Castilleja School is a top rated, private, all-girls school located in PALO ALTO, CA. It was then that I recognized the unique potential of an all-girls learning environment to empower young womento find their voices. Vandermade, a graduate of Mater Dei-Santa Ana and the . Nanci Kauffman, Castilleja's head of school, assured both panels in recent meetings that the school has already made many compromises with neighbors and urged them to approve the project and allow the school to increase enrollment. The school tweeted, "Castilleja School is committed to creating an anti-racist curriculum and making space for difficult conversations about racism." . Castilleja School Photo #6 - Sophomores tackle chemistry class. To sfvalley: A shuttle would then bring them to the campus. From that moment on, I was determined to make excellence in single-sex education accessible to as many girls as possible. Three of Castilleja's proposed designs include 52 underground parking spaces, while two other options have 57 and 69 underground spaces, respectively.So far, planning staff is leaning toward what's known as "Scheme E," which combines a 52-space underground garage with 11 new at-grade parking spaces. There's also something called little C at the end of the day, where the teachers also help you. Just think about what that means. They are creating a need that is already satisfied with current conditions. Well have to continue to deliberate.. Castilleja School would see its floor area reduce to 128,687 square feet under its revised modernization plan at its Palo Alto campus. Castilleja is an independent 6th - 12th grade girls' school in Palo Alto, California, founded in 1907.. "That can be reduced so the building would be pushed back.". And isn't the staff already stuck parking in the Baylands and being shuttled onto campus while students will use the campus parking? I challenge those folks to say that Castilleja's traffic and/or parking impact on the neighborhood right now is even measurable. Promotions It also dragged because of the lengthy speeches on how Casti could end misogyny right here in our own times. Andie Reed, one of the group's co-founders, noted that even the revised project includes elements that residents have consistently deemed to be problematic namely, an underground garage that many believe is incompatible with the neighborhood. In 2019, the school submitted plans to rebuild most of its campus, which calls for demolishing and rebuilding three buildings on its campus, relocating the swimming pool and adding an underground parking structure.The school's modernization plans have polarized the Professorville and Old Palo Alto neighborhoods, with some residents panning Castilleja's construction plan as a colossal overreach and an affront on the surrounding single-family neighborhood, and others calling a sorely needed upgrade for an acclaimed institution dedicated to educating young women. And Online Name is right to be skeptical about the no new trips claim. There aren't endless acres of undeveloped, properly zoned/approved PA land, just waiting for more single family homes to be built - we need to build many more duplexes, triplexes, apartments, etc, on the finite amount of land we have. Now, Castilleja has slashed the size of the garage - and in so doing is saving trees and green space, and avoiding disturbing the neighborhood with the sights and sounds of street level parking. Also, please realize that if any of the students are on a club sport, they will be driving or having someone come pick them up; don't think that they will take a train or public transit. "We take cars off the street, we save additional trees, we reduce our footprint, we exceed Palo Alto's sustainability goals and we educate more girls.". . Castilleja is the only non-sectarian all-girls middle and high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. The school makes a proposal, objections are raised, and the school responds to the objections, then new objections are raised. The population has grown enormously, and blocking those new people from accessing nearby housing and education runs counter to the progressive/inclusive/climate-conscious values touted by everyone's yard signs. Here's the new, best answer. After graduation, 100% of students from this school go on to attend a 4-year college. Thank you Castilleja! 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). Endorse Castilleja School. [5], In 1910, the school moved to its present location at 1310 Bryant Street, and the first structure was the administration building, designed by architect Roy C. Heald in American Craftman style. Blah. The school, which charges an annual tuition of $52,000, has 426 students and hopes to enroll 540 once the expansion is finished. For those craving true diversity, especially socio-economically, racially, politically, and disability-wise, this is not the school for you. [3][4], Castilleja was founded in 1907 by Mary Ishbel Lockey. Tuition is for the highest grade offered and may have changed for the current school year. The two major points were a scaled down garage and a plan to manage traffic. Almost three years of construction-related traffic will jam Embarcadero, already a clogged artery at key times of the day. Us 6th graders won the tug of war for Spirit Week, and I'm so excited for the Haunted House on Monday! He graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in print/digital reporting and a minor in political science and German. Promotions "The TDM plan has been further enhanced and is expected to result in reduced parking demand.". "The planning commission, which had already reviewed and approved an earlier version of this plan, is expected to dive into the details of the current one at its upcoming meeting." The information contained in these 2 reports should cause the PTC to send Castillejas expansion plans back to the drawing board. The overall expansion wouldnt be nearly as massive as other school redevelopments on the Peninsula, she added. 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. It wasn't perfect, though. When added to 26 surface spaces that currently exist and that would remain, Scheme E creates a total of 89 spaces. Castilleja School 5.00 (1 review) 1310 Bryant St Palo Alto, CA 94301 Tel: (650) 328-3160 www.castilleja.org REQUEST INFO SAVE SCHOOL Castilleja School educates motivated young women to become confident thinkers and compassionate leaders with a sense of purpose to effect change in the world. Uploaded: Thu, Dec 9, 2021, 9:43 am Embarcadero Media file photo by Sinead Chang. The other, known as Scheme A, creates 104 spaces but it does so by utilizing space on an athletic field, an option that both staff and Castilleja are hoping to avoid. OOPS! Neighbors and some council members have been distrustful of the school since learning in 2013 that it had been violating its 415-student enrollment cap for decades. Will his actions on this reflect that? Every single one of my classmates will become amazing women when they grow up, and Castilleja has been instrumental in developing our confidence, poise, ability to express ourselves, and compassion for others. The assertion that the neighbors are to blame for "holding up the entire project" is not credible. 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. All rights reserved. There aren't many Black students, which my Black friends said harmed their experience. The Casti supporters who spoke about the benefits of having an all-girls education were addressing the value that Castilleja provides to the community. If the project advances, the floor area would be 128,687 square feet, according to planning staff. I live within steps of people who have posted above and are persistently concerned about the "expansion". Once again, the school leaders have made significant changes in response to feedback. A related question to massing of the Kellogg building is Why did the ARB reverse its decision of early this year to approve the Kellogg building design, when NO changes had been made to the design since then? Technology evolves. Yes there will be construction inconveniences, but it's called progress. "There's a lot of breaks happening in its faade, there's a lot of void. Place a Legal Notice It is time to send this back to the Council for their final approval. 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. TownSquare This time its in the form of a planned underground parking structure that school and city planning officials describe as a basement but a majority of Palo Alto City Council members consider a garage. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? The school's modernization plans have polarized the Professorville and Old Palo Alto neighborhoods, with some residents panning Castilleja's construction plan as a colossal overreach and an affront on the surrounding single-family neighborhood, and others calling a sorely needed upgrade for an acclaimed institution dedicated to educating young women. [11], In 2016, Castilleja announced its intentions to build an underground parking garage and upgrade and replace buildings to increase enrollment to 540 students. 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. Books & Uniforms (new or used): $650 - 1,100 To allow a private, tax-exempt educational institution to dramatically expand its enrollment, which largely consists of young women who live elsewhere and will likely contribute absolutely nothing to the community once they graduate. I know the value of this education, as my daughter was fortunate enough to have gone there for 7 years. I have lost confidence in the Palo Alto Planning organization and the City Council members. For me, the bottom line is education, accessible in our community, and respectful of the neighbors. Average ACT composite score out of 36, as reported by Niche users from this school. Here's the new, best answer. No new traffic. One reason this has taken so long is that the applicant has persisted with plans that include an enormous garage. 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