San Mateo’s North Central neighborhood school plans taking shape

The discussion Thursday, June 10, advanced a plan crafted several years ago, when officials formed a committee to determine next steps for building a new Foster City elementary campus as well as establishing the North Central school.

Trustees expressed their appreciation for the consultant’s report, which emphasized the importance of creating a school environment that serves as a community hub — celebrating and building on the value of the local culture.

“I’m excited/ready to change history there and make sure that the community does feel the support they need. They can have a school that they deserve and be proud of. That we can all be proud of,” said board Vice President Alison Proctor.

According to the consultant’s recommendation, officials should look to establish a community school for the North Central neighborhood at the College Park campus on Indian Avenue, between Humboldt and Delaware streets. The academic program should be crafted according to feedback from local residents, who said they have historically felt overlooked and neglected by district officials.

Beyond culturally-sensitive curriculum, the school should also provide a variety of support services that advance student development and benefit the broader community. Programmatic suggestions include before- and after-school programs, language classes, adult education services and other similar initiatives.

Additionally, the consultant’s report calls for the district hiring an equity officer focused on assuring implementation of policy accommodating a diverse student population and extending those efforts through an administrator at the North Central school.

Looking ahead, the district should establish a strategy for meeting the current needs of students and the community, while also anticipating how to evolve programs in a fashion suitable for addressing emerging interests.

The variety of proposals resonated with Trustee Lisa Warren.

“I do wholeheartedly believe that North Central needs their own campus. They need to have a community school. The need to have something within their neighborhood,” she said.

While fellow officials concurred, they noted there are hard decisions ahead regarding how the College Park campus will be used. The district’s Mandarin immersion program currently occupies the site, and some trustees raised reservations about the idea of the two programs sharing the location.

Additionally, trustees noted that the district owns the former Knolls campus, which could be used to house the Mandarin immersion program if the North Central school ultimately takes over the entire College Park campus.

But Board President Ken Chin showed some discomfort with that idea, because the Knolls campus has long been out of use as a regular school site and he expected a significant amount of work would be needed to make it suitable for students again.

“I’m open to these conversations. I think it is a great start. I’m very excited. But there are a lot of unknowns and I think we will have to continue down this path to see where we go from here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trustee Noelia Corzo urged swift action by her colleagues on the board as well as the rest of the district administration regarding formation of the neighborhood school.

Nodding to the academic challenges students from the North Central community have historically faced, as well as recent reports showing that intervention is needed to improve performance among students with the same demographic profile, Corzo called for immediate movement.

“I just can’t stress this enough — this is an emergency. We have to do these things and prioritize them properly,” she said.

For her part, Corzo said she believed work on forming the North Central school’s vision should start this summer.

Superintendent Joan Rosas, who is retiring soon, said she has already started work with her successor Diego Ochoa on the planning process and expects the vision to start taking shape in short order.

“This is very exciting. It’s a project that will impact the whole district in a very positive way. And it will bring to light some of the needs we are working on. So I look forward to seeing what you imagine during the summer, and your new superintendent is well aware of this project and ready to get started,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com