Quality of academic programs, teachers, and facilities, Availability of music, art, sports and other extracurricular activities, Castilleja School Photo #3 - Middle School English. We've always known that this is a compromise and we are just so ready to get this done.". Castillejas supporters made sense, which is easy for them because the project makes sense. Sponsored content I think we've pretty much been saying the same thing for 5 years. All rights reserved. Nanci Kauffman, head of Castilleja, said Monday that the school is prepared to reduce its proposed square footage in accordance with the council's direction, but said she hopes this "minor change . "There are elements of the building that could be cut back and there's the space between that no longer needs access to the cellar," Hirsch said. The school has made compromises many of them and it begins to feel like (it) will never be enough. It is time to approve this and let the school go on with its modernization. It's not one blank wall. They are also asking for an exception that allows the underground garage not to count toward GFA. And because Lew's term is about to conclude and he is not seeking another term, the ultimate decision about whether the new design passes muster could hinge on a board member who has not yet been appointed and who may have other ideas about the building's design.Lee and Thompson, however, felt that the building is fine the way it is, having already gone through years of refinements and public hearings. Please. "We are saving more trees in the newest version and we're actually reducing our footprint," Kauffman said. For Reed, the latest design tweaks fail to address the overarching issue the belief of many that the school is simply asking for too much when it comes to student growth. Have you checked out Casti's tuition lately? Despite all that, deep pockets, and an army of experts, repeated trips to the drawing board are not resulting in a viable expansion plan. Threatening the well-being of protected oaks and redwoods; Palo Alto backs e-bike ban on Baylands trails, Stanford sues Santa Clara County over tax exemptions for faculty residences, Hit-and-run driver kills man, crashes into five cars Sunday morning, Santa Clara County wants to put millions into child care, California homelessness: Where are the state's billions going? Stanford also used the same old "no new car trips, trust us" claim while dramatically growing its enrollment, the number of campuses, number of housing units, the whole Hospital / health care complex etc. Why provide Castilleja. The 34-year-old got his wish . The faculty consists of approximately 70 full-time and part-time women and men. "If they were to request a 10% enrollment increase, we'd be looking at about 450 students and there's there's sufficient parking on-site for 450. Here's the new, best answer. The Almanac And they sure haven't bothered to consider the impact of a possible Churchill Ave. closure will do to an already-jammed street, one of only 3 direct access roads to/from 101. Here's a roadmap to finding the school you want. Josh Reuter has wanted to coach the football team at Mason City High School since he joined the district as a physical education teacher nine years ago. "Castilleja, for its part, has consistently rejected the notion that it is looking to "expand." One commissioner, Michael Alcheck, suggested at the onset of the meeting that the city's concerns about the proposed garage may be overblown. He said other schools that wanted to grow have moved to places with more acreage or created two locations., He added that if staff had come to us and said they have this issue about underground structures in (a residential neighborhood), maybe council couldve weighed in earlier., Castilleja Head of School Nanci Kauffman scoffed at the idea that the proposal came as a surprise, saying it was iterated multiple times based off feedback from city staff., She said she didnt understand why the council wouldnt support educating more women when were talking about not adding traffic and building a sustainable project.. It wasn't perfect, though. Suddenly, from being a reasonably quiet residential neighborhood, 75% of its students are commuting daily into the neighborhood and the school begins its continual expansion creep with an increasing number of disruptive evening and weekend events. The surface parking would be created by shifting the school's swimming pool eastward, moving the pool stairs and eliminating the below-grade ramp that was intended for deliveries and trash pickup. Period. Gennady Sheyner covers the City Hall beat in Palo Alto as well as regional politics, with a special focus on housing and transportation. Become a member today. On Wednesday night, as Castilleja held its first hearing in front of the Planning and Transportation Commission on its new plan, the panel heard from more than 50 residents, who in some cases pooled their allotted time to make longer presentation. And Online Name is right to be skeptical about the no new trips claim. Ten years. ChatGPT is fascinating and alarming educational professionals. Independent Teacher. While Castilleja has maintained that it added the garage to its plans at the behest of neighbors who wanted cars off the street, Levitsky and other members of the neighborhood group suggested on Wednesday that the facility remains incompatible with the surrounding community. of students and parents agree that students at this school are athletic. Castilleja School Photo #10 - Our multi-story athletics center includes spinning, a yoga studio, rock climbing wall, cardio room, and dance studio in addition to two full-size gymnasiums. Palo Alto backs e-bike ban on Baylands trails, Stanford sues Santa Clara County over tax exemptions for faculty residences, Hit-and-run driver kills man, crashes into five cars Sunday morning, Santa Clara County wants to put millions into child care, California homelessness: Where are the state's billions going? ", Baltay suggested that by failing to reach a consensus, the board is "doing the applicant a disservice by not providing the applicant with a solution.". Both the architectural board and the planning commission plan to hold further meetings on the proposal before it goes back to the council next year for another hearing. "Staff conceptually supports a parking adjustment for the project given the Council's direction to reduce the size of the garage and Castilleja's robust TDM plan," Lait wrote. The school makes a proposal, objections are raised, and the school responds to the objections, then new objections are raised. Isn't Palo Alto already funding and developing a teacher's housing project? INDIANAPOLIS (WNDU) - A bill passed by the Indiana Senate on Tuesday aims to help parents and perhaps prosecutors get "bad books" off the shelves of K-12 school libraries. The length and complexity of the approval process has not discouraged the school, Kauffman said, given the improvements in the project. A veteran teacher and administrator, Nanci has worked almost exclusively at all-girls schools. "We don't need a CO2-belching industrial concrete garage in our neighborhood," Levinsky told the commission. Finally, one question about the massing on Kellogg. But with enough housing to reduce these insane prices (or at least slow increases), many more staff/students could live close enough to walk or bike, and there'd be far less need for parking (and fewer complaints about traffic)." Its ridiculous that this is even being considered. Community Calendar Coach one after school team each season and fitness classes during the . of students and parents agree that students at this school are competitive. But, Castilleja has so many fun events and traditions. Education | The 42-year-old was a teacher and the head wrestling coach at J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson. Special Pubs Why are people who dont live on the street moving against the wishes of people who do? Almost three years of construction-related traffic will jam Embarcadero, already a clogged artery at key times of the day. Are they housing teachers and staff? Castilleja was named one of the Bay Area's Best Private Schools by San Jose Magazine. "There's a lot of breaks happening in its faade, there's a lot of void. I can't describe the wonderfulness of this school in this character limit, but I can tell you that the teachers are so amazing and caring; they really care about your sleep, and don't force you to do homework late in the night. The school tweeted, "Castilleja School is committed to creating an anti-racist curriculum and making space for difficult conversations about racism." . National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), top 20% of private schools in California for most sports offered, private school tuition across the country, Editorial: Veenker, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims for Palo Alto City Council (2022), Castilleja School claims Palo Alto's move to reduce proposed garage is illegal (2022), On the eve of graduation, high school seniors celebrate with a car parade (2021). And here we go again. Because it is not. One, known as Scheme B, would create a total of 83 spaces and, as such, require a 20% parking reduction, the maximum allowed under the zoning code. Funny how they could do that when, as Rita Vrhel noted in her speech, they were working with incomplete information since various critical reports were never forwarded to the decision-makers A shameful waste of taxpayers money!! Endorsements should be a few sentences in length. She noted the new buildings would be set farther back from the street than existing ones and roof lines would be lower. She was a bold and opinionated . Why can't the students park in the Baylands and shuttle in just like their teachers rather than inflicting all the construction disruption and what will be ongoing traffic problems on Palo Alto? Are you suggesting that Palo Alto's 25K taxpaying household provide/ subsidize housing for a private school whose students are 75% commuters? While emphasis is Currently Castilleja pays no property taxes on its prime real estate holdings where the school is located nor do they pay a penny for the public services they receive to this school, I bet you wouldn't be able to fight that project! Here, however, the split occurred between the five board members, who were charged with further refining the building's faade. News [Post removed; successive comments by same poster are not permitted.]. He and other members of the group Preserve Neighborhood Quality of Life Now (PNQLNow) argued that it is the school and planning staff who are responsible for the process taking so long. Mountain View Voice I don't agree that it doesn't matter the size of enrollment, because more student bodies means more parents and cars and staff, teachers, volunteers and event attendees. This suggestion would decrease construction time by 1.1 years from 34 months to 21 months. "It's ridiculous. Many of the parking/traffic remediation plans are intended to reduce car use among staff, and these likely wouldn't be required if staff could actually find moderately priced housing nearby. Not all neighbors are looking forward to the added congestion on Embarcadero that years of construction, the added enrollment and the garage would entail. The only reason anyone knew that Castilleja had surpassed their enrollment is because Castilleja got a new head who reported it. At one point they even tried to have it classified as a basement. [12], In 2007, Castilleja celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. The problem is not the neighbors. Misogyny. The school, which charges an annual tuition of $52,000, has 426 students and hopes to enroll 540 once the expansion is finished. The school's bid to expand its enrollment and reconstruct its facilities has been moving through the city's approval process since 2016, when Castilleja applied for a new conditional-use permit that would allow it to gradually grow its student population from its current level of 426 to 540. Instead, new housing construction has consistently fallen short of local job growth for decades, then the people blocking housing have the gall to complain about teachers or students who need to live far away and drive here. ", "There is no reason for the underground garage," Reed said. I cant but help think that if Casti truly feels it is so important to increase the number of young women benefiting from their education, Casti would want to move to a location where they can grow and not limit this wonderful opportunity to only 540 young women. contributing global citizens. Your support is vital to us continuing to bring you city government news. Does Casti even pay PA taxes? "Castilleja operates under a CUP (conditional use permit) which is a privilege and not an entitlement," Sylvester said. Print Edition/Archives "The length and complexity of the approval process has not discouraged the school, Kauffman said, given the improvements in the project. Castilleja also remains true to the 5 C's - conscience, Roy, I'm well aware that the earlier discussion about PTC decision-making wasn't specifically related to Casti but to the "Planning" department's overall performance. Let me repeat their findings: Alternative 4, the Disbursed Circulation/ No Garage Alternative-would meet the Citys Municipal Code requirements providing 104 parking spaces, which is based on the number of teaching stations. The school desperately needs to modernize the buildings and the process in order to do so has been ridiculous. The Almanac Books & Uniforms (new or used): $650 - 1,100 Castilleja Head of School GUIDING THEMES Each year, Ms. KauffmanHA carefully selects a theme for the school year and distributes a sticker on opening day: Belonging 2019-20, Justice 2020-21,. If the project advances, the floor area would be 128,687 square feet, according to planning staff.Nanci Kauffman, Castilleja's head of school, told this news of organization that the school believes its new plans "check all the boxes" when it comes to addressing concerns from residents, city commissioners and the council. [8] She was encouraged by Stanford's first president, David Starr Jordan, to start a school that would offer girls a comprehensive, college preparatory education. Based on recent reviews by an independent consultant, the city determined that Castilleja has an existing gross floor area of 138,345 square feet. Because of its aggressive transportation-demand-management program, which includes shuttles, carpool programs and a requirement that staff drive no more than twice per week, Castilleja would also receive a 14% reduction in parking requirement from the city. "Our plan now checks all the boxes," Kauffman told the planning commission Wednesday night. And more opportunity, This needs to be approved. Castilleja School ranks among the top 20% of private schools in California for: Highest average SAT score, Highest average ACT score, Largest student body, Most sports offered, Oldest founding date and Largest endowments. placed on academic development, Castilleja is just as committed to "We don't need a CO2-belching industrial concrete garage in our neighborhood," Levinsky told the commission. She currently serves on the Boards of Trustees of the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), Wagner College in New York City and the Peninsula Bridge organization in San Mateo. Tried to have it classified as a basement to modernize the buildings and the process in order to do has... Castilleja operates under a CUP ( conditional use permit ) which is for. Who do compromises many of them and it begins to feel like ( )! Focus on housing and transportation just so ready to get this done. `` one point they even tried have! 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