Workers Gearing Up for Tearing Down Portola Middle School

The demolition of El Cerrito's Portola Middle School is looming closer, with workers now plainly visible at the site preparing for the wrecking balls that will demolish the 62-year-old structure designed by noted architect John Carl Warnecke.

The halls where many El Cerritans spent their middle-school years will soon come crashing down, school district officials say. Workers can be seen preparing for the long-planned demolition of the old Portola Middle School, located at Moeser Lane and Navellier Street. The contractor is currently removing or containing hazardous materials in the buildings, and "the actual physical demolition of the buildings themselves will not start until probably sometime in late June or in July," said E. Keith Holtslander, director of facilities and construction for the West Contra Costa Unified School District. The hillside school – designed by noted architect John Carl Warnecke and completed in 1951 – was condemned after the school district found that …

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Comment of the Week

Comment: Put New Library at Old Safeway

Our article on reuse of the Portola Middle School site gave rise to several comments this week on relocating the El Cerrito library to the old Safeway site. We've selected two as our Comments of the Week.

We never quite know which direction the reader comments on our articles will take. One unexpected discussion arose this past week in the reader comments on our April 4 article about reuse of the old Portola Middle School site, "Old Portola School Site to Be Soccer Fields, Long Slope?" Following a suggestion to rebuild the city's cramped library at the Portola site, Kathy A. suggested putting the library in the abandoned Safeway building on San Pablo Avenue at Moeser Lane, an idea that sparked several comments, including two selected as our Comments of Week. One is a follow-up by Mike and the other is a further follow-up by Kathy A. Mike: Rebuilding the library from the ground up at the old Safeway site is a great idea. The "no grocery" …

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Old Portola School Site to Be Soccer Fields, Long Slope?

The school district plan for the old Portola Middle School campus calls for turning most of the site into a sloping hill with space for two soccer fields at the bottom, district officials said Tuesday night at El Cerrito City Hall.

After the West Contra Costa school district tears down the old Portola Middle School, it plans to turn the site into a gently sloping hill with a flat area that could be used for two soccer fields, district officials said Tuesday night at a special joint meeting of the school board and the El Cerrito City Council. The district described its construction plans in El Cerrito, and most of the council reaction was devoted to the fate of the old Portola Middle School site after the old buildings, deemed seismically unsafe and irreparable, are torn down. District Engineering Officer Magdy Abdalla said the district plans to regrade the hilly site as a long, gentle slope with a flat area at the bottom that could be turned into soccer fields. He …

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Schools Parcel Tax, Police in Schools: Topics at Council - School Board Joint Meeting

The El Cerrito City Council and West Contra Costa school board will hold a joint meeting at City Hall Tuesday for an overview of the ballot measure to boost parcel taxes for education, police officers in schools and other issues of mutual interest.

The proposed parcel tax for school funding, Measure K, will be reviewed at a joint meeting Tuesday night of the El Cerrito City Council and the school board of the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Police officers in the schools The special meeting, at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito City Hall, will also include discussion about the three El Cerrito police officers assigned to schools in the city — two at El Cerrito High and one at Portola Middle. The school district has paid for these School Resource Officers in the past but gave notice last year that it may not continue funding them past June 30 this year. El Cerrito has been keeping three vacant positions in the police department in order to be able to absorb the cost of paying for these …

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Trees Cut at Old Portola Campus – Demolition Coming

A noticeable change at the old Portola Middle School campus in El Cerrito was the removal of several trees, which were cut down in late February to prepare for demolition of the abandoned school, according to school district officials.

The long familiar look of the old Portola Middle School campus underwent a marked change in late February when a number of trees were cut down, leaving only stumps standing. They were removed to make way for the demolition of the old school buildings, scheduled for sometime in the second quarter of this year, said E. Keith Holtslander, bond regional facilities project manager for the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Not all trees were removed, he said. Some were left standing and will remain, he said. "All of the existing school facility is to be demolished and removed from the site, and the site will be prepared (as required by the State) in order to prevent any runoff during/after inclement weather," Holtslander said in an …

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Guest Columns

View: Become a Writing Coach & Inspire a Student!

You can make a difference in the lives of seventh or ninth graders by volunteering as a writing coach for WriterCoach Connection, says Maureen Dixon, a coordinator for the program in El Cerrito. No experience necessary – training provided.

By Maureen Dixon  “Dear Writer Coach, You helped me improve my writing skills, and I learned how to write a perfect report,” read the thank you note I received days ago from one of my students at El Cerrito High School. “I never could have completed that sonnet without you,” wrote another. “I hope the students you get next semester get as much out of their experience with the WriterCoach Connection as I did. Thanks again.” Have an interest in writing? Love language? Want to support a young person and help bring forth the writer in him or her? Writer coaching is the perfect way to do all of this. The WriterCoach Connection (WCC) offers volunteers the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of 7th or 9th grade students at Portola …

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Who's Who

Lila Banuelos, Superviser of El Cerrito After-School Programs

Banuelos has been involved in the El Cerrito community, specifically with after-school programming and the El Cerrito Community Center, for almost 30 years.

Name: Lila Banuelos Age: “I just turned the big Five-O. I was all gung-ho, excited, doing a count down and everything, and then the day I turned fifty, I was like, ‘Uuuuh.’” Occupation: After-school program supervisor for the City of El Cerrito and community service coordinator  You’ve been doing this for a while now? I actually started doing this in 1983 as a part-time employee, just earning my way through college. Then things just fell into place. I had my son. Around 1987 they said, “We decided to open a full-time position, and we feel that you’re qualified.” I started out at Harding/Castro and then I was at Fairmont, and then Madera, and then I was trying to run an art studio at Canyon Trail. I had a different supervisor then. They …

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El Cerrito, Kensington Schools Show Gains on API Scores

Local elementary schools are close to or at the state target; Portola Middle and El Cerrito High move closer.

Five of six El Cerrito and Kensington schools made gains on their Academic Performance Index scores this year with the only drop being a marginal three-point loss at Harding Elementary School. El Cerrito High School’s score went from 645 to 658 on the scale, which goes from 200 to 1000. Portola went from 689 to 706. Two of the area’s elementary schools, Madera and Kensington, remain well above the state’s target of at least 800. Madera went from 942 last year to 949 this year and Kensington from 930 last year to 949 this year. El Cerrito’s other two elementary schools are close to the 800 target, with Fairmont climbing from 768 last year to 799 this year. Harding dropped from 801 to 798. The state Department of Education released the state…

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Valerie Snider

10:21 am on Sunday, September 4, 2011

I clicked on the above link (to the district website), hoping to learn something. Unfortunately, it's written in "educratese." I don't have a clue what any of it means. How can we expect our students to learn basis skills when the district administrators can't describe the "curriculum and instruction plan" in plain English?   more ›

WriterCoaches Give Guidance, Gain Understanding

Volunteers find that coaching students in writing is a way not only to help but also to get to know school and students.

Virginia Lim of Kensington became a WriterCoach seven years ago as a way to get an inside look at Albany High School as her nephew approached high school age. She found it so rewarding she’s stayed with it, coaching students at King Middle School in Berkeley as well as Albany students. Last year, when her daughter, then a student at Prospect Sierra, announced she wanted to go to El Cerrito for high school, Lim knew just how to get to know the campus and its students. WriterCoach Connection began at Berkeley High School in 2001. The program was piloted in six ninth-grade classes last year at El Cerrito High. The goal this year is to pair up a coach with every ninth grader at the school as well as second-language learners of all grade levels…

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