Spring Grove gets facelift
View Master Plan below
Overnight one June weekend, 16 classrooms at Spring Grove School were emptied of their contents, and within days, the classrooms themselves disappeared.
It’s no cause for panic. In fact, the Case of the Disappearing Classrooms is good news.
Removal of the classrooms is the most visible step so far in a campus wide renovation that will see 16 new classrooms ready for use when students return to class on September 12th – promise.
Most of the classrooms that were removed were portables between 30 and 35 years old, but some date back to 1959 – virtual classroom Methuselah’s in classroom terms. Classrooms see a lot of hard use, and these were showing their age.
Superintendent Howard Chase earlier this year
described having to file the bottoms off classroom doors to get them to shut.The old portables will not be missed, and the new classrooms are attractive, modern buildings whose modular construction will not easily be discerned.
So far, everything is on schedule for the Sept. 12 school bells, according to Jim O’Donnell, Director of Maintenance, Operations and Transportation for North County School District.
“It only took about three to four hours to empty out those classrooms,” O’Donnell said. “We were really dreading it – afraid nobody would show up to help with the move. But three or four dozen parents and volunteers were on the job.”
Utilities and ground preparation began at the end of June. After the new classrooms go in, utilities will be hooked up and they’ll be ready. “I’m not worried about obstacles,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve got 16 down and we’ll put 16 back.”
School is starting next fall two weeks later than typical, but other than that, the entire transformation will not affect students at all.
The $3 million renovation project is being handled by Cal-Air, a Sacramento-based construction firm that works all over California. The classrooms are produced by a Manteca firm. The only direct cost to North County School District is covered by a $400,000 loan from a local bank, with the rest covered by state funds.
North County Joint Union School District
Spring Grove School Improvements
Site Master Plan by WLC Architects
 Congratulations
Anzar High School
Anzar High School’s unique approach to education this spring attracted attention far beyond its quiet setting. Anzar was recognized as a 2005 California Distinguished School. Only schools meeting a rigorous set of criteria are invited to apply for the award.
Anzar serves the communities of San Juan and Aromas. With an enrollment of just over 300, it contrasts markedly with burgeoning San Benito High School in size.
The school curriculum emphasizes critical thinking skills. Every teacher at the school also serves as an adviser, working with a small group of students from the time they arrive.
A key component in reaching that goal is a series of exhibitions each student must complete to qualify for graduation. Students select their own topics. The exhibitions are to be passion or interest based. Once research is completed, students are expected to complete a college-level paper, and submit a presentation to a panel drawn from the community
Service learning is another piece of the Anzar success story. All students are expected to contribute to the larger community.
The result is that nearly 100 percent of Anzar’s graduating class is prepared for college, if that is what they elect to do. Principal Charlene McKowen calls the emphasis on research and critical thinking “habits of mind” and she has said the goal is that no student receives a diploma “without knowing how to think.”
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