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The Las Lomitas School District, home to La Entrada (grades 4-8) and Las Lomitas (kindergarten to grade 3), has been busy over the summer planning for the expansion of its two school campuses.
At La Entrada, where a two-story building will eventually be constructed, three portable classrooms were moved onto the campus over the summer. The portables will allow classes to continue uninterrupted when construction begins, which will probably not be for at least 18 months, said Eric Holm, director of bond projects
for the district.
In addition, the district has been trying out modular classroom furniture that can quickly be reconfigured to suit the teacher’s lesson plan or activity, Mr. Holm said. One teacher who tried the flexible furniture last year had six room setups that students could reset in less than a minute.
Last year, four La Entrada classrooms tried out the new furniture: three seventh-grade classes and one fifth-grade class. This year two fourth-grade classrooms will also get the flexible furniture.
New construction
Next on the agenda for the district is detailed planning for the changes on each campus.
La Entrada will get a two-story, 22-classroom building, a reconfigured blacktop area, and a covered lunch area added.
Las Lomitas will get a new kindergarten area, updated parking and drop-off areas, second-story classroom spaces, and a covered lunch area.
To help with the planning, the district has conducted traffic studies at La Entrada and surveys at both sites to learn how students get to and from school. Both construction sites have been surveyed and the district is beginning work on CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) studies for the new construction, Mr. Holm said.
“There will be many more meetings as the plans start to take shape,” Mr. Holm said, including PTA and community meetings as well as updates on the district’s website.
The construction will be paid for by the sale of $60 million in bonds approved by the voters in November 2013.
The school’s website has construction updates.