School for dyslexic students seeks expansion

The Charles Armstrong School is starting to prepare for the potential uptick, unveiling its plans to expand its longstanding campus on Solana Drive. It currently serves about 250 students who have dyslexia and reading challenges, and it could see more referrals since SB 114’s passage.

“That is just being implemented in the public schools this year,” said Neil Tuch, head of school at Charles Armstrong. “We are expecting that will create a lot more awareness amongst families throughout California who understand that their students actually have a learning challenge and look for a solution.”

The legislation is not the only factor driving the proposed plans. Not only does the school want to serve more students but it also wants to be responsive to continuously evolving research on best practices, Tuch said.

“As you might imagine a lot of those changes have to do with making classes even smaller,” Tuch said. “We’ve figured out all these great research-based ways to teach our students, but we've run out of room to do so effectively.”

The proposed expansion would occur in two phases. The first would include a nearly 12,000-square-foot academic wing — comprising, in part, nine classrooms, a science lab and conference room — while the next phase would consist of an 11,000-square-foot gym and a kitchen.

The changes come two decades after the city initially rejected the school’s original expansion plans, and even all those years later, some nearby residents are still pushing back.

“Please imagine yourselves living right next to a gym and a professional kitchen that is used seven days a week and in the evenings," Jeff Criswell, who lives near the school, said during the council meeting Nov. 25. “It would not be compatible with the neighborhood. [The site] was never intended for a gymnasium. We have the same noise concerns with gym buzzers, slamming metal doors, HVAC units and loud music and cheering on a routine basis.”

Another echoed similar concerns, adding that it was an “an unpleasant surprise … to see that plan just recently, with the gym and the specific kitchen butting right up against the backyard.”

About a decade ago, some Belmont residents also objected to building the middle school for Crystal Springs Uplands School at its current location, citing concerns around noise and traffic impacts, among other issues. But after working through a collaborative plan — which includes regular traffic reports from the school to the city — Councilmember Tom McCune said it’s been a success.

“We worked through the process with them. They put together a good plan, and they've stuck with the plan,” McCune said. “They’ve consistently been under their permitted traffic counts every year that we’ve received that report, and since that project has been done I've not received one single complaint from a neighbor.”

Though the plan remains in the early stages, the City Council voiced support for the school’s expansion plans.

“I think it is reasonable that if you buy near a school, to anticipate that a school is going to do school things and grow in a way that all schools throughout our city and our county have been allowed to grow,” Councilmember Gina Latimerlo said. “These are very reasonable asks for a school.”