Willow Glen Resident

Education

Archive photograph by Vicki Thompson

Moving On: Students in the San Jose Unified School District alternative education program will relocate and no longer use the old home that housed part of the Liberty High School program.

Liberty High School students will relocate to new facilities this fall

By Laura Rheinheimer

Starting in the fall, Liberty High School students will have to travel further south to get to school.

The school, part of San Jose Unified School District's alternative education program for at-risk students who have had trouble learning in a traditional high school setting, is moving from its current location on Cottle Avenue to Allen Avenue.

The school will be housed in a group of refurbished portables about five miles from it present location.

Liberty School, a district-run program, is more than 30 years old. It's been adjacent to the Willow Glen Middle School since its inception.

The program serves students throughout district. In the spring, 340 students were enrolled in the program. This fall the district anticipates about 220 students at the start of the year. The numbers tend to increase as the school year progresses, said Frank Correa, coordinator for the Liberty High School program.

"

The new site, located on the perimeter of Action Day/Primary Plus, consists of six portables that will house three teachers in each building and a teacher's lounge. With almost 3,000 square feet more space, students and teachers will be less crowded, said Sonia Schurr, facility and property consultant for San Jose Unified School District.

The existing Cottle Avenue site consists of a small house and two modular buildings, with four to five teachers "sitting on top of each other," in each building, according to Linda Ferdig-Riley, principal of Learning Options.

The program has added one full-time teacher and one part-time teacher in the past two years, Ferdig-Riley said.

"It can get a little crowded," Correa said.

The fate of the old Cottle location is presently unknown, according to district spokeswoman Karen Fuqua. The older portable may be torn down, and Willow Glen Middle School may use the newer one. The old house may be used as new teacher housing, she said.

Teachers and staff liked the Willow Glen spot because it was in the middle of the school district, Correa said, but he doesn't think students and staff will mind the commute because they like the program.

The district, however, had been discussing the move for more than a year.

"With the new site it gives us the flexibility to work with a larger number of students," Correa said.