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Schools
August 25, 2010 ■ Stories about local schools A
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New school facilities greet Menlo Park students
future
By Sandy Brundage Photos by Michelle Le
The Hillview Middle School campus, where new classrooms will rise on the grounds of the former play area. At the site is Ahmad Sheikholeslami, director of facilities and construction for the Menlo Park City School District. Interior of a new room at Laurel School in Atherton.
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uilt during the 1950s, the schools of the Menlo Park City School District five decades later showed signs of the wear and tear inflicted by thousands of students. Students overflowed into portable classrooms on cramped campuses, which also lacked modernizations meant to make school more accessible for the disabled. But now, even the gyms smell new.
In 2006, voters passed a bond measure to raise $91 million to renovate the four campuses to accommodate a projected 18 percent growth in enrollment by 2014. The new buildings should last at least 30 years, said Ahmad Sheikholeslami, district director of facilities and construction. These facilities now incorporate recycled materials wherever possible, from the floors to the furniture, along with other
environmentally friendly measures such as ceiling fans and synthetic grass. The school district is also counting on $9.4 million in matching funds from the state — but that money has yet to arrive, due to California’s dire economic situation. The district hopes the money arrives during the 2010-11 school year, Ahmad Sheikholeslami said. Here’s where the money went:
Hillview Middle School
Encinal Elementary School
Oak Knoll Elementary School
Laurel Elementary School
(9.36-acre campus for grades 6-8) Status: Under way
(10-acre campus for grades K-5) Status: Ready
(8.13-acre campus for grades K-5) Status: Ready
(6.5-acre campus for grades K-2) Status: Ready
The existing buildings at Elder Street will serve as a temporary home for the school until construction of 80,000 square feet of facilities, including two-story buildings, on an open field finishes by 2012. By moving 11 portable classrooms, the project team carved out an interim blacktop court for basketball, volleyball and handball, said
Construction began three years ago to make room for fourth and fifth grades at this elementary school. Now the Encinal campus on Encinal Avenue sports 19 new classrooms, a 4,500-squarefoot multi-purpose room, stage, and revamped playground. Students can stretch their legs on a new trackand-field that’s nearly twice as large as a professional football field, which was completed in 2008.
As with the other campuses, the drop-off and pickup zone on the Oak Knoll Lane campus were reconfigured for easier access, said Mr. Sheikholeslami. A consolidated field and playground is nearly twice as big as the old arrangement. The architecture of the new two-story classroom building reflects the residential feel of the neigh-
On Edge Road, the Laurel school not only has five new classrooms and three multipurpose rooms, but also a renovated field and playground. Landscaping cleared away overgrown shrubs, while walkways are now smooth and lit by lamps to reduce accidents, Mr. Sheikholeslami said. “It was a jungle, and not very friendly,” he noted while
See OAK KNOLL, page 19
See LAUREL, page 19
See HILLVIEW, page 19
A newly built gymnasium at Oak Knoll School.
One of 19 new classrooms in the fourth- and fifth-grade complex built at Encinal School. These rooms have energy-efficient lighting and were built with recycled materials. August 25, 2010 N The Almanac N 17