With its split verdict, the board gave Castilleja a somewhat confusing message, which was made more so when Lew declined to articulate what exactly he wants the school to change (the middle of the building, he said, is a "little bit muddled"). I tried to change my name from sfvalley to my initials, azr, but I guess it isn't happening. Christian high school basketball team forfeits tournament rather than play against transgender player, Opinion: Gov. "Staff conceptually supports a parking adjustment for the project given the Council's direction to reduce the size of the garage and Castilleja's robust TDM plan," Lait wrote. Castilleja School ranks among the top 20% of private schools in California for: Highest average SAT score, Highest average ACT score, Largest student body, Most sports offered, Oldest founding date and Largest endowments. The school has made compromises many of them and it begins to feel like (it) will never be enough. Mayor Tom DuBois agreed, saying in an interview Tuesday that there have been severe contortions to make this comply with zoning and get the yes vote from the council. Uploaded: Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 3:03 pm This process has continued to devolve, as each time Castilleja changes its plan in deference to the naysayers, those [portion removed] pivot to some other minuscule detail to complain about. @Staying Home - In PA, housing is effectively a finite resource. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Barring intergenerational wealth or a very high-earning spouse, I struggle to see how teachers (or most families in the bay area) could afford to live anywhere near Castilleja. Three of Castilleja's proposed designs include 52 underground parking spaces, while two other options have 57 and 69 underground spaces, respectively. [citation needed], Castilleja is recognized as the 18th best private high school and the #2 girls high school in the United States by Niche.com in their 2023 rankings. Average SAT composite score out of 1600, as reported by Niche users from this school. "I feel this plan is better than ever because of all the feedback and iteration and response. Even the Fehr & Peers report, which was commissioned by Castilleja concludes that the garage is not necessary, have spent my career in girls' education, and I am proud to carry on the legacy started by Mary Lockey. with Embarcadero and a part of Melville shutdown for months; Embarcadero Media AND the additional enrollment. From that moment on, I was determined to make excellence in single-sex education accessible to as many girls as possible. Be careful what you wish for neighbors!! I invite you to subdivide your lot and build a low income unit. He and others suggested that Castilleja's project is being unfairly held up by a small but vocal group of opponents who are continuously moving the goal posts. Scott Adams faces 'consequence culture' as U.S. newspapers drop Dilbert, Tom Cruise's 'ditching' of Suri showcased by Judd Apatow's 'co-parenting' joke, ex-Scientology exec says. It is time to approve this and let the school go on with its modernization. Special Pubs 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. It has 416 students in grades 6-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 7 to 1. Circulation & Delivery, About Us Isn't Palo Alto already funding and developing a teacher's housing project? So, I asked ChatGPT to explain itself. Castilleja is a dynamic, diverse, and intentional educational community for students in grades 6-12 that believes in the power of women learning and women leading. [12], In 2007, Castilleja celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. "We are saving more trees in the newest version and we're actually reducing our footprint," Kauffman said. Schools deserve to be in neighborhoods. Vandermade, a graduate of Mater Dei-Santa Ana and the . Thompson also suggested that the building, in its current iteration, "has a design intent. You cannot convince me that Embarcadero traffic will be worse with a hundred more students using the transportation measures Castilleja has imposed. In 2009, Castilleja was given the highest accreditation rating by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Suddenly, from being a reasonably quiet residential neighborhood, 75% of its students are commuting daily into the neighborhood and the school begins its continual expansion creep with an increasing number of disruptive evening and weekend events. Castilleja checks all of these boxes. "Staff conceptually supports a parking adjustment for the project given the Council's direction to reduce the size of the garage and Castilleja's robust TDM plan," Lait wrote. That's why the school has instituted and proposed an extraordinarily extensive list of TDM measures, so that no additional traffic can burden the neighborhood. "We just want to be educating girls," Kauffman said. Tuition is for the highest grade offered and may have changed for the current school year. Sports "Time is passing. Technology evolves. While this would require a 14% reduction in the parking requirement, Planning Director Jonathan Lait suggested in a report that staff would be amenable to adjusting the parking requirements, given Castilleja's suite of measures that discourage driving to school. It also includes measures that require Castilleja to prove that its transportation measures are effective before it can gradually increase enrollment from the current level of 422 students to 540.But as two recent public hearings on the Castilleja project showed, these moves have done little to make Castilleja's project less polarizing. Castilleja School offers 11 interscholastic sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball and Water Polo. "He and others suggested that Castilleja's project is being unfairly held up by a small but vocal group of opponents who are continuously moving the goal posts. Terms of Use "If Castilleja really wants 500 to 600 students, it's time to move or open another campus like so many others do.". Education | "Additionally, such reduction responds to concerns expressed by some community members about the size of the originally proposed structure. The faculty consists of approximately 70 full-time and part-time women and men. At Castilleja we believe in an equitable, respectful, and inclusive community. Enough is enough. and current research that affirm the significant personal and Based on student and parent reviews of clubs and activities. It is time to send this back to the Council for their final approval. Castilleja is an independent 6th - 12th grade girls' school in Palo Alto, California, founded in 1907.. 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. The school has made compromises many of them and it begins to feel like (it) will never be enough.". Sexism. I know the value of this education, as my daughter was fortunate enough to have gone there for 7 years. If approved, the underground garage would have 24 fewer spaces than the structure that was previously proposed. Castilleja School's revised modernization plan is set for hearings before two Palo Alto city commissions this month. I am a former employee of Castilleja and an almost lifelong resident of Palo Alto, and continue to strongly support the school's plans to modernize the aging campus and offer enrollment to more high school students. Not all neighbors are looking forward to the added congestion on Embarcadero that years of construction, the added enrollment and the garage would entail. Based on the $3.7M annual funding the school allocates to this, most of that 21% group must be receiving more or less a full ride scholarship ($3.7M is enough to cover 16% of students at the full $54k each). Thats legal now. This time it's in the form of a planned. 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. Short term inconveniences of construction for 100 plus more years of educating young women seems like a small price to pay. Castilleja School is ranked as one of the top 20% of private schools in California for most sports offered. "We just want to be educating girls," Kauffman said. 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. of our extraordinary faculty and staff, we are dedicated to You want to educate more women to be leaders? Continuing to ask for more give-aways from the City after they've already been granted the 200 Melville Ave. street, The school has changed the building designs, changed the garage, increased TDM measures beyond what anyone else is doing anywhere in the bay area, moved the pool, moved deliveriesand is NOT expanding. This plan is not excessive in any way. Sign up for the Peninsula Foodist newsletter. @midtownmadness: I call BS that this issue is due to Palo Alto housing problem. Students from Gunn and PALY are voicing their concerns. 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. Two board members, Chair Osma Thompson and Grace Lee said that the previously approved project remains perfectly acceptable. -- on larger lots with 1-acre+ zoning That was then and a different garage, but in the interim the climate situation has only worsened. He is a Venezuelan-American raised in Texas with bylines in the Champaign, Ill. News-Gazette, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Dallas Morning News. However, they made their site large when they got the city to give them the 200 block of Melville in 1992, and merged 6 residential lots into the school, so they can't use size to qualify for a variance. 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). Kauffman said Castilleja has followed the citys process every step of the way and been working with staff for quite a long time. She said there appears to be a lack of trust between the council and staff and wondered whether this process would be a lot less challenging if there were more trust to the work that has been done.. Now they're offering to cut back on them even more or enforce a kiss and ride and a "ride home" program? Because we have lived with the current CUP and how that has been complied with historically, it is a huge leap that just because it will be written that there will be no new trips, that will in fact happen. It's inevitable. It's a shame the city never bothered to update the traffic numbers so they could really determine the amount of increased traffic. Sports ""There is no reason for the underground garage," Reed said. Castilleja School ranks among the top 20% of private schools in California for: Castilleja School's tuition is approximately $49,900 for private students. She was a bold and opinionated . Very bad timing on this report. The report further states: At an enrollment of 540 students, the analysis using the schools parking data concludes that on an average day there would be adequate parking. Plain and simple. Another area Casti lacks in is advanced songwriting or music production offerings, though a student wanting to pursue these would surely be supported in trying to get that class made. The school's new plans include five garage designs, though only three comply with the council's request that underground parking make up no more than 50% of the total spaces on campus. Home "They must take into account the impact they make in the health, welfare and quiet enjoyment of their neighbors.". Before joining the Palo Alto Weekly/PaloAltoOnline.com in 2008, he covered breaking news and local politics for the Waterbury Republican-American, a daily newspaper in Connecticut. Independent Teacher. Get the latest local news and information sent straight to your inbox. "Every year spent in process negotiation and compromise has resulted in scores of young women being shut out of joining the Castilleja community," Burch said. The revised plans, which seek to respond to the council's direction, are now set to undergo a series of reviews by the Architectural Review Board, which will consider them on Dec. 2, and the Planning and Transportation Commission, which will review them on Dec. 8. ""It's doing something that is really powerful and I want to emphasize that," Thompson said. With public testimony stretching until nearly midnight, the planning commission deferred its own discussion of Castilleja's plans until Dec. 15. An unfortunate case of "Who's on First." What most disturbs me about this process is the ever shifting goalposts. It is calculated using the reported number of students and full-time equivalent teachers. Eloquently. Downtown parking garage. "It's often called an 'expansion,' but the footprint would be smaller. of students and parents agree that the teachers adequately lead and control the classroom. After hours of discussion Monday night that lasted past midnight, the council voted 4-3 to resume the debate over basement versus garage at a later undetermined date, thus postponing a vote on the controversial expansion. The school had hoped the council would finally decide Monday to approve the plan, which has been reworked over and over. austin.hanson. The one at Kol Emeth has improved quality of life just as Castilleja wants to do. Director of Operations Castilleja is a private, all-girls school located in Palo Alto whose mission is to educate motivated young women to become confident thinkers and compassionate leaders with a sense of purpose to effect change in the world. "The review process has gone on for long enough" is perhaps the worst argument for approval I've ever seen. placed on academic development, Castilleja is just as committed to 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. Maybe Casti should pay its staff more so they can live closer? It includes five different designs for the garage, as well as new restrictions on the number of school events a source of consternation for some of the school's neighbors. I agree it's a lot to ask of the teachers and I wonder why aren't **the girls** parking a distance away from the campus? I invite you to explore these pages, to visit our campus, and to learn more about how we are preparing the next generation of women leaders. All rights reserved. PALO ALTO Castilleja Schools proposed expansion, a sore subject among neighbors who have been fighting it for years, has hit another roadblock. Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic. Castilleja Head of School GUIDING THEMES Each year, Ms. KauffmanHA carefully selects a theme for the school year and distributes a sticker on opening day: Belonging 2019-20, Justice 2020-21,. The only reason anyone knew that Castilleja had surpassed their enrollment is because Castilleja got a new head who reported it. These activities, which would be relegated to the underground garage in the original proposal, would now take place in designated loading areas in the Emerson parking lot. Speakers forget that for most of its existence Casti was a boarding school with some local day girls, and very low impact on the neighborhood. Their enrollment cap since 2000 is 415 students, but they've exceeded that number since 2002. Roy, I'm well aware that the earlier discussion about PTC decision-making wasn't specifically related to Casti but to the "Planning" department's overall performance. If memory serves, that commissioner has a niece who attends Casti (she may have graduated by now) and a business relationship with the lawyer representing the school. Quality of academic programs, teachers, and facilities, Availability of music, art, sports and other extracurricular activities, Castilleja School Photo #3 - Middle School English. Two board members, Chair Osma Thompson and Grace Lee said that the previously approved project remains perfectly acceptable. Currently Castilleja pays no property taxes on its prime real estate holdings where the school is located nor do they pay a penny for the public services they receive to this school, 2000 is 415 students, but I guess it is n't Palo Alto housing problem Osma... Home `` they must take into account the impact they make in the health welfare... 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