Willow Glen Resident
News
Willow Glen Elementary School children begin a new year
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
It's that time of year again. New backpacks bounce on the backs of children, parents escort their charges through the crosswalks and teachers wait to greet them all.
Lincoln and Minnesota avenues are once again crowded with neighborhood youth swarming toward an old school with a new downtown skyline.
Willow Glen Elementary School has been remade from the ground up into a two-story Spanish-style completed just in time for the start of the 2007-08 school year. There are 14 new classrooms as well as new bathrooms.
"There's nothing more exciting than starting over," Willow Glen Elementary School principal Dayle D'Anna tells the crowd of children, parents and teachers gathered in front of the new building during the ribbon cutting on Aug. 28.
"This new building leaves me speechless. I am so happy for you children. You get to live in it, study in it," she says. "This is for the children, and I am so proud to work here."
The $5.1 million school building is part of a two-year modernization project at the elementary school. The $11 million total will include the removal of existing portables, remodeling the existing main building and multipurpose room and upgrading the school's grass field. The 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.
Parent Teacher Association president and Willow Glen Elementary School parent Leslie Chamberlain spent Aug. 27 packing lunches and getting backpacks ready.
"I had butterflies in my stomach, like a kid on their first day back at school," Chamberlain says.
Her two sons, fifth-grader Max and second-grader Sam, were just as excited to see their new school.
"It shows the children that we're investing in their future," she says. "It shows them that we are willing to put the time, energy and money into this."
Willow Glen Elementary is unique among area schools because it's located in the heart of the downtown community.
"This new building will make our community members and merchants alike proud of having our school in the downtown," Chamberlain says.
The former main classroom building is also undergoing a facelift. Its open layout will be replaced with permanent walls in order to reduce noise levels. The multipurpose room will also be modernized, but on this day, none of that matters.
Students line up with their teachers. They fidget, anxious to run up the stairs into their new classrooms.
The school's mascot, Bob the tiger, prepares the scissors and with one swift movement cuts the yellow tape. Years of anticipation and waiting slip away as the tape flutters to the ground.
"It's very hard to communicate this prideful feeling," D'Anna says. "It's going to become much more of a harmonious community. We've been through it together and the outcome, and the value of the experience enriches us as a community."
Getting to the new school year was a long and at times bumpy road.
The 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 discussed.
The debate over time gave way to mutual excitement as the building began taking shape.
"It's surprising," D'Anna says. "You get reminded that community projects do build relationships."
It began in the spring with the groundbreaking.
"Now, we're saying we're going to miss the construction guys," D'Anna says. "They were incredibly considerate, and it was such a positive experience."
The school's new building is not the only one of its kind, D'Anna says, but it is uncommon.
"It's a landmark construction," she says. "The quality of the exterior shows the importance placed by the community on what takes place inside. It provides pride for the neighborhood and gives pride inside."
This recent addition to the school is one in a long line of builds, rebuilds and additions.
The first school opened in November 1863 at the northwest corner of Lincoln Avenue and Malone Road. In 1897, a larger school was built on the southwest corner of Lincoln and Minnesota avenues. That school lasted 27 years, before it was torn down to make way for a larger facility in 1924. This two-story building survived for almost five decades. In 1971 the structure was torn down and rebuilt as a one-story building to conform to earthquake standards.
"The school is experiencing a renaissance of sorts," says PTA communications chair and Willow Glen Elementary parent Marilyn Ritchie. "We are now a California Distinguished school and our test scores have been on a rise for the last eight years. Our exterior is now as inspiring as all the things that are happening inside."
The school's progress will only continue with this latest addition to the 144-year-old school, says Willow Glen Elementary parent Lucy Timoteo.
"If the kids see things are nicer, they may put their heart into it," Timoteo says. "They are going to see that people are giving them a nice place to learn."
Timoteo is counting on the positive momentum from the new building to spread into the community.
"There are many residents that live in the neighborhood around the school," Timoteo says. "We want them to see that Willow Glen is working hard to build a better school. We hope that they will notice that it's a good school, that there are good teachers and good programs."
