In 1961 the Alameda Unified School District built Lum Elementary School on “made land” — property that once lay beneath the waters of San Francisco Bay. Utah Construction had “made” this land in the mid-1950s when it filled in a portion of the bay to create South Shore. Four years later AUSD opened Will C. Wood Middle School on this same “made” land.
In a bit of irony, the school district hosted a meeting last Friday evening at the latter school to announce that it was closing the former school because the land beneath it was unstable.
In a groundbreaking ceremony held Monday, Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) and city officials gathered to celebrate progress on complete restoration of the Historic Alameda High School (HAHS). As part of the ceremony, a front loader pushed down a portion of the fence surrounding HAHS. The retrofit and restoration, which was designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, will be paid for out of funds from the 2014 Measure I Facilities Bond. The project is expected to be complete by December 2019.
With 2016 rapidly coming to a close, the Alameda Sun looks back over the top news stories in Alameda this past year. This week will cover January through June and next week will feature news from July through December.
January
The Water Emergency Transportation Authority worked to have a new dock for harbor seals delivered to Alameda Point in April, ahead of the start of construction for the ferry maintenance terminal. The maintenance facility’s berthing dock would displace the seals’ previous resting spot.
Alamedans woke up on Wednesday, Nov. 9, to learn that Donald Trump had defeated Hillary Clinton; the Trumps, not the Clintons will be moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in January.
Locals also learned that they had a brand-new City Councilwoman and an equally fresh School Board Trustee. The Alameda Unified School District quickly tweeted its thanks on Wednesday to voters for passing a measure that extended the period that the district could depend on the current parcel tax.
Congresswoman honors Lincoln Middle School students’ efforts
Congresswoman Barbara Lee honored Alameda middle school for its ongoing contribution to improving the environment. Through the Ocean Guardian program, which is run by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Lincoln Middle School students are replacing invasive plants along the San Leandro Bay shoreline with native ones, as well as picking up trash.
Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Superintendent Kirsten Vital will be leaving Alameda to take the reins of the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD). Vital’s new employer announced that its school board settled on Vital on Saturday, June 14. The Capistrano Dispatch reports that the CUSD undertook a national search but replaced those search firms last month to focus on California candidates.
The “land-swap” package deal came before the Alameda City Council on Tuesday after the Alameda Sun went to press. The Sun offers this synopsis of the package that, as of this writing, pundits were predicting that the council would have already passed.
The idea of merging Alameda High and Encinal High schools has been raised several times in previous decades. In the spring of 2018, community members, athletic directors and teachers asked for a new review of the concept for two reasons.
The Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Education approved 15 members for the Committee to Consider High School Consolidation at the June 26 School Board meeting.
The committee will examine the “viability, desirability and effects” that would come from combining Alameda and Encinal high schools into one comprehensive high school, according to an AUSD press release.
