Portola Valley: Preschool at Town Center? Portola Valley: Preschool at Town Center? (September 08, 2004)

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

Among the many topics before the Portola Valley Town Council at the meeting on Wednesday, September 8, will be the question of whether or not to include a preschool in the redesign of Portola Valley's Town Center.

The main event of the evening will be a presentation -- by Siegel & Strain Architects -- of design alternatives that integrate feedback from a series of collaborative and structured community workshops held last spring.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. -- half an hour earlier than usual -- in the Historic Schoolhouse at 765 Portola Road.

Advocates of making space for a preschool at the Town Center include representatives from the one-room Windmill School on Alpine Road, which serves some 60 children a year, most from Portola Valley.

Each year, lack of space forces Windmill to turn away about 50 to 60 children, Carolyn Carhart-Quevada has said. Ms. Carhart-Quevada is on Windmill's board of directors. Windmill representatives have spoken frequently in public meetings concerning the Town Center redesign.

A Town Center location would insulate Windmill from rent increases and allow enrollment to double to about 120 children. The school wants two bare-bones classrooms, Ms. Carhart-Quevada has said, to which the school would add fixtures and furniture.

A fenced-in dedicated play area would be required, but the classrooms would be available for others uses after hours.

Windmill would contribute between $50,000 and $100,000 to construction and pay about $30,000 annually to the town, Ms. Carhart-Quevada has said.

The uses of the redesigned Town Center should reflect the center's current uses, said former mayor Kirke Comstock in an August 11 letter to the Almanac.

While not denying the value of preschools, Mr. Comstock cited the needs for a play area and pick-up and drop-off zones as working against the idea of locating such a school at Town Center.

Mr. Comstock also cautioned the town against involving itself in "the educational business," noting that the center's current activities for kids are recreational and informal.

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