City Beat

River Glen Elementary moves to Broadway campus

School is getting a remodel and a new classroom building

By Kate Carter

Students and staff at River Glen Elementary started the new school year with remodeled classrooms and a new building at a new location on Broadway Avenue.

The move from their old location on Bird Avenue and Pine Street was completed just before students arrived on Aug. 30, said River Glen Principal Cecilia Barrie.

"Teachers and office staff worked extremely hard to make sure everything was ready for the first day of school," she said. "I'm impressed with the hard work by the district. They accomplished a lot in a short amount of time."

San Jose Unified School District officials decided in early 1999, to move River Glen to the former site of the Broadway Continuation High School, (and before that the Broadway Elementary School) to make room for construction of a new elementary school desperately needed by the school district, district spokesman Bill Erlundsen said.

At the time, River Glen parents and teachers didn't see why they should have to give up their large site and good location.

"We liked the old site because it was large and across from the River Glen Park," Barrie said. "At that site, there was the option of expanding the school."

River Glen is a two-way bilingual immersion school, the only magnet school of its kind in San Jose Unified. More than 500 students in kindergarten through eighth grades, from all over the district, attend the award-winning program.

Native English- and Spanish-speaking students--many from Willow Glen and downtown San Jose--must begin the program in the first two years of their elementary education to attend. Initially, they receive instruction primarily in Spanish to provide an alternative to the English they hear most of the time.

"English is all around us," said Barrie. "That's why, in school, we have to create an environment where Spanish is the dominant language."

Instruction in English is added incrementally as students advance.

The school community wanted to keep open the possibility for expanding the program, and staying in the site where the new Ernesto Galarza Elementary School is being built would have allowed them to do that.

River Glen's current enrollment fills their new location to its capacity, with three classrooms each for kindergarten through third grade and two each for fourth through eighth.

Barrie, however, says that it was unlikely that the school would have expanded.

"There are many benefits to having a small school," she said. Barrie said she wouldn't have wanted the school to grow. Instead, she supports replicating the program at a new school.

Although their new space is smaller, River Glen students and staff have a nicer campus, said district spokesman Erlundsen. He said that their old school operated out of portable buildings.

"When you make changes, people wonder what will the end result be," Erlundsen said. "People have adjusted."

Barrie said she is satisfied with the new school.

"Once the district decided to move, they did an excellent job of remodeling the site and built a brand new two-story classroom building," Barrie said.

The district began construction this past spring, after the continuation high school moved out. New heating and air-conditioning systems were installed and many cosmetic improvements were made, including new paint, carpeting, landscaping and furniture.

Playgrounds from the old site were reinstalled at the Broadway location and new sod was laid by the playground, that students should be able to enjoy in a few weeks, said Barrie. An outdoor eating and crafts area, as well as a new stage in the cafeteria, have yet to be completed.

River Glen is a nationally recognized program and will keep its name. The school hosts monthly tours of educators interested in learning from River Glen's methods, and the former principal, Rosa Molina, is now a national consultant in bilingual education, Barrie said.

River Glen is one of only six schools in the district recognized last year as a California Distinguished School, an honor based on high test scores, parent involvement and teacher professional development, she said. It has qualified to apply for recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School.

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