New school meets the old school

"They're excited for lockers," Principal Jacqueline McEvoy said Thursday. "I keep telling them, look at the rest of the building."

The new school has 56 new classrooms and 140,000 square feet of space - compared with 94,000 square feet in the old school. It has a new U-shaped quadrangle to replace a T shape, and includes new computer labs, administrative offices, a student health center, staff lounges, a $2 million swimming pool and a library with a fireplace.

Students traipsed around the halls Thursday taping orange- and black-lettered posters. One read, "Class of '06, the first and only." It is obvious the new school is well-liked, but the road to its completion was not an easy one for administrators.

After two failed bond attempts in 1998 and 1999, voters approved a $137.5 million bond in 2000 with 70 percent of the vote. Combined with other money, the district had $234.5 million to renovate its six high schools.

San Mateo High stands about three miles from the San Andreas Fault, and a study in May 2001 found the school unfit to handle a large earthquake. Students were moved to portable classrooms during the spring semester.

In September 2001, the school district was sued by preservationists from Save San Mateo High School, who said the bond allowed the school to be demolished rather than renovated. Litigation spanned 15 months, and a judge found alternatives to new construction not feasible in terms of safety and cost. The school began construction in February 2003.

"It's been a really challenging journey to get to where we are today," said Paul Bunton, president of Bunton Clifford Associates, the architect firm that designed the school.

In the spring of 2003, another discovery was made.

Construction workers found an arm bone, portions of a skull and a shin bone more from an Ohlone Indian burial site near the center of where the quad now stands. The bones were more than 100 years old, and with a shaman's blessing, returned to the site, administrators said. The discovery did not delay the project, and Ohlone leaders requested it not be marked.

Tributes were also made to the old school.

The facade on Delaware Street is nearly identical to the old school, built in 1926, and a fireplace mantel has been reused in the library. Workers shaped the fireplace with mortar on Thursday steps from a row of computers.

Tiles from the old school have also been re-used in the outdoor amphitheater in the quad.

Ben Merkel, a 15-year-old rising junior, was on his knees making posters with markers in the student government room that faces the amphitheater on Thursday. He said he liked the new school.

"I think it's beautiful," Merkel said. "I mean, just the potential with the amphitheater ... everything is just top of the line."

Work still needs to be done in the parking lot where the portable classrooms stood. Eight new tennis courts are planned, and three outdoor basketball courts are near some new fields. The fields are expected to open after winter break of this school year, said Bob Arnold, district associate superintendent of business services.

School starts Tuesday, and an opening ceremony for the community is planned for Oct. 15. There will be tours, a barbecue and a fund-raising dinner and auction to pay for the new computer and language lab.

The San Mateo High School Foundation has raised more than $1 million since its formation three years ago.

Sam Johnson, superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District, said the school is the result of hard work and cooperation.

"This belongs to the community," he said.

Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.