Publication Date: Friday, October 01, 2004
Garland to spring back to life
Garland to spring back to life
(October 01, 2004) Private school slated to open at site
by Alexandria Rocha
This time next year, the Garland school site will be buzzing with hundreds of children and dozens of teachers.
The site, which officially closed due to declining enrollment in 1979, has been home to five tenants in nearly 20 years.
But after a vacant summer, the 6-acre campus is finally scheduled to have a somewhat permanent resident - that is, for the next 10 years.
The Stratford School, a preschool through fifth-grade private institution with five other campuses in the Bay Area, will rent the site from the Palo Alto school district for $650,000 a year.
The plan is to open the school in September 2005 with 300 students, said Stratford School Founder Joe Wagner.
"We have campuses in the Bay Area now ... but we don't have a presence on the Peninsula as of yet, so this is our opportunity," Wagner said. "We're very excited about opening the campus in Palo Alto. The (Garland site) is beautiful and the neighborhood is really nice as well."
Those in the neighborhood are pleased with the district's decision.
"It sounds like it's a good fit. It sounds like it's a fairly high academic school just like (Garland) was when it was there," said June Schiller, a neighbor and former district principal. "I'm just sorry it's not a neighborhood school."
Since its closure, the 6-acre site north of the Oregon Expressway has housed a variety of schools. Most recently, the district has been renting five rooms on the campus for about $5,000 a month to the Champions Youth Enrichment School, said Bob Golton, who recently retired as the district's business manager.
"We did that because it's in our best interest to not have a vacant site," Golton said. "While they're there, they can observe if there's any maintenance needs or any security needs."
Before Champions, Garland served as a temporary home for Nixon Elementary while that school's campus underwent renovation. Prior to that, the site served students from Terman Middle School, Mid-Peninsula High School and the Peninsula French-American School.
Along with a slew of other district schools in the late '70s to mid '80s, Garland was closed due to declining enrollment. During that period, the district shut down nearly half of its schools and some were sold. Garland was spared and served as a source of revenue for the district from 1986-2000. Possible uses for the funds generated by Stratford have yet to be identified.
The district, however, is now experiencing increased enrollment, serving 200 more students than expected this year, and has reserved the right to take back the Garland site with a three-year notice.
The Stratford School offers a variety of academic and enrichment programs for an annual tuition of about $10,000. Less expensive programs are available.
"Typically, we are able to have campuses in the Bay Area because Bay Area parents are very well educated and they want the same for their children," Wagner said.
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