Pre-K expansion, steady enrollment and facility upgrades: Here’s what’s happening at local schools this year

School administrators across south San Mateo County have a unified message to share with the community: This year is about getting back to business academically.

“Curriculum will be, finally, front and center,” said Roberta Zarea, superintendent of the Portola Valley School District. “In the previous years, it’s been the pandemic and a lot of work around that.”

While COVID-19 is still very much among us, dealing with it has become second nature for educational institutions as they enter their fourth school year with the virus circulating. What was once a constantly shifting target that took up massive amounts of staff time – both for teachers and district officials – is now settling into the background, school officials told The Almanac ahead of the first day of school.

The majority of schools in Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside started back on Aug. 16, with others kicking things off a week later on Aug. 23, and a few as late as Aug. 29. Between new class offerings, state-of-the-art facilities upgrades, and program expansions, students will have more academic opportunities at their fingertips than ever before, and district administrators are eager to welcome them back.

Facilities upgrades

Some schools have brand new buildings to unveil to students this year, while others are in the midst of construction, but nearly every district has facilities upgrades on the mind in a post-pandemic world.

Thanks to the Measure Z bond supported by voters in 2018, students in the Portola Valley School District will get to explore multiple brand new academic spaces when school starts on Aug. 29. At Corte Madera School, there’s a new atrium wing specifically for middle school students.

“The atrium actually frames Windy Hill,” Superintendent Zarea said. “The architect built it so that you can look out and see Windy Hill in the background. So it really integrates the beauty and nature of Portola Valley.”

On the fourth and fifth grade side of Corte Madera’s campus, there’s a new science wing with a deck that looks out into the school’s frog pond, “a special preserve for nature here in Portola Valley,” Zarea said.

Both Corte Madera and Ormondale schools have new play structures ready for kids to get their energy out during recess, as well as new fields. Ormondale will also unveil a new STEAM center.

Campuses in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District, where classes began Aug. 16, are in the final stages of receiving a “complete facelift” with facilities modernizations, said Communications and Community Engagement Coordinator Kelli Twomey. Those renovations should finish up by the end of this school year, she said.

“It’s retrofitting the buildings, replacing roofs and then replacing infrastructure and systems within the buildings,” Twomey said. “All of it’s funded from bonds, from the support of our community, and all of it’s going to enhance the educational environment for our students and our teaching staff.”

Ravenswood City School District, which came back Aug. 16, has also made the most of local bond measures and is in the final stages of renovating Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School.

“Our students will be able to move into brand new classrooms and our first two-story building in our school district when we come back from winter break,” said Ravenswood Superintendent Gina Sudaria. “We’re really excited about the community support and for it to come into fruition, about making our middle school a true hub for all students in our community.”

Expanding pre-kindergarten opportunities

Menlo Park City School District, which started Aug. 23, spent the summer getting classrooms ready for the littlest kids on campus, the transitional kindergarteners (TK).

MPCSD already had a TK program at Laurel School last year, but starting this year, all elementary schools in the district will welcome TK students to campus.

“It has taken a lot of time and planning, but we’re excited about the program,” said Superintendent Kristen Gracia. “We’re also tapping into and partnering with Newton Center, which runs our after (school) care here in the Menlo Park City School District. They’re also providing TK aftercare, so that’s an expansion of their program as well.”

As the state ramps up its requirements for schools to provide pre-kindergarten programs, local districts are largely ahead of the curve, offering TK sooner and to younger kids than they’re obligated to currently. By the 2025-26 school year, local educational agencies are required to make TK available to all children who will have their fourth birthday by Sept. 1 of the school year, according to state law.

For schools that already have TK programs in place, children are eligible this school year if they turn 5 years old between September 2, 2023, and April 2, 2024.

Woodside School District, which welcomed students back on Aug. 16, was among the first to implement a TK program over a decade ago, according to Superintendent Steve Frank. That program is still going strong, and will be following state age guidelines going into this next school year.

Las Lomitas Elementary School District saw a big surge in TK enrollment last year, and continues to increase going into the 2023-24 year, Twomey said. The district had 58 TK students enrolled last year and is expecting 79 this year.

Portola Valley School District also expanded its TK program last year, inviting all kids who turn 4 by Sept. 1, well ahead of the state requirement to do so.

“This year is our second year, but we are really proud of that program,” Superintendent Zarea said. “We have a brand new TK teacher as well, to replace a teacher who retired.”

Ravenswood similarly started offering TK to all 4-year-olds beginning last year, Superintendent Sudaria said.

“It’s really just building upon that and making sure every member of our community knows that if your child is 4, they can start school immediately in Ravenswood,” Sudaria said. “We have the capacity and we have the staffing to support TK expansion.”

Enrollment and beyond

Other than the schools where TK is seeing a big lift, district administrators reported little change in overall enrollment numbers this year.

“We’re pretty stable,” said Portola Valley School District Superintendent Zarea. “That’s actually encouraging because for a while, especially during lockdown and the pandemic, there was a dip. Now it seems like we’re back up to where we were prior to the pandemic, and the numbers are pretty stable.”

Sequoia Union High School District, which welcomed students back to campus on Aug. 16, also reported stable enrollment going into this school year. The district is unveiling a few new classes this year: Film as Literature and Music Theory Fundamentals at Menlo-Atherton High School, and a Kinesiology career technical education class at East Palo Alto Academy.

Sequoia Union is entering a new LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) cycle, a tool that school districts use to set goals and plan for the future. District Public Information Officer Arthur Wilkie said communication and meeting people where they are will be the district’s biggest priorities going forward.

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