The first boxes of furniture and school supplies arrived at
Eliot School late last week, marking the beginning of the end of a
two-year cohabitation at Ascension Solorsano Middle School.
With less than four weeks until the official start of the
2005
–06 academic year, construction on the new elementary school is
in full swing as crews are racing against the clock to finish
before students arrive Aug. 29.
Gilroy – The first boxes of furniture and school supplies arrived at Eliot School late last week, marking the beginning of the end of a two-year cohabitation at Ascension Solorsano Middle School.
With less than four weeks until the official start of the 2005–06 academic year, construction on the new elementary school is in full swing as crews are racing against the clock to finish before students arrive Aug. 29.
“(Crews) are working really hard to get things ready so the teachers can move in (Aug. 15),” said Eliot School Principal Diane Elia, who visited the campus of Gilroy Unified School District’s first 2-story school Tuesday and supervised as boxes were shuttled into classrooms.
“I just can’t wait to see the kids,” she said. “They’re going to be so excited about the school.”
Construction on Eliot began last June as part of an expansion project. Solorsano opened in 2002 with just a sixth grade class. Due to the large quantity of available classrooms, Eliot students were housed at the Solorsano campus for the past two years.
Heavy rains this winter and alterations to the initial design caused construction to fall off schedule, leaving district officials concerned that Eliot would not be ready for the start of school.
However, after prioritizing construction zones and authorizing specific trades to work overtime, teachers will be allowed to move into their classrooms Aug. 15.
“They’ve done this now twice – the packing and unpacking – so I think it’s going to be a little overwhelming,” Elia said.
Though the Eliot staff is returning to their home base, they will be breaking in brand new classrooms. Most of the furniture has not arrived in the classrooms, so boxes are stacked in the center of the rooms – waiting for hands to unload them.
A black top is the latest edition to the campus. Lines designate where future basketball games will be played. Empty sidewalks await the return of students to the neighborhood school.
For the past two years, students have been bused across the city to Solorsano – a practice Elia is excited to end.
“It will be nice to see them walking to school every day,” she said.
The return of Eliot School to its original Seventh Street location from Solorsano will impact the geography of the middle school.
“It’s going to be like a new school,” said Solorsano Principal Sal Tomasello. “The 440 students that we have never had access to four buildings on campus (because Eliot students occupied them.) They have never even walked on that side of the campus.”
Solorsano welcomed its first class in 2002. Each year, the school has added a sixth grade class. This fall will be the first time all three middle school grades are represented on campus.
The student body will almost double in size – about 740 students are enrolled for this year. The number of staff members has increased to compensate for the 300 additional students.
“We will have over 50 percent new staff this year,” Tomasello explained.
For the first time, he will have an assistant principal to help with discipline, attendance and evaluations and a full–time counselor. Fourteen new teachers will join the Solorsano staff as well.
“Just the facilities change has been huge for us,” Tomasello said. “The big thing for us, I think, will be for our staff to get to know each other.”
A Welcome Back ice cream social is scheduled for Aug. 24 from 5 to 7:30pm where parents and students are encouraged to tour the campus, speak with the school nurse, and fill out emergency contact cards.
Next week, Tomasello and new assistant principal Barbara Harris will move into their offices and prepare for the upcoming school year.
“I’m looking forward for summer to be over,” he said.
