Belmont-Redwood Shores weighs middle school options 

Before making the final decision, which may likely be closing either the middle school program at Nesbit Elementary or Sandpiper Elementary, the district’s Board of Trustees felt it was necessary to hear more from the community.

The decision to add an additional listening session was made at the second, held at Sandpiper Elementary Jan. 21. Similar to the meeting held at Nesbit earlier in the month, students, parents and staff of the elementary school showed out in numbers to share their love for their small program. 

“When it feels rushed, you might wonder if we hear you. I just want to say, at least tonight, definitely,” Trustee Jackee Bruno said.  

Both elementary schools offer unique programs. At Sandpiper, a design thinking educational framework provides a student-centered creative learning approach; at Nesbit, students can enroll in the only middle school International Baccalaureate program in the county. 

While both of these alternative models of learning were meant to inspire enrollment growth, the numbers haven’t hit the mark, Deguara said. 

“As we’ve moved through time, we realized that we haven’t seen the growth we’d hope for within both of those places,” Deguara said Wednesday. 

The district, like many others in the county, are seeing enrollment trends shrink and are developing ways to ensure quality educational services are able to be provided to students in sustainable ways.

Currently, the district offers one comprehensive sixth through eighth grade middle school, Ralston, in Belmont, and two smaller kindergarten to eighth grade schools, Sandpiper and Nesbit. 

The district is projected to have 290 fewer students in the next six years, and both of the smaller middle schools are enrolled under capacity. 

For the 2025-26 school year, 1,099 students are enrolled at Ralston Elementary. At Sandpiper, there are 123 students with 45 available; at Nesbit, there are 135 students with 33 seats available. 

Under consideration are four options, though two appear more likely: offer Ralston as the comprehensive middle school and Nesbit as the smaller alternative, or offer Ralston as the comprehensive option and Sandpiper as the alternative. 

Trustees and district staff have addressed the weight of the decision they will be making soon. Many families from both smaller programs have advocated to keep their school an option. 

The district’s geography, and the fact that students live in two cities, presents an additional point of consideration. Sandpiper Elementary, in addition to its small school model, also serves students of Redwood Shores who would otherwise have to cross the highway to attend school.

Other options include transforming the schools into two more equally sized programs — however, this would take at least three years to implement — or keep the status quo. 

Deguara said keeping the middle schools options as they are would risk the quality of services offered to students and their families. While enrollment drops, families appear to be less inclined to choose the smaller school models, Deguara said. 

“It’s becoming harder and harder for our teams to staff and teach a program that is dwindling,” Deguara said.

Before making a final decision at the board meeting, Feb. 12, a third listening session is slated for 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, in lieu of the formally planned board study session.