Willow Glen Resident

News

School's growing pains are almost over

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

It's been a long two years, but the Willow Glen Elementary School building under construction at the corner of Lincoln and Minnesota avenues is beginning to take shape.

"It's been a very exciting adventure," says principal Dayle D'Anna. "It's been really fun and not that inconvenient because we get to keep seeing the next new thing go up."

The $5.1 million two-story building is part of a two-year project to modernize the school. The $11 million project is funded by Measure F, a $429 million bond measure approved by voters in 2002 to upgrade San Jose Unified School District's aging facilities.

The new building will include 14 classrooms and restrooms for boys and girls. The project will be completed by August and ready to open its doors for the 2007-08 school year.

"I feel a little out of sorts sometimes because there is a continuous adjustment as things change," D'Anna says, "but the students seem to roll with it more."

Along the way, there has been an unforeseen benefit: Insight into the area's history has been unearthed during the renovation.

The construction crew discovered what appears to be an old well while crew members were clearing the construction site last year. It had the construction crew scratching their heads.

"We don't really know what it was," says PCM3 senior project manager Carlos Salazar. "It could have been a well or an old dry well that collected runoff water during the days when there were orchards here. We had the engineers come by to give us direction on the best way to cover it up."

Some of the bricks were salvaged and kept as mementos, even though the site was covered.

Another discovery was a large pair of sconces belonging to the original building, which was built using traditional Spanish-style architecture. This new building will be the third incarnation at the site.

Although no decision has been made as to what will go in the entryway to the new building, D'Anna hopes the relics can be used there. The new entryway has been designed as a detailed metal archway with etched beams overhead.

"The front of the new building is so pretty," she says. "The redwood trees have been trimmed and really balance the building. It's now such a beautiful exterior. It's gonna be nice."

Salazar says the architect purposely chose a Spanish style not to necessarily re-create the old building but to match the feel and fit of the neighborhood.

The progression of the school's new building, however, was not been without growing pains.

The construction crew broke ground at the school about a year ago, after several community meetings with the San Jose Unified School District that involved parents and community members at large.

"I think we all had opinions and all those ideas needed to be discussed," D'Anna says.

Design, placement of buildings, parking and traffic were all concerns brought up by school parents and residents.

At one point, the possibility of retail on the bottom level was brought up.

"That was hair-raising," D'Anna says, "but there's strength in opinion."

The concerns that were brought up at the beginning of the project, however, have turned into conversations about landscaping and artwork, she says. "Life just carries on."

The controversy has turned into excitement as the building process gets closer toward completion.

Parent Teacher Association president Alex Hoppe says, "There definitely were some growing pains, but overall, those concerns tend to dissipate as the building goes up. Nothing's perfect. The process has been very long and arduous, but we can't complain a whole lot. We're just thrilled we're getting a new building."

The school district will take teachers and a select group of parents on a tour of the new building June 5.

"It just puts everyone in a good place," Hoppe says," It helps to forget some of that other stuff that happened in the beginning."

The new building is just part of the modernization process. While the building is being finished this summer, the former main classroom building will be closed, and its open layout will be replaced with permanent walls in order to reduce noise levels, Salazar says. The multipurpose room will also be modernized during the summer. The new building and multipurpose room are scheduled for completion in August and the main classroom building will be finished in late September.

Teachers have already begun to pack up their classrooms. Some instructors will move into the new building: others will relocate into the portables while work on the former main building is completed.

"There will be a lot of packing and unpacking over the course of the next year," Hoppe says, " but both the teachers and the parent community are happy to see this come to fruition after all the talk and planning."

As for the new building being added to both the school and downtown's landscape, Hoppe is pleased and a little nostalgic.

"Having a permanent building on the corner like that and getting rid of the portables makes it feel like the old days of schools," Hoppe says. "The building is going to be there for a long time. A lot of thought has gone into the design. Aesthetically, it will be great and a better environment for the kids. Things like that create a motivated feeling for all involved."