Your "composter" can be a three sided bin with air circulation--old pallets will work. The leaves are wonderful, especially if you can shred them a bit with a lawnmower, but if not, just add them to the pile in layers. Shredded paper is also good, just don't use the "slicks" from ads and magazines. Grass clippings are also good, but make sure to layer them rather than dumping them all at once.
As to how long your pile will take to be compost, that depends on heat/cold, amount of water, and ratio of compostable materials.
If there is a Master Gardener organization near you, contact them through your county agricultural extension agent and see if they have a "compost master". That person can advise you.
You are setting a good example for the students and saving your school district money (what you compost doesn't have to be hauled off for a fee). You should be proud!

Your haves and have nots are pretty much the same as mine, except for space. Most of my ingredients come from my kitchen with some shredded paper for browns. It is not the best ratio that many of this forums members have available, but in the nine years that I have been doing it this way, not one plant has ever indicated that they were dissatisfied.
My wife and I have always had plenty of food to last through the winter, and I like not putting the food scraps and junk mail in the garbage.

Rexa, I know that the Master Gardeners in NJ also have Master Composters who would be happy to help (we just had one speak at our rose society meeting last Saturday). Call your county cooperative extension office (link below) and ask. If you are anywhere near Monmouth County, there is a compost display at Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown, NJ. Great effort!

Here is a link that might be useful: Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension County Offices

Be brave and jump in.

Use wooden pallets. Pick out pallets with one side with lots of boards but with spaces between the boards. Use that side on the inside of the bin. You can tie the pallets together with rope. Make at least two bins, three is better. Put them near the garden, in a shady spot. You will probably end up with 4 foot pallets and that has worked for me.

Try using a layer of cardboard to line the bins. As mentioned before, try to get the leaves shredded. You live in an area where there are lots of trees. You might want to save some bags of leaves for the spring when there aren't other good sources of 'browns'.

You will have to buy a manure/compost fork when it is time to turn the pile. You can use a 3 foot metal rod or pipe as a 'thermometer' to tell if the pile is heating up. Leave the rod in the pile, then pull it out and feel with your hand to tell if it is warming up.

I keep my compost pile(s) covered with an old leaf bag to insulate the pile (help keep heat in).

Build your own, it's more educational.

You have LOTS of browns available: shredded paper!

thanks all for the responses!!! until i came upon this board, i had no idea that paper is "brown" ...yay!!!...
I'm really liking hte pallet idea, though have a couple of quesitons:
- do you suggest having pallet boxes in different stages of compost?
-to get compost out, do you just untie a side?
-How often should it be turned?

i've called nj master gardeners several times and they are mighty helpful--i think this was their last week, however- at least in Bergen county...i didn't know there was a compost master - i gotta get ahold of this person...
thanks again for all your help

Hey! I'm a Master Composter, I could do it!

What's the airfare Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to New Joisey and back? Hotels for a couple of nights, maybe some sightseeing? Can't be all that much!!

Oh, wait a minute, I don't have a passport! Dang it!! :-(

Seriously though, does your school have a wood working shop? Find someplans online, get the shop teacher to build a three bin composter as a project for his/her class. While you're at it, ask for a small shed for storage and an attached little sunroom to act as a green house. Make it a project and get the schools parent support group to help out. It'll be fun!

Lloyd

I was going to suggest as Lloyd see if you can get help from woodworking shop the more students involved the more administration will like it(:

Paper makes a great brown cardboard boxes even better
good luck on your project

I don't know if I would fly Lloyd in he would have the whole place covered in compost in no time(;

If you use the pallets, or make any kind of bin, only three sides are necessary. The open side is the access for tossing, turning and removing finished compost. I forgot to suggest previously that you have at least, the VERY least, two bins, one for compost that is finishing, and one that is "working" in which you are adding greens and browns. We stapled chicken wire to the bottom 2/3 of each bin on the inside so the compost materials wouldn't leak out, but cardboard would work as well.
We turn our compost when the mood hits us, or when I am really frustrated about something! Once a week is a good schedule, but you do realize that even when school is out the compost will still be there.
Hope you find a compost master to help you out!

If you do have a wood shop in your school, you can also add the sawdust to the pile. They are an excellent brown. Spread a thin layer between each layer of greens and it'll compost in no time.

The best thing to use is a Bokashi Bin. You can use brown paper, cardboard, and it is really good to use cardboards. Shred them into pieces before adding.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bokashi Bin

i finally have a visual concept of the compost bin!! thanks all for the explanations....pt03, i would glady fork over the $$ to fly you out and set our compost right if i had said funds- i'll have to wait for the lottery to hit :) Till then, i'll get with the shop teacher and figure out a way to make this a reality.

pm-i checked out the bokashi site (never heard of it before) and find it could be the perfect for use in my classroom..what makes it different from a lidded garbage can (aside from adding the bokashi mix)?

'kay, but call me if you need me.

Don't forget to take pictures, lots of pictures, we likes pictures.

If you get the compost pile hot enough, throw in a can of ready to eat soup for a couple of hours and when a bunch of kids are around, pull it out and eat it right in front of them.

Girls usually go EWWWWW!, boys usually go COOOL! Guaranteed you'd be the talk of the school!

Lloyd

12 feet of 2 x 4 mesh welded wire fence fabric makes an excellent container for compost and although not as inexpensive as the free pallets is still fairly inexpensive.
Cornell Composting has some really good help for school composting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Composting

Well just about everything sems to have been covered already but I can throw a couple of things into the mix to help.
1> Sawdust/shavings from the woodshop are great, but try to avoid using the plywood or particleboard shavings as plywood in the US is still generally made using formaldahyde

2> Since the piles take time to grow to a decent size before you start a new one have the kids bring in ALL their family's compostible waste for a few weeks in a closed bucket. That will jump start the first pile for you quickly so that next year your kids will have something to look at ealier than if you can only feed the pile a bit at a time. Same goes for adding the browns for the first few weeks.

3> I personally use a removable 4th side on my bins, more for looks than anything else (otherwise my dog would spend all day rummaging around in the pile for fun!). You might want to do this with your one just for neatness and as a way to help keep kids from getting too "messy" when they turn the pile. Since you are at a school there might also be something to be said for "dressing" the outside of the bins if you think it would be better. (this is purely asthetics).

If you get that first pile built up quickly then the kids will get more enthusiastic next year when the pile is ready to use. Kids aren't exactly patient and compost takes time!

And if you bring Lloyd on down, don't let him fly, ask him to drive down with 10 cubic yards of compost for you!

Rutgers NJAES Composting Fact Sheets.

In addition, the Monmouth County Planning Board has some composting information, including a Powerpoint slide deck. Click on the link below, and scroll down to the "Composting" section.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monmouth County Recycling Office

You might try some experiments. Show the kids how to conduct some home-grown experiments.
Lasagna (compost in place) garden
Interbay mulch technique
'No turn' compost pile
vermicompost