Photo by Julia Park

Workers pour cement at the new Ruby Bridges Elementary School in preparation for the grand opening of the facility and for the first day of school Aug. 28.

Work is progressing at a fast and furious pace to ready local schools for the first day of instruction Aug. 28, according to Alameda Unified School District officials. In a report prepared for the AUSD Board of Education, Bob DeLuca, director of maintenance, operations and facilities, said that work undertaken this summer is in its final stages at most campuses and will be wrapped up in time for students returning to class.

“We have good news, bad news,” DeLuca told the school board at its first meeting after the summer break Aug. 8. The bad news was that, “We didn’t have a lot of time to do the ambitious program we had planned,” he said.

The good news is that Alameda’s first new school in decades will be ready to open its doors to welcome students from the former Woodstock, Longfellow and Miller elementary school communities. Alameda’s newest elementary school will be called Ruby Bridges Elementary School. 

The crews are “staying late, getting there early — so it’s working out,” DeLuca said, adding that teachers should be able to get into their classrooms by Aug. 21. The sod was slated to be laid in the park area by Alameda Recreation and Parks workers, but the park restrooms are not yet ready for public use, he said. Concrete work and landscaping are also in progress.

Money from the state gave modernization projects at Miller, Lincoln, Alameda High School, Earhart and Haight schools a boost, DeLuca said. “Alameda High is the project I’m most worried about … if you can believe getting carpet is hard, that’s what we’re dealing with now.” Under construction are the media center, office area, clinic and several English classrooms. The English classrooms will begin instruction in portables Aug. 28.

At Lincoln Middle School, the two-story building has been occupied. The bridge is under redesign and may not be ready for the opening of school. If not, crews will reinstall the stairs, according to the report. The science wing, Pods 3 and 4, and the media center are nearly complete and will be ready for the opening of school.

At Earhart School, the playground has been installed, and the kindergartens, media center and multi-use room will be ready for occupancy. Workers encountered some asbestos at Haight School but “nothing serious,” DeLuca said. The modernization demolition is underway and retrofit work there has begun in earnest. Miller School is still in its demolition phase but is on track for an October completion.

Longfellow School is now the Longfellow Education Center, housing Head Start, Even Start, LEAPS, adult literacy, Pipeline, Alameda Education Foundation and food services, among others, and will also offer five staff development rooms. Telephones and alarm systems are being upgraded. Some rooms have been found with extensive floor damage and the entire wing needs heating pipe replacement, according to DeLuca. Some occupants at the site may encounter construction noise during the beginning of the school year, but no students will be affected.

At the Alameda Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), the new portable buildings are on site and installed. DeLuca said the site was ready for students Aug. 14. The Otis School play structure, damaged by arson, is under repair. A temporary play structure should be finished in time for the beginning of school, and a permanent structure will arrive soon after. The Wood Middle School playground repair and resurfacing is complete. The Chipman Middle School playground resurfacing is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 21. The Lum School portable is under construction and set to be ready for school Aug. 28. The retrofit of Historic Alameda High School is still under design and construction is set to begin in spring 2007.

Ruby Bridges Elementary School will open in this fall at 351 Jack London Ave. in the new Bayport housing development along Atlantic Avenue. A celebration is slated for later this fall.