The need for additional science classrooms next year will require relocating journalism resources and the Campanile’s 65-membered staff into a smaller portable for the 2012-2013 school year.
“I’m disappointed that we have to move again, but we’re willing to make it work,” English teacher and Campanile adviser Esther Wojcicki said.
The reason for this change is because Palo Alto High School will only have 70 open science classrooms for 74 science class periods next year, according to Principal Phil Winston. As a solution to the shortage in science classrooms, the double portable by the pool, where the current Campanile headquarter resides, will be renovated into a science wet lab.
Wojcicki is not very happy that this is the second of three moves she will have to make in three years. The Campanile headquarters had to move last year for the Media Center construction, and the class will move again in 2013 when the new Media Center is completed.
The administration will relocate Wojcicki to a portable that is a third smaller than the double portable, making teaching conditions very difficult for her large classes, according to Wojcicki.
“I am very unhappy about this decision to use the Campanile portable for science,” Wojcicki said. “Moving the Campanile is a lot of work because we have 30 years of Campanile files, computers, books, magazines and other resources for journalists.”
The designated classroom — which is currently room P2 according to Wojcicki — is made for 30 students; however, there are 97 prospective students signed up for Campanile next year. Wojcicki said that the publication will not take in all students but will cut down the roster to 65 students through an application process.
The reason why there are currently 75 students in one period goes back to a decision that Campanile made many years ago to contain the publication in one class, instead of offering it in two different periods.
But because teaching a large class effectively in a small facility is hard, Wojcicki believes that this year’s move will have a negative impact on the program even though she will try to minimize it. Although the current Campanile room is one of the largest portables on campus, students still sit on the ground and on countertops.
While the new location, portable P2, can fit 65 students, Wojcicki explained that there will be no additional room for her file cabinets, computers and bookcases.
“I can fill all my kids in there [room P2] but not any resources, and that’s a problem for me,” Wojcicki said.
At a Facilities Steering Committee Meeting on May 2, Aimee Lopez from O’Connor Construction Management stated that the current double portable will be renovated into a science classroom over the summer with an estimated cost of $85,000.The renovation will include adding items such as cabinets, water sinks and drainage.
Winston stated that the renovated portable will open up one additional classroom, but the school will eventually need two.