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Pescadero Middle and High School is a public school located in Pescadero, California, United States, the only middle and high school within the La Honda–Pescadero Unified School District. Serving 159 students in grades 6–12 as of the 2019–2020 school year, it is the most sparsely populated comprehensive public middle and high school in San Mateo County. The school was founded in 1922, and is designated as a Necessary Small School by the California legislature, meaning the school receives government funds to subsidize its operating costs.

History
Pescadero Middle and High School is part of the La Honda–Pescadero Unified School District. In general, the school includes students in grades 6–12 from Pescadero, along with grades 9–12 from La Honda. (La Honda Elementary School serves grades K–8, while Pescadero Elementary School only serves grades K–5.) The rural nature of southern San Mateo County means that the school draws from an area of over 175 square miles, serving as the region's only high school and a significant event space for the community.

The history of schools in Crestmoor is one of demographic ups and downs. Almost 60 years ago, the neighborhood’s rapid growth led to the opening of two schools, Crestmoor Elementary School (1957) and Crestmoor High School (1962). Both are now gone, having closed in 2014 and 1980, respectively, and were replaced by the independent Stratford School and Peninsula Alternative High School. Today, Crestmoor students attend John Muir Elementary School, with with 359 students, a Great Schools rating of 8 out of 10 and a recent API of 897, or Rollingwood Elementary, which has a Great School rating of 6 out of 10 and 249 students. Like all students in San Bruno, they then move onto Parkside Intermediate School, which has 516 students in grades 6 through 8, a Great Schools rating of 7 out of 10 and an API of 785, then finish at Capuchino High School (API 796) or Peninsula Alternative High School.

[[. https://burlingameproperties.com/neighborhoods/crestmoor

Photos: https://patch.com/california/sanbruno/crestmoor-neighborhood-founded-in-the-50s-known-for-icaca9b849b (good photos)

https://www.smuhsd.org/Page/13243

Principal ; https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/david-studebaker-obituary?pid=168843070 also see YEARBOOKS

Architecture
In addition to academic subjects, all TIDE students participate in a Nucleus Advisory class, intended to develop interpersonal skills among students, and work-based learning experiences outside the classroom. A very limited number of sports and extracurricular activities are offered at TIDE, which include a video production class, a coding club, and a school newspaper. Per district policy, students cannot participate in activities or sports offered at other high schools.

https://books.google.com/books?id=FkVQx6MWa8MC&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=crestmoor+high+school+closure+date&source=bl&ots=OCMRVEKEPC&sig=ACfU3U1wlS8A6JsVSN05yKwx2L30dFemmg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim3bePtc3zAhVCITQIHc5PCyEQ6AF6BAgUEAM#v=onepage&q=crestmoor%20high%20school%20closure%20date&f=false

Programs
Pescadero Middle and High School is part of the La Honda–Pescadero Unified School District. In general, the school includes students in grades 6–12 from Pescadero, along with grades 9–12 from La Honda. (La Honda Elementary School serves grades K–8, while Pescadero Elementary School only serves grades K–5.) The rural nature of southern San Mateo County means that the school draws from an area of over 175 square miles, serving as the region's only high school and a significant event space for the community.

https://ldsgenealogy.com/CA/San-Mateo-County-School-Records.htm - Photos & Clubs from Yearbooks

https://historysmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/La-Peninsula-San-Bruno-Summer-2014.pdf - Band?

Closure
Pescadero Middle and High School is part of the La Honda–Pescadero Unified School District. In general, the school includes students in grades 6–12 from Pescadero, along with grades 9–12 from La Honda. (La Honda Elementary School serves grades K–8, while Pescadero Elementary School only serves grades K–5.) The rural nature of southern San Mateo County means that the school draws from an area of over 175 square miles, serving as the region's only high school and a significant event space for the community.

YMCA Camp Jones Gulch - article from 1/9/22

https://smdailyjournal.com/news/local/large-area-in-la-honda-enters-conservation/article_8ae401cc-9002-11ed-b3d2-2725036e0c95.html

A conservation easement deal that will preserve 920 acres of land in La Honda, including old-growth redwoods and Camp Jones Gulch, has been finalized, according to the conservation group Sempervirens Fund.

The $9.6 million easement between The YMCA of San Francisco and Sempervirens Fund will ensure the area’s natural resources are protected while keeping the property in YMCA ownership and protecting the future of the popular summer camp.

“The permanent protection of Camp Jones Gulch feels like a milestone moment for conservation in the Santa Cruz mountains,” Matt Shaffer, chief marketing and communications officer for Sempervirens Fund said. “It ensures that a special, ecologically rich property is going to be conserved forever.”

Elementary students in San Mateo County have visited Camp Jones Gulch since 1968, with the money from the conservation easement contributing to new facility construction, replacing cabins and upgrading decades-old buildings, according to Shaffer. In addition to the summer program, the San Mateo County Office of Education uses the camp and a small portion of the land for its renowned Outdoor Education program for fifth and sixth grade students in county public schools. The famous program hosts 5,500 students each year for a week to learn about the forest and beach ecosystems.

The area also has 39 acres of rare old-growth redwood forest, 668 acres of young-growth redwood and other woodlands. Shaffer said the area was a sizable unprotected block in one of the most extensive areas of protected land in the county. Areas vulnerable to development or timber harvesting that could degrade the surrounding conservation lands led to Sempervirens Fund prioritizing protecting it. Becoming a partner with the YMCA was a rare opportunity to care for the ecosystem, Shaffer said.

“It’s becoming rarer and rarer we are able to ensure conservation of properties of this size but of this ecological richness,” Shaffer said. “This was, in some ways, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The easement cost $9.6 million and an additional $422,000 contribution for a stewardship fund to manage it. Funding comes from Sempervirens Fund donors and various foundations and boards.

A conservation easement is a legal tool that protects natural resources like redwood trees by limiting building, development and logging on the property without buying the title to the property itself. It requires future landowners to also commit to preserving the site. Sempervirens Fund has been working toward the agreement since earlier in the year. Shaffer believes using conservation easements will only grow in the coming years for others looking to protect lands. Shaffer said the YMCA was previously looking at options to keep itself financially viable, like timber harvesting.

“This long-term relationship means we can sustain our work at Camp Jones Gulch, be great stewards of our lands and help connect children to nature in new and exciting ways. Our commitment to nature has been ongoing for more than 80 years and provides the resources needed to inspire young people for another 80 years,” Jamie Bruning-Miles, president of the YMCA of San Francisco, said in a press release.

Shaffer said his organization would look at invasive species removal and fuel reduction management on the property and coordinate efforts with other agencies to protect the land, which was only a few miles from the CZU complex fires, a collection of 20 wildfires caused by thousands of lightning strikes which burned more than 85,000 acres of land across San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.

In the future, Sempervirens Fund will continue to look at opportunities for additional conservation easements in the area and reducing wildfire risk.

Peninsula High School
In addition to academic subjects, all TIDE students participate in a Nucleus Advisory class, intended to develop interpersonal skills among students, and work-based learning experiences outside the classroom. A very limited number of sports and extracurricular activities are offered at TIDE, which include a video production class, a coding club, and a school newspaper. Per district policy, students cannot participate in activities or sports offered at other high schools.

Sale of Land
Designated as "SURPLUS" in Feb. 2019: https://agendaonline.net/public/Meeting/Attachments/DisplayAttachment.aspx?AttachmentID=378645&IsArchive=1

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/crestmoor-school-debate-not-over/

https://www.smuhsd.org/Page/13244 - what land is classfied as

https://www.smuhsd.org/cms/lib/CA02206192/Centricity/Domain/1243/Community_EmployeeHousing_EmployeeHousingSurveys_May12thPresentation.pdf - Employee Housing proposal & reasons why

Proposal from district on sale of land: https://ca02206192.schoolwires.net/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=6194&dataid=8776&FileName=March%202%202010%20Public%20Hearing%20Press%20Release.pdf

SMart or not - https://climaterwc.com/2019/04/18/political-climate-with-mark-simon-unwise-to-sell-valuable-crestmoor-high-site/

Usage Today
In addition to academic subjects, all TIDE students participate in a Nucleus Advisory class, intended to develop interpersonal skills among students, and work-based learning experiences outside the classroom. A very limited number of sports and extracurricular activities are offered at TIDE, which include a video production class, a coding club, and a school newspaper. Per district policy, students cannot participate in activities or sports offered at other high schools.

Resources
From Facebook; other sourcesCrestmoor High School opened in San Bruno, California in September 1962 to relieve congestion at Capuchino High School and Mills High School. It was the seventh high school to be built by the San Mateo Union High School District, based in San Mateo, California. Construction began in 1960 on a graded plateau in the Crestmoor district of San Bruno and took about two years to complete.

During the 1961-62 academic year, high school freshman who lived north of San Bruno Avenue or west of Junipero Serra High School attended Mills High School. These students then transferred to Crestmoor the following year. In addition, incoming freshmen in the 1962-63 academic year who lived in the same area also attended the new school. Students who were juniors and seniors that year, who lived in the attendance area, continued at Capuchino High School. Thus, some families had students attending two different high schools in San Bruno. By the 1964-65 academic year Crestmoor finally was a four-year high school.

The high school was officially dedicated in the boys' gym during Sunday afternoon ceremonies in early October 1962. The school's first music teacher, Randolph Hunt, who had at Capuchino from 1950 to 1960, led the school band and a girl's vocal ensemble, including the first performance of the school hymn, Hail to Crestmoor, which Dr. Hunt had composed.

David Studebaker, who had served as dean of boys at Capuchino, was Crestmoor's first principal.

The school had a limited athletic program, participating in the new Mid-Peninsula League, during its first year, then added a varsity basketball team, coached by John Christgau in the 1963-64 academic year. The first varsity football team, coached by Chuck Kent, debuted in the fall of 1964, only winning one game its first year. Kent also coached the first varsity wrestling team.

The school's student newspaper was The Crest. First faculty advisor was June Aldritt, who was followed by Sam Goldman in the fall of 1964. The student yearbook was Wingspread.

Crestmoor's school mascot was the Falcon. The official colors were blue and gold. The school hymn was regularly sung at the end of varsity football and varsity basketball games, as well as at the graduation ceremonies.

Dr. Hunt did not return to Crestmoor for the 1963-64 academic year (he went to Merritt College in Oakland; instead, Robert Davis took over the school's band and choral groups. Under Davis the school established its first mixed chorus; by the 1964-65 academic year there was a beginning choir and an advanced choir. Davis geatly improved the band, but he did not form a marching band.

Arthur Fischer directed the school's first dramatic productions, including Junior Miss and Death of a Salesman. During his sabbatical (to earn a doctorate), Elizabeth Barton continued the high standards in Crestmoor's plays and established a working relationship with actors and staff from San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre. Crestmoor's first musical comedy production was Bye Bye Birdie. Crestmoor's last productions, including its final performances of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta H.M.S. Pinafore (in June 1980), were directed by Robert Meadows, who transferred to Capuchino and was the first director of the Capuchino Community Theatre.

The first graduation ceremonies took place in the boys' gym in June 1965. Bob Davis led the band for the final time; he joined the faculty of Santa Barbara City College.

Declining student enrollment in the San Mateo Union High School District prompted the school board to vote in the summer of 1980 to close Crestmoor. The buildings were later used for a continuation high school and a municipal courthouse.

Former Crestmoor High School has sat badly underused
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2008/05/10/former-crestmoor-high-school-has-sat-badly-underused/

By JOHN HORGAN

PUBLISHED: May 10, 2008 at 9:48 p.m. | UPDATED: August 15, 2016 at 6:34 p.m.

The San Mateo Union High School District has a money problem. A new administration has been trying to get its fiscal house in order for more than a year. It’s been a rough road.

Along with the district’s trustees, the central office staff has been busy seeking ways to increase revenues and cut costs. We have a suggestion: Deal with shuttered Crestmoor High School.

That campus, closed as a comprehensive high school in 1980, has been chronically under-used for nearly three full decades. It’s an untenable situation that cries out for some sort of responsible resolution.

And there is word that, at some point this year, the district’s authorities may take a stab at dealing with the future of the Crestmoor land and facilities, which sit high in the San Bruno hills.

It’s been a very long time in coming. Decades ago, efforts to sell off portions of the Crestmoor acreage were resisted strongly by San Bruno officials and some folks who lived in the area near the school. A more recent district plan to build housing for its employees on the land came to nothing.

This time, though, circumstances have changed. Both the district and San Bruno itself are hurting for cash. There are new policy-makers running the show in both bureaucracies. Some sort of compromise may be possible now.

The reality of a mostly empty, deteriorating Crestmoor property has been a glaring credibility issue for the educators any time they voice the need for some sort of monetary relief, because it represents millions of dollars of potential proceeds.

Currently, the district uses portions of Crestmoor for a small continuation school. Some classroom space is also leased out to private enterprises. But, for the most part, you could fire a cannon through most of its corridors after 1 p.m. and not endanger a living soul.

Crestmoor’s location west of Interstate 280, on a street that dead-ends if the upper gates of the campus are closed, makes it the least accessible of all the district’s campuses — by far. Just finding it can be daunting for the uninitiated.

Liz McManus, the district’s associate superintendent for business services, said the future of Crestmoor is definitely on the radar screen. But, she cautioned, a resolution involving a sale of any kind will take time.

San Bruno has seen this sort of thing before. The community’s elementary school district has sold off surplus property as its enrollment has declined. Crestmoor was shut down for the same reason.

Between 1970 and 1980, the high school district lost 20 percent of its enrollment, much of it in San Bruno. Crestmoor became redundant. Today, all San Bruno teens are ticketed for Capuchino High School, which easily accommodates them.

“We have to be careful how we address this,” McManus said. “The lifespan of Crestmoor is over. It’s an albatross up there. We have to do something with it.”

One option, McManus said, would be to sell off as much of it as possible, buy land in a central district location for a new continuation school and use the rest of the money to help pay off a $74 million loan (dubbed certificates of participation) incurred by the district in the wake of a construction bond fiasco.

Contact John Horgan at 650-348-4334 or at 477 Ninth Ave., Suite 110, San Mateo 94402. Check out his blog, Read It and Rant, on the Web at www.sanmateocountytimes.com.

= Horgan: History has validated the calculations of the 1980 analysts = By JOHN HORGAN

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/11/06/horgan-history-has-validated-the-calculations-of-the-1980-analysts

PUBLISHED: November 6, 2019 at 5:20 a.m. | UPDATED: November 6, 2019 at 5:54 a.m.

In the spring of 1980, officials of the San Mateo Union High School District were preparing to decide which of their seven comprehensive campuses to close.

It would be a close call. The choice came down to two schools: Burlingame and Crestmoor, located in the San Bruno hills. Both schools were suffering from a severe enrollment decline.

There was a second high school in San Bruno, too. Capuchino’s student numbers were shrinking as well. Burlingame was (is) the only public high school in that town. That turned out to be important.

In the end, data proved to be critically important. Researchers argued that San Bruno could not support two secondary institutions. They pointed to dire enrollment trends in the public elementary school district that is the primary feeder system for the two high schools as proof.

In 1980, the San Bruno Park Elementary district contained 2,400 youngsters; just 10 years prior, that figure had been 4,900. Crestmoor boosters claimed that, over time, the serious enrollment plunge would right itself, proving the need to retain their school — and Capuchino as well.

It never happened. Crestmoor was shut down as a comprehensive high school. Now, the high school district’s trustees are planning to sell all or part of that campus.

It’s worth noting that, today, the San Bruno Elementary district has 2,700 students, just 300 more than it had back in 1980. Capuchino, San Bruno’s lone remaining high school, contains 1,200 students; nearby Mills in Millbrae is at roughly the same level.

Four decades ago, the demographers turned out to be right. In the end, San Bruno could not produce enough students to merit two high schools. One of them had to go. It was Crestmoor.

Puffy buns

Meanwhile, let us turn our benevolent gaze to bodacious Brisbane nestled in the considerable shadow of San Bruno Mountain where it has been revealed that the historic 7-Mile House features a specialty item that, apparently, is to die for, so to speak. It’s puffy buns. Yes, puffy buns. No, it’s not a personal problem. It’s a menu option. So, let the good times roll; puffy buns for everyone! I’ll wear my expando slacks just in case.

John Horgan 2022
District trustees, faced with the twin challenges of declining pupil figures and associated fiscal issues, eventually had to choose between closing Burlingame or Crestmoor High School, located in western San Bruno.

By a single vote, the trustees opted to shutter Crestmoor. There was considerable grumbling in San Bruno, especially when it was clear that the influence of Burlingame and Hillsborough policymakers were key to swinging the decision.

Three of the trustees lived in Hillsborough at the time of the June 1980 vote. BHS survived but the struggle had been emotional, controversial and exhausting.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/opinion/columnists/it-s-100-years-and-counting-for-burlingame-high-school/article_b2704d1e-3962-11ed-a5d6-f3754722f9f2.html

= John Horgan: 45 years ago, a Crestmoor High School highlight = By JOHN HORGAN

October 1, 2013 at 8:34 a.m.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/10/01/john-horgan-45-years-ago-a-crestmoor-high-school-highlight/

Crestmoor High School had a very short shelf life as a comprehensive secondary institution. It opened for business in 1962.

A mere 18 years later, the San Bruno school was shut down due to a steep enrollment plunge in the San Mateo Union High School District. It barely lasted into legal adulthood.

Today, the former Crestmoor facilities house the district’s alternative high school, several district support services and some nondistrict enterprises. There isn’t a long list of Crestmoor memories. It simply wasn’t around long enough to generate them. But it had its moments.

Belmont author John Christgau, a former Crestmoor English teacher/coach, has written a book about one of them. It is devoted entirely to one special two-month period in 1968, a tumultuous year in American and world history.

Christgau’s lightweight basketball team (in those days, high schools offered lightweight basketball for boys of small stature) won a public school league championship in the fall of that year. But that’s really not the story.

Christgau’s tidy literary effort, “Michael and the Whiz Kids,” focuses on what was going on around his team at that time; it’s a terrific snapshot of a particular town in San Mateo County during a period of great social change.

The key character is Michael Thompson, a feisty, gifted African-American kid who came to San Bruno and Crestmoor when his family moved from Oklahoma. Thompson was the first African-American student to attend the school. His experiences, both good and bad, form the core of the book.

Christgau weaves a rich tale of suburban life and social change through his team as it proceeds to the title.

For those of us old enough to recall those days, maybe the most interesting aspect is the author’s search to find Michael’s whereabouts today. It wasn’t a simple task by any means. Christgau used every resource available to him to try to track down the elusive ex-student/athlete.

We won’t spoil it by revealing how that search turned out. Suffice it to say, the paperback is worth a quick read. It’s available from Bison Books (University of Nebraska Press); the list price is $18.95.

Trust Fund redux

Here we go again. As Congress agonizes over all matters financial, whether extending the allowable size of the national debt or funding day-to-day operations, we are hearing the same dire warnings once more: If the federal government cannot find funds for its voracious spending habits, certain vital services and functions will have to be curtailed.

When it comes to the all-important debt limit (which allows the D.C. doyens to continue to add to their insatiable red ink mania), there are warnings that Social Security checks might be delayed. We have gone through this exercise before.

And that would bring up the issue of the fabled Social Security Trust Fund again. Surely, you remember that alleged pile of dough?

In theory, the Trust Fund contains more than $2.5 trillion; that’s the total of decades worth of annual Social Security surpluses, including interest. But it’s a mirage, a charade. It has to be if the feds plan to postpone benefit checks.

Sure enough, all of the Trust Fund money has already been spent for other purposes. It’s cash owed back to Social Security and its beneficiaries, the same good people (and their employers) who have paid into the system in the first place.

Which means the government has to borrow more money and incur more debt to refund Social Security’s stripped coffers. It’s a bit like a blatant Ponzi scheme with the taxpayers as the unwitting rubes in the deal. Welcome to Oz.

Seeking nominees

The Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame’s selection committee is seeking nominees for induction in the summer of 2014.

If you have a nomination, please email the complete bio to the address at the bottom of this column. Currently, there are more than 230 members of the Hall of Fame. A nominee must have a strong, direct athletic connection to San Mateo County or Palo Alto.

The Hall of Fame, created by The San Mateo County Times in 1989, is located at the San Mateo County History Museum in downtown Redwood City. The Hall of Fame induction banquet is presented each year by the San Mateo County/Silicon Valley Visitors & Convention Bureau.

John Horgan’s column appears Thursday. You can contact him by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.or by regular mail at P.O. Box 117083, Burlingame, CA 94011.

History
Arguello Park, along with San Carlos and its neighboring communities, occupies the former 35,000-acre (140 km2) Rancho de las Pulgas granted in 1795 to José Darío Argüello, one of the last governors of Spanish California. The land was later passed on to his son, Luis Antonio Argüello, who became California's first native, elected governor. Luis Argüello died in 1830, and his widow, sometime thereafter, moved to the ranch, where she lived in a home near to the present-day site of Arguello Park. The park is named in honor of José Darío Argüello.

Over the course of the 19th century, ownership of the land was transferred, first to Timothy Guy Phelps, and then to the San Carlos Land Company. By the late 1940s, as San Carlos' population moved towards the hills, it became necessary to construct a new school. A 48-acre (0.194 km2) site was selected, encompassing properties owned by residents James O'Brien, Doctor Kemp, Pop Fuller, and John Rutherdale. Arundel Elementary School was constructed and opened in 1949, and Arguello officially became a park in 1948. Then-Mayor Albert H. Sagehorn was largely responsible for acquiring and preserving the land as a park area.

Until 1957, the park remained in a natural, undeveloped state, at which point it was determined that a baseball diamond could be added to the site. A field, named by the Parks and Recreation Commission as Seager Field, was cleared and turfed, and water was piped down from Highland Avenue. On June 4, 1958, the American Legion Post #585 raised a flag on a newly-donated flag pole, assisted by local Marines, in honor of Opening Day for the San Carlos Little League's 1958 season.

Various features were added to the park, including a 40-foot waterfall in 1959 ; barbecue pits, tables, and benches, furnished by the Community Club of San Carlos; and pine trees on the park's slopes, planted by the Boy Scouts and other local service clubs. By 1965, the park accommodated sports and general play on Seager Field, along with youth campouts and YMCA activities. Today, the livestock farm of the San Carlos 4-H Club resides in nearby Eaton Park, although in early years, the farm was located in Arguello Park.

2000-2001 renovations -- In 2000 California voters approved Proposition 12 which included funds for local assistance grants for parks and recreation. The recently-completed Arguello Park improvements were funded in great part from Proposition 12 and 20 funds.

Features
for all check  https://www.cityofsancarlos.org/home/showdocument?id=1295

Seager Field
field; who plays it; batting cages; bleachers w/number of seats; snack shack; Barry Bonds

Waterfall
PUBLIC OUTREACH SUMMARY - HOT HARVEST NIGHTS INTERCEPT EVENT Date of Event: 8/2/07 Description of the Event The Parks and Recreation Department hosted a booth at the Harvest Nights market. The purpose of the event was to publicize the parks master plan, generate interest, encourage participation in the planning process, and gather input from the passersby. An estimated 75 people stopped by. Handouts were given out, including a sign-up sheet for the parks master plan e-notify, and a flyer describing the process and how people can become involved in the process. The booth contained several informative displays (reduced versions are attached). Three of the displays were interactive. The comments received on two of the displays are summarized below.

ARGUELLO: Get the waterfall working

Trails & BMX Bike Course
http://www.trailcenter.org/newsletter/1996/mar-apr1996/tco296.htm

https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/02/11/police-beat-person-cited-for-damaging-turf-at-san-carlos-park/

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/small-grass-fire-contained-in-arguello-park-in-san-carlos/article_5d57bbc2-18c7-11eb-8acd-cb497ca3da81.html

San Carlos revamps two old city parks https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/07/21/san-carlos-revamps-two-old-city-parks/



By CHRISTINE MORENTE | Bay Area News Group, Mercury News

PUBLISHED: July 21, 2006 at 3:52 a.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 6:56 a.m.

SAN CARLOS — Even though kids and adults have been playing and lollygagging in Arguello and Hillcrest Circle parks for some time, the city is getting around to celebrating the completion of both park’s extensive renovations with ribbon cutting ceremonies.

Both events are on Saturday — 10 a.m. in Arguello Park, 260 Wellington Dr., and at noon in Hillcrest Circle Park, 280 Hillcrest Road.

Barry Weiss, director of San Carlos Park and Recreation, said the events are meant to correspond with July’s designation as Parks and Recreation Month.

It’s been quite a wait for various sports teams and antsy kids wanting to play on both of the parks’ playgrounds.

On June 19, the 21-acre Arguello Park opened.

“It’s gorgeous,” Weiss said Thursday.

The renovation project, which cost the city $1.6 million, encountered several construction and weather issues that delayed the opening several months.

Now, it has better trails, a new picnic area near the ballfield, safety lighting, parking lot gates, and the athletic field has been improved.

Hillcrest Circle officially opened on Nov. 30. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was postponed then because of the rain.

To help the city with finishing touches, such as swings and a play area, on the $300,000 renovation project, neighborhood residents raised $40,000.

Built in the mid-1920s, the park was in bad condition.

“There was no grass at all,” Weiss said. “It was definitely the park in most need of renovation.”

It now has basketball courts, benches, picnic tables, barbecue grills and play equipment.

On Saturday, San Carlos resident Wendy Walter will receive a statewide award, called Champion of the Community, for helping raise money for Hillcrest Circle Park. Resident Laura Gottsman received the same award.

The city has no plans to renovate any other parks.

“Overall, we’re in pretty good shape,” Weiss said.

Staff writer Christine Morente can be reached at (650) 348-4333 or at cmorente@sanmateocountytimes.com.

Groundbreaking set for Arguello Park https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2005/03/26/groundbreaking-set-for-arguello-park/



By BAY AREA NEWS GROUP |

PUBLISHED: March 26, 2005 at 8:53 a.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 8:12 a.m.

SAN CARLOS — The public is invited to attend an April 2 groundbreaking ceremony at Arguello Park to celebrate the park’s pending $1.5 million facelift.

Nestled in the western hills of San Carlos, on Wellington Drive at Phelps Road, Arguello Park is a 21-acre park along a drainage ravine and adjacent hillside.

It offers trails and open space, a baseball diamond and soccer field, tennis courts and a homemade BMX track. Built in the 1940s, its facilities have become run down and are in need of repair.

The renovations are scheduled to begin Monday, weather permitting, and to be completed in the late fall. The improvments include hillside stabilization, new trailheads, athletic field upgrades, a new field and backstop, renovations to the main and some new play equipment. The city also is making parking more accessible and improving the lighting and the parking lot gates.

The city says that $642,000 of the $1.5 million project — 42 percent — is coming from the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 and the California Clean Water, Clean Air Safe Neighborhood Parks and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2002. The rest is coming from the city’s park in lieu fund.

The groundbreaking ceremony is at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 2, on the ball field. Light refreshments will be served. State Sen. Joe Simitian, Mayor Inge Tiegel Doherty and members of the city council and parks and recreation commission are scheduled to attend.

Visit the city online at www.cityofsan carlos.org.

Park contractor may face fines https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/04/05/park-contractor-may-face-fines/

The reconstruction of Arguello Park in San Carlos is months behind schedule.

By REBEKAH GORDON | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: April 5, 2006 at 7:55 a.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 6:59 a.m.

SAN CARLOS — With Arguello Park closed, Little Leaguers practice on asphalt, two teams at a time, and play on Sunday, the sacred day once off-limits in those unwritten rules of tradition.

“Everything backs up when we don’t have Arguello,” said Mike Ramey, a member of the San Carlos Little League’s board of directors who is in charge of public relations for the league. “Every group has been moved off their normal field to accommodate this.”

By “this,” Ramey means the$1.5 million Phase I renovation of Arguello Park, which broke ground a year ago and was supposed to finish last fall. Little League is still waiting for the park’s completion; their opening day was last Saturday.

The city pointed to rain for the delays in a March 30 announcement.

“It’s a rain issue right now, because it’s raining,” said San Carlos Little League President Bob Cook. “One hundred fifty days ago, it wasn’t a rain issue, 100 days ago it wasn’t a rain issue.”

Instead, Little League points to ongoing difficulties with the contractor for the project, San Jose-based Robert A. Bothman, Inc., as the reason for the delays, a fact which the city confirmed. Cook and Ramey said they saw the park untouched for weeks at a time, or just one or two workers present.

“The contractor has some problems and was unable to make progress on the project for 150 days which were not weather related,” said Parks & Recreation Director Barry Weiss. “They’ve started again, and we’re going at a good pace now — and liquidated damages are being assessed.”

That means fines, though no one would confirm how much or in what form.

Brian Bothman, vice president at the firm, disputed that the project at the 21-acre park was left alone for more than four months.

“One hundred fifty days? Where did that come from? It’d be hard to believe that’s true,” he said. “We got pushed into the weather because of changes and different issues along the way.”

A key obstacle, he said, has been installation of the sod at the end of 2005, when rains began, instead of in September as originally planned.

“That sod got pushed back two months or so, and that was right on the cusp of the (rainy) season,” he said. “There’s a lot of drainage issues with that site, because it sits at the bottom of a canyon.”

Early issues that delayed the sod installation included rock at the field site, changes to the retaining wall and storm-drain orders, and vandalism.

“There’s no dispute with the city,” Bothman said. “We put an itemized completion list together, and we’re knocking it out.”

The city confirmed that recent meetings have taken place to vet out what remains to be installed or completed, inspected and certified.

The list includes mowing the sod to a 3/4-inch length, ideal for playing baseball. The sod had to be left alone for 90 days after its installation to take root and must be mowed gradually to obtain ideal height.

“That type of work isn’t really acclimated for this time of year,” Bothman said. “We’re completely and totally dependent on the weather.”

Besides new athletic fields. drainage and a backstop, Phase I of the project includes trail and hillside stabilization, erosion control, new trailheads, main picnic-area renovation, accessibility for people with disabilities, safety lights and parking lot gates. All those pieces will be completed when the park reopens.

The Arguello Park Renovation Master Plan began in 2001 after the park had fallen into much disrepair. Groundbreaking for construction was on April 2 of last year. A second phase of the project, including additional trail work and renovation of the upper picnic area, are on hold pending more funding.

“People should be thinking or anticipating that Phase II should not be forgotten about,” said Parks & Recreation Commission Chair Carol Taylor. “Let’s do the whole nine yards that we have planned out.”

But in the meantime, no completion date for the current phase has been set.

Bonds all but ignored by town he grew up in



By ELLIOTT ALMOND | ealmond@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: June 5, 2007 at 12:01 p.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 5:44 a.m.

The Little League park where Barry Bonds once swatted home runs evokes images of small-town America. Nestled in a glen of oak woodland, the diamond in San Carlos has tri-color bunting on the fences and barbecue grills behind the bleachers.

All that’s missing at Arguello Park is a shrine for one of baseball’s greatest hitters. There’s Barry Bonds Field at Pier 48 in San Francisco and Bobby Bonds Park in Riverside. But the green-andwhite scoreboard at Arguello Park reads “Kiwanis of San Carlos” — the city doesn’t name structures without a monetary donation.

“The city hasn’t embraced him,” said lifelong friend Steve Leary, who’d like to see Bonds’ name honored on “a water fountain … something.”

It seems odd this hilly Peninsula enclave with a strong allegiance to one of the game’s most polarizing figures has done so little to celebrate Bonds.

While much of the country has greeted his march toward Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record with indifference or disgust, the gang from his formative years is exuberant about Bonds’ historic run. They say away from the glare of camera lights and autograph seekers, he is funny, likable and full of good deeds.

“People have truly grown to hate the man,” said Dave Dempsey, a San Carlos Little League coach who played against Bonds as a youth. “I tell them Barry’s a good guy and they think I’m flat-out lying.”

Bonds’ life in San Carlos began in 1969 — the year his famous San Francisco Giant father, Bobby, moved the family from Riverside. It didn’t take long for Barry to meet neighborhood children who shared his love of baseball.

His group centered around Rob and Steve Leary and Bob and Tim McKercher. They roamed Arguello and Burton parks, where they played baseball to their hearts’ content.

“If the bats, balls and gloves weren’t at home, we were at the park,” Steve Leary said.

“Or we played in the woods, climbed trees, played hide-and-seek,” recalled his brother Rob, now a Boston Red Sox minor league executive.

The boys sometimes played against Greg Anderson, who years later became Bonds’ weight training guru and the alleged conduit to Balco’s illicit performance-enhancing drugs. But at the time he wasn’t part of the tight-knit group that played together from Little League until they graduated from Junipero Serra High in San Mateo in 1982.

These friends had no great expectations for Bonds, who was one of seven to be drafted or play professionally from his Serra team. But they idolized his dad, who offered hitting instructions when he came around Arguello Park to watch.

They always knew when Bobby Bonds was in town because his boys — Barry, Ricky and Bobby Jr. — showed up at their homes with shaved heads after their father got hold of their Afro hair styles.

They held swim parties, sleepovers and would eat dinner at each other’s homes. But baseball remained their common thread.

Steve Leary, who has coached in San Carlos Little League for 11 years and umpires youth and high school games, loved hanging out at the Bonds home, where he and Barry would play catch in the living room with Bobby Bonds’ Gold Gloves.

“That stuff didn’t mean anything to us,” he said of the prized memorabilia. “We didn’t know.”

Although Bonds rarely talks about his idyllic childhood, he often retreats to San Carlos where his mother, Patricia Bonds, still lives in the corner house above Arguello Park. When his son Nikolai played in San Carlos Little League seven years ago, Bonds and his father, who died in 2003, cooked up hot dogs at the concession stand.

“We thought of him as just another one of us,” Steve Leary said. “All the money in the world doesn’t change friendship and the good times. No one can take that away.”

Patricia Bonds, who remains close to many of the San Carlos friends, transferred Barry and Bobby Jr. to Carey School, a private elementary, in the mid-’70s.

Clare Carey Willard, co-headmistress of the school, said their mother wanted a better educational experience for her children.

“Barry wasn’t going to Oxford, but why should he?” Willard, 80, said. “He was a good, honest, bright young man with top-notch morals.”

She continued: “The Barry I knew was so open-hearted and lovable. When I heard some of those stories about his attitude, well, the only attitude he had is, he wanted to work hard.

“That youngster soared.”

The first time classmate Clarke Nelson met Bonds at Carey, in fifth grade, he noticed his famous name. He excitedly asked, “Are you Bobby Bonds’ son?”

“Yeah, you want to make something of it?” Bonds replied.

Nelson explained he was a big fan of Barry’s father. For an icebreaker, he challenged Bonds to a Ping-Pong match at recess. Nelson won, and Bonds brooded for weeks, he recalled. But Barry practiced every day and then won a rematch. Nelson never defeated Bonds at any game again.

“He was mentally way above everybody else,” said Nelson, who organized all the school games with Bonds.

Former physical education teacher Dennis Calonico watched Bonds go from patronizing teammates to becoming the basketball team’s leader in eighth grade.

“I just saw so much growth,” said Calonico, a 4-foot-6 dwarf who swam in the’96 Paralympics.

Said Nelson: “He is really honest and sometimes might rub people the wrong way. He’s not a good pretender. He’s so genuine and authentic, whether good or bad.”

Last year at AT&T Park, Calonico, 56, sat a row behind the third-base dugout at a Giants-San Diego Padres game. As his former student jogged in from left field, Calonico, who like Bonds is a member of Serra’s Athletic Hall of Fame, rose and waved.

Bonds yelled, “Mr. C,” and told an ESPN camera crew, “That’s the guy who taught me to play basketball.”

Bonds didn’t forget his first encounter with Nelson, either. He gave his grade-school buddy a signed baseball from his dad for eighth-grade graduation.

The baseball record book at Serra marks Bonds’ many achievements. His .404 batting average over three seasons ranks eighth in school history. His 22 home runs are ranked second to former major league all-star Gregg Jeffries’ 26.

Ten Padres graduates have played in the majors, 49 professionally. Their name plates are nailed to a storage house wall in Danny Frisella Memorial Stadium.

Finally, something recognizing Bonds.

But, it’s not just Barry, long-time baseball coach Pete Jensen said of Serra’s proud history. “It’s all those guys on the wall down there.”

At this well-heeled all-boys Catholic school in San Mateo, Bonds is just one of the famous graduates.

“We had the CEO of Trader Joe’s, the inventor of the SoniCare tooth brush, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists and best-selling authors,” said admissions counselor Randy Vogel, who coached Bobby Bonds Jr. in Little League.

Not to mention Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady and NFL Hall of Fame receiver Lynn Swann.

Serra’s former baseball coach Dave Stevens, though, reserves a special place for Bonds. He recalled a driven young man ready to do what it took to nurture his God-given talent.

“If I gave him an extra chance to work in the batting cage after batting practice was over, he was there,” he said.

Not everyone at Serra predicted Bonds’ remarkable success.

“He was our friend, but you would have never thought he would go on and do what he did,” said Joe Kmak, a former teammate who is a Serra math teacher and baseball coach.

A junior biology teacher certainly didn’t. In a motivational ploy, he told Bonds, “If you don’t get your act together you’re not going to pass and baseball is not going to get you anywhere,” Vogel recalled.

Bonds passed the class. Now he’s on his way to passing a bigger milestone.

His friends don’t need a statue or a fountain to remind them of that.

Central Middle School is a middle school in San Carlos, California, United States, established in 1930. It was originally founded as the city's first school, with grades K–8, although since August 2016, it has served students in grades 6–8 only. The campus underwent a major remodel in 2015, yet still includes an auditorium designed by the Works Progress Administration in 1939, which is home to the biennial Chickens' Ball variety show, the longest-running PTA fundraiser in the United States.

About
Central Middle School, locally referred to as "CMS," is part of the San Carlos Elementary School District, and today serves students in grades 6-8. Most students attend elementary school at Brittan Acres Elementary or White Oaks Elementary in San Carlos, both of which feed into Arroyo Upper Elementary School, a school for grades 4–5 that feeds directly into Central. After graduation, most students are geographically slotted to attend Sequoia High School, although some students choose to attend other schools within the Sequoia Union High School District or a nearby private school. The school maintains several after-school sports teams and an award-winning Band and Orchestra program, in addition to a Yearbook team and student government team.

Most Central students pursue courses in six main subject areas: Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, and an Elective. Families have a choice in the student's math and elective course, but classes are otherwise pre-determined. The school has operated a modified block schedule since the 2016–2017 school year, under which students attend half their classes on Wednesday and the other half on Thursday. Like at other San Carlos schools, Wednesdays are early-dismissal days.

Early Beginnings
After the creation of the San Carlos School District in 1916, classes for local students was held at a house, and then a one-building school, at the corner of San Carlos Avenue and Elm Street, where City Hall is located today. As the local population grew, a school bond was issued, allowing for the construction of a new school, named Central School, at 826 Chestnut Street. The concrete school building featured six classrooms and two classrooms used as an auditorium and cost $37,000 to construct. It was designed by San Francisco architect Col. E. L. Norberg, who also developed the nearby Burlingame Library and San Mateo High School.

In 1939, through funding from the Federal Emergency Administration, local school trustees added an additional auditorium at the north end of the school building, which today is known as Mustang Hall. Architects Thomas M. Edwards and Harry A. Schary developed the auditorium, which included a stage and dressing rooms, two classrooms, a kindergarten, and a clinic. To accommodate more students, seven grammar school classrooms were constructed at the south end of the building in 1941 by architects Birge Clark and David Clark. One year later, on a block of land on the east side of Chestnut Street, which then ran continuously through the property, six primary school classrooms were developed.

Beyond the 1939 auditorium, this set of classrooms, officially referred to as "Unit B," are the oldest remaining buildings on the site, although the interiors were remodeled in 2015 when the classrooms began to be used by Arroyo Upper Elementary School. The exterior walls of these classrooms became known among San Carlos residents for their Beatles-themed murals, painted by students in the early 2000s under the supervision of former Art teacher Joan Purcell.

Growth as a Middle School
Between 1944 and 1956, the District responded to increasing student populations by constructing several elementary schools, plus Tierra Linda Middle School, and the now-closed San Carlos High School. As a result, Central became a junior high school serving students in grades 5–8. Several renovations to the campus were completed during this time, including a row of classrooms with courtyards on the campus' east side in the 1940s.

In 1959, in preparation for the construction of a third school building, the District and the City of San Carlos collaborated to close a portion of Chestnut Street, which still today remains closed between School Street and Arroyo Avenue. In addition to the campus now encompassing the 1942 buildings formerly across Chestnut Street, local architect Delp W. Johnson designed an 8-room building in the center of campus and the library. He also renovated a portion of Mustang Hall to house the District office, and expanded the Mustang Hall building to include boys and girls locker rooms. These "Unit C" additions, completed in 1960, are still in use in their original locations today, although the District offices have now been repurposed to house a youth community theater organization and the 8 rooms now comprise Arroyo Upper Elementary School, which shares Central's original campus. Harrod and Williams of Sunnyvale served as the project contractors.

In 1970, Johnson's firm, Delp W. Johnson, Poole, and Storm, designed four octagonal "pod" buildings with exterior doors leading to open-air hallways and interior doors connecting to a study and storage room. This style was also seen at San Carlos High School, developed by Johnson in the previous decade. Among these, only two pods still remain today; one houses the school's Band, Orchestra, and Library rooms ("Unit D"), and the other is used as the offices of a community tutoring organization and the local education foundation ("Unit F"). Units E and G were used as a set of classrooms and the teacher's lounge, respectively, between 1970 and the school's reconstruction in 2015. At the same time, the original school building of 1930 and the 1941 south-end addition were both demolished, as they were found to be seismically unsafe. De Narde Construction Company of San Francisco served as the project contractors. During this renovation, the school's offices were moved to a pod building along Chestnut Street, and the school's address was officially signed as 828 Chestnut Street.

Carrying On Traditions
As Central celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1980, traditions such as the annual Chickens' Ball variety show and the gathering of students in downtown San Carlos had become commonplace among Central students. Local newspapers reported that students could be found at the Burton Park amphitheater, now home to the San Carlos Youth Center, or along the Postman's Path, a now-closed easement between Cedar Street and Carmelita Drive.

Elsewhere in the city and county, schools were experiencing decreased enrollment, which led to the closure of Tierra Linda Middle School in 1982. Elementary schools were once again home to K–6 students, and all seventh and eighth grade San Carlos students were slotted to attend Central. With decreased funding, cuts were made to Central's academic offerings, including reduced music and art classes. In 1984, Chickens' Ball ticket sales allowed for the purchase of $12,500 worth of personal computers and computer-related programs for Central students.

By 1985, school consultants predicted increased enrollment in San Carlos schools, causing school trustees to move sixth graders back to Central and open six portable classrooms on the west side of campus. In 1988, San Carlos resident Monica MacLean, known for her roles in Demon Seed and The Paper Chase, co-founded the San Carlos Children's Theater, a performing arts group, which brought acting classes to Central Middle School's range of electives. Since the opening of the San Carlos Youth Center at Burton Park in the late 1990s, many students have trekked across Arroyo Avenue to the Youth Center after school for sports, homework help, and arts and crafts.

By the 1990s, the San Carlos School District proposed reopening Tierra Linda and reorganizing both Central and Tierra Linda as plants for students in grades 5–8. In June 1997, a bond measure was passed to allow the funding of a new gym and library on both campuses, in addition to upgrades classrooms for art, the performing arts, and science. This led to the construction of a 8,598-square-foot gymnasium on the north end of Central's campus, completed in 1998, which replaced an existing one-story wood frame building on the site. On September 5, 2000, Tierra Linda officially reopened as San Carlos' second middle school. The portables constructed on campus in 1985 soon came to be used primarily as fifth grade classrooms, in addition to a design lab and a Shakespeare-themed elective. Several years later, the historic North Hall, today known as Mustang Hall, underwent renovations, including new boys and girls locker rooms, a kitchen, and a multi-purpose room.

2014–2015 Renovation and Restructuring
In the early 2010s, the San Carlos School District experienced an influx of students, leading the School Board to adopt a policy to divide its two school levels (grades K–4 and grades 5–8) into three levels: grades K–3 elementary schools, grades 4–5 upper elementary "bridge" schools, and grades 6–8 middle schools. The District split Central's campus into two schools: Central's current 6-8 school and Arroyo Upper Elementary School. The project was valued at $37.5 million total and financed through the Measure H Facility Bond Program, passed in November 2012 by San Carlos voters.

Over the course of 14 months, San Carlos construction company Blach Construction and Santa Rosa-based Quattrocchi Kwok Architects built a 2-story, 40,000-square-foot addition to Central's campus, comprising of academic classrooms, a staff lounge, and a new office. Lower-level atriums were fitted with movable furniture to enable rearrangeable groupings. The 22 new classrooms were named "Learning Suites" in construction plans, referring to the fact that classrooms were built in pairs, with a moveable whiteboard partition in between each and shared breakout spaces. Four modernized science labs, an art room, and a "Tinker Lab," currently used by Central's Maker Space elective, were added to the campus, in addition to large Apple TV screens used for projection in each classroom.

The construction was completed in August 2015. Beginning with the 2015–2016 school year, the majority of Central's academic classes were held in the renovated buildings, ending the use of existing portables and octagonal pods. However, the school's library, media production room, and Band and Orchestra rooms still remain in the older wing of the school. During the renovation, the Orchestra room was modernized and the Band room was modernized and expanded, incorporating a former computer lab. No changes were made to Mustang Hall.

Today, much of Arroyo Upper Elementary School, which opened in August 2016, consists of Central Middle School's former classrooms. The district office, which once sat on the north end of Central's campus, moved to its present-day location on Industrial Road in San Carlos during the construction. The current entrance to Central is located on Cedar Street, adjacent to a parking lot constructed during the renovation.

Mustang Hall
In addition to being used as an indoor space for P.E. and theater classes, Central's historic auditorium, Mustang Hall, is used for community events including theater performances and the biennial Chickens' Ball variety show. Central and Arroyo Band and Orchestra concerts are also held annually in Mustang Hall. The building was constructed in 1939 with workers from the Works Progress Administration, and the architecture exemplifies characteristics of the Art Deco style, with influences from the Mission Revival period. In particular, the auditorium is known for its terra cotta tile roof, stucco wall finish, gable roofs, and chevron-patterned tiles. The auditorium was officially named Mustang Hall in 2007.

The same year that the auditorium was created, San Carlos teacher Howard Demeke, recognizing the need to raise "milk money" for local students, developed a plan to create a friendly skit competition amongst community members. He developed the skits into a two-hour-long variety show, known as the Chickens' Ball, which has run every other year since. The cast of volunteers dress in typically-risqué clothing from the 1890s period, and skit themes are known to be raucous and risqué, such as the 2012 performance's theme of Barbary Coast, a historic red-light district of San Francisco. In March 2020, the show was conducted online for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to low funding, particularly in the San Carlos School District, 75 percent of the district's funding comes from local sources, such as the Chickens' Ball. Funds raised from ticket sales support music, theater, and performing arts programs at all the local San Carlos schools; in previous years, a mural, a ceramics class, art supplies, and new instrument purchases have been funded from proceeds of the event.

Academic Offerings
Academically, Central has experienced changes to its electives and schedule in recent years. Students can choose between electives including Band and Orchestra, Spanish, Art, Video Media, and more. In some years, a rotating wheel of electives are offered to sixth graders, which in the past included Spanish, Music Appreciation, and Shakespeare. Through the 2013–2014 school year, Yearbook was offered as an elective, although it was subsequently switched to an after-school club. As of the 2020–2021 school year, on Tuesday afternoons, students participate in "Quest" classes, enabling them to choose between programs including socio-emotional support, student government, advanced math challenges, reading clubs, and more. For several years, Jazz Band, Art, and P.E. were offered during zero period, which began at 7:30 a.m. and later 7:40 a.m.

Through the 2014–2015 school year, a cohort of Central students were enrolled annually in a College and Career Readiness (CCR) class, helping to encourage students to develop skills to attend a university after graduation. Students enrolled in the program were often the first in their families to attend college, or came from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education, and curriculum was provided by the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. Due to low enrollment, the program ended in June 2015.

Sports and Extracurricular Activities
Sports are organized by the San Carlos School District, and include school-specific teams including basketball, volleyball, tennis, and more. Golf, cross country, track and field, and flag football are offered to all San Carlos middle school students, who play together on the same team. Central's campus includes a gymnasium which is used for basketball and volleyball games. Other events are held offsite, including tennis matches and soccer games at Highlands Park in San Carlos. Each January, middle school students can participate in the annual Swing Off, a swing dancing competition hosted by either Central or Tierra Linda. Central is part of the Art David Athletic League.

Alongside students at Tierra Linda Middle School and Charter Learning Center, Central students have the opportunity to participate in an annual Tri-School Musical, directed by the San Carlos Children's Theater, which takes place over two weekends each fall inside Mustang Hall. Additionally, seventh grade students travel to Crane Flat and Curry Village inside Yosemite National Park for a week each May for an environmental education field trip organized by NatureBridge. As part of the San Carlos School District's project based learning curriculum, sixth and eighth graders at Central are encouraged to complete an independent enrichment project, as part of an annual ROPES (Rite Of Passage ExperienceS program) experience. All Central students can also develop an individual or group project for the district's Science Fair, from which several students regularly advance to the county level Science Fair.

Newscast
In August 2015, Central debuted a weekly news broadcast show, featuring regular student anchors, interviews with other students and community members, and weekly segments such as a weather report, "5 Seconds of Fame" starring students, a teacher lip sync, and "Selfies of the Week." Students developed skills in video production and photography as part of the club, which met weekly after school. As the program was one of the first of its kind for middle schools in the Bay Area, several students involved in the program were featured on KRON-4 News in December 2016 for their work. The newscast is now done several times throughout the school year, in contrast to the original program, which featured episodes each Monday that would be broadcast to TV screens in each classroom. Over the past 6 years, the broadcast has changed names, including CMSTV, CMS News, CMS Central, Mustang Todays, and, most recently, Mustang Mornings.



Notable faculty

 * Colyn Fischer (2009–present) – Orchestra
 * Tom Petithomme (2013–2017) – P.E.

Central Middle School is a middle school in San Carlos, California, United States, established in 1930. It was originally founded as the city's first school, with grades K–8, although today it serves students in grades 6–8 only. The school is home to an award-winning Band and Orchestra program, and also maintains several after-school sports teams, in addition to a weekly news broadcast and Yearbook and student government teams.


 * About -- general info
 * History; 1930s, growth, recent renovation
 * Mustang Hall
 * Electives & programs
 * Newscast - inc'l clips - CMSTV - CMS News - CMS CEntral - Mustang Todays - Mustang Morning
 * Music - Band and Orchestra
 * other electives - Spanish/World Languages, tinkering lab/design "Design," Jazz Band, Art/Ceramics
 * Yearbook
 * After-school sports
 * Theater - class; SCCT connection; Tri-school
 * Formerly AVID...
 * Staff
 * Tom Petithomme; Colin Fischer
 * list principals



The San Carlos School District was established in 1916. Classes were held in a house at the corner of San Carlos Avenue and Elm Street until 1918, when the first school building was constructed using bond funding, and our current PTA was first formed. As the school population grew a second school bond was issued and a new school was constructed in 1930 at the current Central Middle School site. The original school on Elm Street was purchased by the City of San Carlos for use as their City Hall. The new concrete building designed by San Francisco architect Col. E.L. Norberg featured six classrooms and an auditorium

KKunzelman since 2017

Lynette Hovland; Steven Kaufman; Thomas Domer

Sequoia High School (established in 1895) is a high school in downtown Redwood City, California, United States. Today, it is one of the few schools to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme within the San Francisco Bay Area.

Central Middle School (formerly Central Grammar School and Central Intermediate School) is a school of the Hawaii Department of Education that occupies a historic building in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, built on the grounds of Keoua Hale, the former palace of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani of Hawaiʻi.

Sequoia High School (established in 1895) is a high school in downtown Redwood City, California, United States. Today, it is one of the few schools to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme within the San Francisco Bay Area.

About
Central Middle School, locally referred to as "CMS," is part of the San Carlos Elementary School District, and today serves students in grades 6-8. Most students attend elementary school at Brittan Acres Elementary or White Oaks Elementary in San Carlos. After graduation, most students are geographically slotted to attend Sequoia High School, although some students choose to attend other schools within the Sequoia Union High School District or a nearby private school. The school maintains several after-school sports teams, in addition to a Yearbook team and student government team.

Most Central students pursue courses in six main subject areas: Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, and an Elective. Families have a choice in the student's math and elective course, but classes are otherwise pre-determined. The school has operated a modified block schedule since the 2016–2017 school year, under which students attend half their classes on Wednesday and the other half on Thursday. Like other San Carlos schools, Wednesdays are early-dismissal days.

Early Beginnings
Established in 1895, Sequoia is the oldest high school in San Mateo County, and was founded as a preparatory school for Stanford University. When the school was founded, it was the only high school on the Peninsula between San Francisco and Santa Clara. Initially when opening, the school occupied the third floor of the Redwood City Grammar School, with the two lower floors of the building for elementary and middle school students.

The present-day campus is located on the grounds of the former estate of Horace Hawes, author of the legislative bill that created San Mateo County. The present day campus, purchased for $80,000, was constructed in the 1920s and opened in 1924, in a Spanish Colonial Revival architecture style. The original campus buildings were designed by architects Coffey and Werner. The Argo Bell Tower campanile was built in 1923, and named after the former principal (from 1921 to 1948) Clarence Argo. Carrington Hall, the school auditorium, was named after a former music and art teacher at the school, Otis M. Carrington.

Remnants of the site's earlier owners, from over 115 years ago, are still visible on campus today, including an original set of concrete benches and walls on the eastern expanse of the school, built prior to 1905. The gazebo in the Japanese Tea Garden has been recently renovated, but remains in an identical location to a similar structure placed in the "rock garden" (today, the Tea Garden) in 1905.

The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1995, under its former name Sequoia Union High School.

On September 13, 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Sequoia High School to sign bill SB 35, which prohibits persons who are under the age of 18 years from using a wireless telephone or other mobile service device while operating a motor vehicle.

Growth as a Middle School
Between 1944 and 1956, the District responded to increasing student populations by constructing several elementary schools, plus Tierra Linda Middle School, and now-closed San Carlos High School. As a result, Central became a junior high school serving students in grades 5–8. Several renovations to the campus were completed during this time, including a row of classrooms with courtyards on the campus' east side in the 1940s. The exterior walls of these classrooms became known among San Carlos residents for their Beatles-themed murals, painted by students in the early 2000s under the supervision of former Art teacher Joan Purcell.

In 1959, the District and the City of San Carlos collaborated to close a portion of Chestnut Street, making space for additional classrooms. Local architect Delp W. Johnson designed an 8-room building in the center of campus and the library. He also renovated a portion of Mustang Hall to house the District office, and expanded the Mustang Hall building to include boys and girls locker rooms. These additions, completed in 1960, are still in use in their original locations today, although the District offices have now been repurposed to house a youth community theater organization and the 8 rooms now comprise Arroyo Upper Elementary School, which shares Central's original campus.

knwo

, an 8-classroom building in the central campus in 1960,

On September 13, 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Sequoia High School to sign bill SB 35, which prohibits persons who are under the age of 18 years from using a wireless telephone or other mobile service device while operating a motor vehicle.

At the time of the renovation, the District's offices were moved off of the campus, to be replaced by the northern

4 octagonal pods - teacher's room; Banfield room (demolished); HCT; existing

In 1998, the new gymnasium was constructed at the north end of the campus. An existing one-story wood frame building was demolished to allow for the new gym. Also at this time, interior alterations and modernizations occurred throughout the campus

1970 - eastern

Unit A, Mustang Hall, with 15,706 square feet of floor space, was constructed in 1939. This building includes an auditorium with a stage and dressing rooms, offices, break rooms, and other facilities. The auditorium has a wooden floor. The basement is used for storage of office files and boxes;

Unit B, classroom building, with 7,751square feet of floor space, was constructed in 1940’s. Classrooms in this building have 1’x1’ floor tiles and 2’x4’ ceiling panels, with carpeted floors. This building is being renovated - Francesconi

Unit C, Another classroom building, with 10,148 square feet of floor space, was constructed in 1959-1960 and was renovated between 2015-2016 - Chan

Unit D, the library building, with 9,396 square feet of floor space, was constructed in 1970. This building was renovated between 2015-2016

Unit E, former classroom building which has been demolished in 2015 to make room for new school space - Mitchell

nit F, an administrative building, with 1,909 square feet of floor space, was constructed in 1970 and was renovated between 2015-2016; 

Unit G, has been demolished in 2015 to make room for new school building space; - teaching

Unit H, the gymnasium, occupying approximately 8,598 square feet, was constructed in 1998; and 

 bADDDRESSES - 826 is now district office; see Chuck Gilloley page "WHITE OAKS BLOG" B   https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874&ei=LVz6X9qwPPXQ9APx84zoBw&q=What%27s+the+Plan+for+Adding+More+School+Capacity+in+San+CArlos&oq=What%27s+the+Plan+for+Adding+More+School+Capacity+in+San+CArlos&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIFCCEQoAEyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgATIFCCEQoAEyBQghEKABMgUIIRCrAjoECAAQRzoICCEQFhAdEB46BwghEAoQoAFQggtYgSxgwyxoAXACeAGAAagCiAHiF5IBBjIxLjguMZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrIAQjAAQE&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwia-7KIn5DuAhV1KH0KHfE5A30Q4dUDCA0&uact=5

Six portable classrooms (west side of Unit C), were established in 1985. These portables were decommissioned in spring 2016 and have been removed from the campus.

At the Central School site Johnson’s firm Delp W. Johnson, Poole and Storm also designed the four octagonal “pod” buildings that were constructed in 1970 (currently 2 remain: one houses the Band, Orchestra and Library rooms shared by Central and Arroyo, and the other is for the SCEF offices). That was when the original 1930 school building was demolished, as it was found to be seismically unsafe. The 1930 building and the 1941 south-end addition were both removed and the pods were built. The contractor for the project was De Narde Construction Company of San Francisco. 1982 and 1990 saw design work completed for the site by architect James Coke of Sausalito. In 1982 renovations were done to two of the pod structures, the faculty area, the library, and the classroom wings. In 1990 a classroom building, most likely a portable unit, was relocated and a covered porch constructed. Then in 1998 the new gymnasium designed by the architectural firm of Stafford King Wiese was constructed at the north end of the campus. An existing one-story wood frame building was demolished to allow for the new gym. Also at this time interior alterations and modernizations occurred throughout the campus.

2014–2015 Renovation and Restructuring
In the early 2010s, the San Carlos School District experienced an influx of students, leading the School Board to adopt a policy to divide its two school levels (grades K-4 and grades 5-8) into three levels: grades K-3 elementary schools, grades 4-5 upper elementary "bridge" schools, and grades 6-8 middle schools. The District split Central's campus into two schools: Central's current 6-8 school and Arroyo Upper Elementary School. The project was valued at $37.5 million total and financed through the Measure H Facility Bond Program, passed in November 2012 by San Carlos voters.

Over the course of 14 months, San Carlos construction company Blach Construction and Santa Rosa-based Quattrocchi Kwok Architects built a 2-story, 40,000-square-foot addition to Central's campus, comprising of academic classrooms, a staff lounge, and a new office. Lower-level atriums were fitted with movable furniture to enable rearrangeable groupings. Classrooms were named "Learning Suites" in construction plans, referring to the fact that classrooms were built in pairs, with a moveable whiteboard partition in between each and shared breakout spaces. Modernized science labs and a "Tinker Lab," currently used by Central's Maker Space elective, were added to the campus.

The construction was completed in August 2015. Beginning with the 2015–2016 school year, the majority of Central's academic classes were held in the renovated buildings, ending the use of existing portables and octagonal pods. However, the school's library, media production room, and Band and Orchestra rooms still remain in the older wing of the school. During the renovation, the Orchestra room was modernized and the Band room was modernized and expanded, incorporating a former computer lab. No changes were made to Mustang Hall.

Today, much of Arroyo Upper Elementary School, which opened in August 2016, consists of Central Middle School's former classrooms. The current entrance to Central is located on Cedar Street, adjacent to a parking lot constructed during the renovation.

Renovation and Restructure
In the fall of 1925, Sequoia's mascot and athletic team names were selected as the Cherokees, in honor of the creator of the Cherokee language, Sequoyah. The foreword of Sequoia's 1926 annual referenced the change, noting it was intended to "honor. . .the Cherokees, both past and present." In 2001, following presentations from students, teachers, and the school's Alumni Association, the Board of Trustees voted to change the mascot, while still retaining the Cherokees team name. The student body voted on the new mascot, with Ravens capturing the most votes, and the Scorpions second.

Beginning in 2018, several students, along with a faculty member and a few Sequoia parents, formed the "Ready for Ravens" initiative, arguing that continuing to use the Cherokee team name was hurtful to Native American tribes and perpetuated stereotypes about native people. Although many students and community members supported the change, others argued that the Cherokee name was, in fact, honoring the Cherokee tribe. The student group organized surveys, presented to the Board of Trustees, met with the Alumni Association, and produced an informative video capturing both sides of the issue. In early April 2019, after collecting survey responses from over 1,200 students, parents, faculty, and community members, the students presented to the Board of Trustees, who voted in favor of switching the team name to the Ravens.

In the months since, the administration has undergone efforts to replace references to the Cherokees on campus, including painting a new Ravens mural inside a gym and outside another gym. The 2020 Yearbook, commemorating Sequoia's 125th year, officially acknowledged the change and paid homage to the 1926 annual with an updated foreword reflecting recent changes to the team name and mascot.

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)
Sequoia provides classes, in partnership with the nationwide Advancement Via Individual Organization, to offer support for students related to taking advanced classes, time management, college applications, and more. The class is taught for one period every day, typically 7th period, as Sequoia operates on a schedule where only 0 and 7th period classes meet daily, a requirement for the AVID program. Students involved in AVID remain with the same teacher and classmates all four years of high school, and are expected to take notes in class daily, complete all college-preparatory classes with a "C" or higher, and meet with their teachers for progress reports. As the program is designed for students "in the middle" who could benefit from extra support, most students come from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in post-secondary education, or who are the first in their family to attend college.

BUILD
Designed to prepare students for careers in business and entrepreneurship, Sequoia offers a BUILD elective to 9th grade students, typically taken as a seventh class. With support from the BUILD organization, students learn business techniques and apply them to a small product that their team has engineered. In some years, the student teams sell their products to Sequoia students at lunch, and learn social media marketing strategies as they publicize their products digitally. (The school formerly offered a business/information technology program, with classes in computer repair, computer-aided design, and IB Information Technology in a Global Society, but due to low enrollment, the program ended after the 2017–2018 school year. )

Digital Arts Academy (DAA)
Offered as a small school-within-a-school to students, the Digital Arts Academy provides students the opportunity to explore careers within technology. Students apply in the spring of their 9th grade year and enroll in the program for their 10th through 12th grade years. The program is funded through a grant from the State of California that is matched by the District and industry partners, allowing classes to be capped at 25 students and providing teachers with resources that can be used to infuse the curriculum with technology and provide extra support to students. Within the Academy, students take four classes per year: English, Science, Social Studies, and a technology elective (Digital Filmmaking, Multimedia I, and Multimedia II). Besides gaining experience with professional software, students are also paired with a mentor that works in Silicon Valley, allowing them to learn job skills and business etiquette through one-on-one activities, workshops, job shadows, and mock interviews.

Health Careers Academy (HCA)
Similar to the Digital Arts Academy, the Health Careers Academy is a small learning community for 10th through 12th grade students at Sequoia, focused on preparing students for college-level education in health care fields or a career in the health care industry following graduation. Teachers "loop" with students and move with them through their years in the program within a specific subject area, such as English, Science, Social Studies, and Career Technical Education. The program provides students real-world experiences in health care fields through professional mentors, certification programs, and internships at local companies. In the 2019–2020 school year, students attended a field trip to the Redwood City Fire Department, where they practiced Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) skills and performed mock emergency situations. Through partnerships with local organizations, students in the Academy also host various events on campus, including an annual Health Fair and a youth heart screening. On March 4, 2019, the HCA was recognized by the California Department of Education at a conference in Sacramento, where it was selected as one of seven distinguished academies in the state, out of nearly 400 other programs.

International Baccalaureate Programme (IB)
Sequoia High School began offering the International Baccalaureate Programme in February 2002, under Principal Morgan Marchbanks. Although the official IB curriculum does not begin until junior year, students can take ICAP ("International College Advancement Program") classes in freshman and sophomore year. Sequoia High School offers a wide range of IB classes for students in English, history, math, science, electives, and languages. Students can choose to take one or several IB classes to pursue an IB certificate, or they can choose to partake in the full IB Diploma, which includes taking an IB class in each of the six main subject areas, taking an additional Theory of Knowledge (TOK) class, writing a 4,000-word Extended Essay (EE) research paper, and completing Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) hours. The International Baccalaureate Programme allows the students a wide range of opportunities because the course material is worldwide. It prepares them for college as the course is rigorous, but helps each student adapt to the work load. At the end of the last year, similar to the AP test, the students take IB tests which go on throughout the month of May. As of the 2020–2021 school year, Sequoia offers 18 unique IB classes.

Demographics
2015-2016


 * 2,143 students: 1,096 Male (51.1%), 1,047 Female (48.9%)

Athletes

 * Gary Beban (class of 1964), Heisman Trophy winner in 1967, briefly played professional football for the Washington Redskins.
 * Spencer Folau (class of 1991), 2000 Super Bowl championship with the Baltimore Ravens.
 * James Gaughran (class of 1950), Olympic water polo athlete, Melbourne 1956, member of the United States Water Polo Hall of Fame
 * John Harlin II (class of 1953), American mountaineer, famous for Harlin's Route, north face of the Eiger
 * Charles Johnson, professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors
 * Paul McClellan, Major League Baseball (MLB) player for the San Francisco Giants
 * Paul Noce, former MLB player with the Chicago Cubs
 * Dick Sharon (class of 1968), former MLB player
 * Dick Stuart (class of 1951), former MLB player with the Pittsburgh Pirates
 * Bob Svihus (class of 1961), played with the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets from 1965–1973.
 * Tim Twietmeyer, ultramarathon runner, best known for completing the Western States Endurance Run more than 25 times in under 24 hours.

Arts and entertainment

 * Eric Dane (in school as Eric Feldman 1987–1990), actor on Grey's Anatomy and Marley & Me
 * Tim Genis (class of 1984), Boston Symphony lead timpanist
 * Kenny Ortega (class of 1968), director and choreographer for the High School Musical franchise.
 * Lydia Pense (class of 1966), musician and singer in the band Cold Blood; was in a Sequoia High School band called The Dimensions (in 1963).
 * Ronnie Day, (class of 2006, graduated early to focus on his music career), musician

Business

 * Ray Dolby (class of 1951), founder of Dolby Laboratories
 * Gordon Moore (class of 1946), co-founder of Intel Corporation, best known for Moore's Law

Politics

 * William Royer, member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Scholar and education

 * Steven G. Krantz (class of 1967), scholar, mathematician and author of more than 50 books