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A rendering of a new two-story building at Menlo-Atherton High School showed up in a presentation to the board of the Sequoia Union High School District on Dec. 9.
Architect Aaron Jobson of the Santa Rosa firm Quattrocchi Kwok Architects said the 21-classroom building will replace Building G at the rear of the campus next to the open basketball courts. Mr. Jobson is the executive architect for the district’s master plan.
The building would replace 10 classrooms and add 11.
The Sequoia district is rebuilding parts of all the campuses in anticipation of an enrollment surge of at least 22 percent by the 2020-21 school year, much of it coming from schools in and around Menlo Park and in Belmont and San Carlos.
A schematic drawing of the M-A building shows eight classrooms on the first floor and 13 on the second. There is a courtyard and space for outdoor dining as well as classrooms with partition options. Between many of the classrooms are small shared-project spaces.
A two-story building with 10 classrooms is planned for Woodside High School, Mr. Jobson said, but the presentation did not include either a rendering or a schematic.
Will the district build everything it’s planned? The construction environment in the Bay Area is currently highly competitive, Superintendent Jim Lianides said. In 2007-08, also a time of brisk resource competition, the Sequoia district was building M-A’s performing arts center and competition was escalating the costs of commodities such as steel and concrete. This time around, the cost of labor is the escalation factor, Mr. Lianides said.
There will be unexpected costs, including site preparation for new construction, Enrique Navas, the district’s chief financial officer, said. At M-A, the district discovered that improvements in infrastructure for water supply and electric power will be needed for the new classroom building, he said.
Coordination will be key. In addition to building two new high schools, the district will be expanding capacity on all four comprehensive campuses and at Redwood (Continuation) High School and East Palo Alto Academy, a charter school now overseen by the Sequoia district.
Sequencing the work to stay ahead of escalation and having enough money to complete the work will be a challenge, said M-A Principal Matthew Zito. Over the next six months, Mr. Zito will be moving out of his principal role and into his new full-time job as the district’s chief facilities officer.
The board will want to be apprised of changes in project scope, board President Allen Weiner said, preferably with one-page updates, and “sooner rather than later,” he said.
Board member Olivia Martinez recommended that the public also be kept up-to-date on changes via the district website.
