What’s the Plan for Adding More School Capacity in San Carlos?

September 25, 2013

SCSD-Door

 The 2013 Master Plan.

The title of this post also happens to be one of the most often asked questions that I get from new buyers today in San Carlos.   This comes as absolutely no surprise, since the reputation of the School District here still ranks among the top reasons that home buyers want to make San Carlos their new address.   In recent years, the insatiable demand by families with school age children to buy homes that reside within school boundaries has pushed the District enrollment to its limits.  The physical capacity of the schools simply can no longer accommodate all of the students that will be attending in the coming years.

Most buyers do know that a $72M bond measure was passed by voters to fund the expansion and improvement of the District, but many don't know how the School District is going to change as a result of this.   There were, after all, several options that were discussed.   So hopefully this post will answer most of the common questions, and provide you a resource if you need more information.

The Build Out.

Back in March of this year, the Board of Trustees of the San Carlos School District settled on one of the various options that were on the table about how to increase capacity to handle the future enrollment requirements.   That plan is outlined in great detail below in the 2013 Master Facilities Plan, but here are the key points:

  • All four elementary schools will be reduced from the existing K-4 configuration to K-3, which will allow for more K-3 classes at each location.
  • There will be two “bridge” facilities built at the existing Central and Tierra Linda Middle School locations, which will accommodate 4th and 5th grades and handle about 400 students each.  They are tentatively known as the Arroyo and Dartmouth Schools, respectively.
  • 6-8 grades will remain in their existing locations.
  • Numerous upgrades and improvements will be made to all of the existing school facilities.
  • Full implementation will take about 3-4 years.   The Arroyo bridge school will likely be ready a full year before Dartmouth.

If you're interested in more details of the plan, including projected costs, here's a link with lots of information:  The San Carlos School Facilities Master Plan – 2013.  It's an interesting read, and does a great job of highlighting the exciting changes that will be happening in the coming years to all of the schools in San Carlos.

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3 Comments

  1. Teresa on September 28, 2013 at 7:52 pm

    Mark my words; the endless number of school bond measures will soon follow. There has to be another way.



  2. Scott on September 30, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    At what point do we need to starting thinking about where to put all these kids when they reach high school?



  3. Chuck Gillooley on September 30, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    That’s an excellent question. Carlmont High School has been at capacity for the past 5+ years. And Sequoia is growing at a rate where they will reach their capacity very soon, unless there is some sort of expansion to their facilities as well.



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