Obituaries Castilleja School is a top rated, private, all-girls school located in PALO ALTO, CA. While its plans call for increasing student enrollment, the project would actually constitute a reduction in total building area, according to planning staff. Circulation & Delivery, About Us "Castilleja operates under a CUP (conditional use permit) which is a privilege and not an entitlement," Sylvester said. You are complaining about construction for a year or two, but what about construction for affordable housing in your neighborhood with underground parking? Castilleja's 6th through 12th grade program offers opportunities for girls across all grade levels to develop a keen sense of self and an unbridled zeal for exploration, innovation, and friendship. Castilleja checks all of these boxes. Education | The 7/23/21 Fehr & Peers Castilleja Parking Study commissioned by Castilleja School indicates a parking garage of any size is NOT NECESSARY. Help sustain the local news you depend on. National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), top 20% of private schools in California for most sports offered, private school tuition across the country, Editorial: Veenker, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims for Palo Alto City Council (2022), Castilleja School claims Palo Alto's move to reduce proposed garage is illegal (2022), On the eve of graduation, high school seniors celebrate with a car parade (2021). He said other schools that wanted to grow have moved to places with more acreage or created two locations., He added that if staff had come to us and said they have this issue about underground structures in (a residential neighborhood), maybe council couldve weighed in earlier., Castilleja Head of School Nanci Kauffman scoffed at the idea that the proposal came as a surprise, saying it was iterated multiple times based off feedback from city staff., She said she didnt understand why the council wouldnt support educating more women when were talking about not adding traffic and building a sustainable project.. The planning commission, which had already reviewed and approved an earlier version of this plan, is expected to dive into the details of the current one at its upcoming meeting. 5. These including new shuttle and bus routes, a bike-share program, a "guaranteed ride home" program for employees who don't drive but who need may need to leave the school for an emergency (they would be reimbursed for the cost of transportation) and a new Castilleja Lyft program that will provide free midday rides for faculty and staff, according to the plan that the school released last month.If the school fails to meet its trip cap numbers, it would also establish a "Kiss n' Ride" program that allows parents to drop off and pick up their children at an off-site location about 15 minutes before school starts. Once again, the school leaders have made significant changes in response to feedback. The mess resulting from the expansions will represent a major hit to the city's quality of life, particularly for the several thousand residents living in the neighborhoods closest to the school. When is the application deadline for Castilleja School? Blah. Instead, new housing construction has consistently fallen short of local job growth for decades, then the people blocking housing have the gall to complain about teachers or students who need to live far away and drive here. remains true to its mission to give each young woman an "educated "To assuage the community's fears about the traffic impacts of its expansion, a key area of concern for council members and project opponents alike, Castilleja is now proposing several new policies to discourage driving near the campus. Education | heart." Niche users from this school are most interested in the following colleges. Going on record as accepting the lies and deceptions of Castilleja about their enrollment, which to this very day He said the council did the right thing in continuing the discussion to a later date. Does Casti even pay PA taxes? In 1907, Mary Lockey opened the doors to Castilleja School to pursue a revolutionary ideato provide young women with the educational opportunities needed to seek a college education. Isn't Palo Alto already funding and developing a teacher's housing project? If Churchill is closed, the situation will deteriorate. Adalberto "Aldo" Toledo is a Bay Area News Group reporter who covers government on the Peninsula for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. Maybe Casti should pay its staff more so they can live closer? 26 But then again, the city council does like bending over for bad actors on the community, so maybe its on brand after all. Nanci Kauffman, head of Castilleja, said Monday that the school is prepared to reduce its proposed square footage in accordance with the council's direction, but said she hopes this "minor change . Understanding the importance of actively teaching and learning antiracism, our leadership competenciesprepare Castilleja graduatesto lead with compassionand insight toeffect meaningful change in the world. "The TDM plan has been further enhanced and is expected to result in reduced parking demand.". It wasn't perfect, though. contributing global citizens. In both cases, the public hearings are intended to solicit early feedback and will not include any formal action. [6][7] She was a charter member of Alpha Phi and was the first Stanford Alpha Phi elected to Phi Beta Kappa. I can't describe the wonderfulness of this school in this character limit, but I can tell you that the teachers are so amazing and caring; they really care about your sleep, and don't force you to do homework late in the night. 1. Surely the large contingent of supporters of Castilleja could pitch in to help them find an alternate location for a temporary campus in existing buildings or in temporary mobile classrooms (ie as now planned on their athletic field) . We may remember differently the outcome of that discussion. Castilleja School's polarizing bid to rebuild its Bryant Street campus and construct an underground garage will return to the spotlight this week, when Palo Alto's two main land-use bodies start reviewing the school's plans. Print Edition/Archives Because it is not. Books & Uniforms (new or used): $650 - 1,100 Downtown parking garage. Average SAT composite score out of 1600, as reported by Niche users from this school. If Casti were to apply today to locate in a residential neighborhood it wouldnt be permitted. Whats interesting is that when this goes to CC it will be reviewed by 5 council members who, in 2019, were part of a unanimous 7-0 vote to NOT build the promised downtown garage. Castilleja Head of School GUIDING THEMES Each year, Ms. KauffmanHA carefully selects a theme for the school year and distributes a sticker on opening day: Belonging 2019-20, Justice 2020-21,. "Our plan now checks all the boxes," Kauffman told the planning commission Wednesday night. ""We have not compromised internally enough to give them a fair description of what they need to do," Baltay said.Both the architectural board and the planning commission plan to hold further meetings on the proposal before it goes back to the council next year for another hearing. Why did the meeting drag on so late? Castilleja School offers 11 interscholastic sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball and Water Polo. That speaks to negligence; WHY they weren't given the complete set raises ethical questions and as well as the long-standing question about staff's seemingly consistent bias in favor of the big-money projects. The revised proposal includes five garage designs, though only three of them meet the council's March direction of the underground facility to include no more than 50% of the required on-site parking, which amounts to 52 spaces. and variances that the general public wouldn't receive; A&E Since when does Palo Alto enforce (or even pay sufficient attention) to such things? While Castilleja has maintained that it added the garage to its plans at the behest of neighbors who wanted cars off the street, Levitsky and other members of the neighborhood group suggested on Wednesday that the facility remains incompatible with the surrounding community. Castilleja has been around before any of the neighbors. We've always known that this is a compromise and we are just so ready to get this done.". It is time to approve this and let the school go on with its modernization. It is responsive and thoughtful. Even in its revised form, an underground garage has no business being in a residential neighborhood, critics of the project maintained. Alcheck asked his colleagues. The 34-year-old got his wish . Community Calendar But, Castilleja has so many fun events and traditions. Stop dragging this on, approve the project, and let the amazing accomplishments of these incredible young women continue to enhance the neighborhood and the surrounding area. In 2019, the school submitted plans to rebuild most of its campus, which calls for demolishing and rebuilding three buildings on its campus, relocating the swimming pool and adding an underground parking structure.The school's modernization plans have polarized the Professorville and Old Palo Alto neighborhoods, with some residents panning Castilleja's construction plan as a colossal overreach and an affront on the surrounding single-family neighborhood, and others calling a sorely needed upgrade for an acclaimed institution dedicated to educating young women. Niche ranks nearly 100,000 schools and districts based on statistics and millions of opinions from students and parents. "We just want to be educating girls," Kauffman said. Perhaps because the opposing group is such a small but very vocal minority? After hours of discussion Monday night that lasted past midnight, the council voted 4-3 to resume the debate over basement versus garage at a later undetermined date, thus postponing a vote on the controversial expansion. "But Mary Sylvester, co-founder of PNQLNow, argued at the architectural board meeting that the revised design particularly, the garage continues to clash with the surrounding context. Embarcadero Media file photo by Sinead Chang. The other two members, Peter Baltay and Alex Lew, found themselves between the two camps, with Baltay suggesting that Castilleja should modify the buildings' cornice line and the middle portion of the building, as well add more variability to its window locations. Why are people who dont live on the street moving against the wishes of people who do? Will the decisions about Casti be consistent with the decision about the downtown garage? "Time is passing. The faculty consists of approximately 70 full-time and part-time women and men. Follow Palo Alto Online and the Palo Alto Weekly on Twitter @paloaltoweekly, Facebook and on Instagram @paloaltoonline for breaking news, local events, photos, videos and more. Redwood City Pulse, 2023 Palo Alto Online Stay informed on important city government news. My question is: WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF PALO ALTO? Now they don't want a garage. In fact, even if they got more students, they have enough surface spots on-site to accommodate them with the (planning) director's discount. "It's often called an 'expansion,' but the footprint would be smaller.". "We're committed to. I remember the theoretical discussion about "if enrollment was increased to 1000 and there were no impacts or increase in traffic, would that be OK?" It was only a few decades ago that Casti switched to a day school model. This is a compromise and we are castilleja head of school so ready to get this done. `` used ) $! 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