovation hub, seeking to promote entrepreneurial startups based on fundamental science and engineering research, has received $15 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The consortium will focus on transforming scientific discoveries into technologies that improve everyday lives, through the fields of health care, energy and the environment, computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced materials, and other areas — and enhance diversity in research opportunities and entrepreneurship.

With the University of Delaware and Rutgers University as partners, Princeton University will be the principal institution in the Innovation-Corps (I-Corps) Northeast Hub, which will also include New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rowan University, Lehigh University, Temple University, and Delaware State University (a historically Black college or university) as initial affiliates. The hub will expand, adding new affiliates each year.

The Northeast Hub is one of five new innovation corps hubs announced by the NSF last week, “a diverse and inclusive innovation system throughout the USA.”  With $3 million funding per year over the next five years, the Northeast Hub will provide entrepreneurial training, mentoring, and other resources to enable researchers to form startup companies that take ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace.  more

By Donald Gilpin

At his first press conference in two weeks, on Monday, August 23, just hours after the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that all school personnel, public and private, from preschool through high school, must be fully vaccinated by October 18 or be subjected to weekly testing. The rule also applies to state employees and faculty and staff at state colleges and universities.

Murphy expressed hope that the FDA approval would encourage people to get vaccinated who had previously been holding off.

The Princeton Health Department reported Monday a total of 14 new COVID-19 cases in the previous seven days and 31 cases in the previous 14 days. Out of Princeton residents age 12 and over, 78 percent have been vaccinated (96 percent of residents 65 and over).

Since July 7 the health department has reported 57 cases of COVID-19 in Princeton, 39 (68.4 percent) of which have been breakthrough cases.

Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser, in a memo last week to the town administrator, urged that the return to in-person local government meetings, originally planned for mid-September, be delayed until further notice due to the spread of the Delta variant and rising infection rates.

In the August 23 Princeton Newsletter, the health department stated, “COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. are highly effective, including against the Delta variant, but they are not 100 percent effective and some fully vaccinated people will become infected (called a breakthrough infection) and experience illness. For such people, the vaccine still provides them strong protection against serious illness and death. Infections happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant. However, fully vaccinated people who become infected with the Delta variant can spread the virus to others.”

The Princeton Health Department has announced that, starting September 20, it will begin to offer booster doses to individuals who have had the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for at least eight months. The Princeton Health Department expects to host regular booster clinics starting in September. More details will be provided soon. more

By Donald Gilpin

There have been periods during the past 18 months of the pandemic when the Princeton University campus — from the spires of the graduate college through the central campus to the edges of Harrison Street and the banks of Lake Carnegie — has seemed unusually quiet. But the University has been anything but dormant.

Moving ahead on its 2026 Campus Plan, developed and initiated over the past five years with “the most ambitious and comprehensive planning process” in its history, Princeton University has been progressing rapidly on its “transformative journey” towards its “mission-centered vision for the campus.”

Last week’s special Princeton University Weekly Bulletin noted “tremendous progress campus-wide,” with several projects completed over the last 18 months, much new construction underway on campus, and construction that will be starting in the coming months. The University declined to discuss costs of its massive array of construction projects.

Most striking so far, under the heading of “Renewal of Central Campus,” are the new residential colleges 7 and 8, slated for completion in the summer of 2022, and the new Princeton University Art Museum, scheduled to open in the fall of 2024.

The residential colleges, under construction during the past year adjacent to each other  in the southeastern portion of the central campus south of Poe Field, are built to each potentially house an additional 500 undergraduates and to advance “one of Princeton’s highest strategic priorities” — expanding the undergraduate population by about 10 percent. more

By Donald Gilpin

In August of 1781 thousands of troops under General George Washington and the allied French General Comte de Rochambeau marched through Princeton via Mount Lucas Road, Witherspoon Street, and Nassau Street, with about 5,000 soldiers camping on the grounds at Morven House on their way to help the Continental Army win its final major victory in the Revolutionary War in October at Yorktown, Virginia.

The 700-mile march will be commemorated this Saturday, August 28 along the Millstone River in Griggstown, with Canal Road in Franklin Township closed from Amwell Road to Route 518 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to encourage walking and biking on the narrow thoroughfare. (A half-mile section between Butler Road and the Griggstown Causeway will remain open to permit east-west traffic to cross the Millstone River.)

“Come ready to walk or bike on this historic and scenic roadway,” said Brad Fay, president of the Millstone Valley Preservation Coalition (MVPC), co-sponsor of the event along with Franklin Township. “It’s a rare opportunity to enjoy the scenic byway without fearing for the through traffic.”

Troops crossed the Millstone River twice, at the one-lane Griggstown Causeway bridge and again at Route 518 near Rocky Hill. The National Park Service’s Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail from New England to Yorktown memorializes the historic march.

In the morning of August 28, a Trenton-based group will interpret the First Rhode Island Regiment, a mixed-race American unit that marched the trail and fought at Yorktown. In the afternoon, two re-enactors will interpret the French officers Rochambeau and Major General Francois-Jean de Chastellux, who led the allied French troops. A third re-enactor will interpret George Washington on horseback, beginning at about 1 p.m. more