New school progresses
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

With the possible return of El Niño in the forecast for this winter, officials of Las Virgenes Unified School District say they’re glad to be on schedule––even slightly ahead––in the construction of the new middle school for Calabasas.

Ground preparation is complete and foundation work is now underway at the Mulholland Highway construction site.

By the time the heavy rains arrive, the 31-acre campus should be able to handle the storm runoff effectively, according to construction supervisors.

Speaking of water, the school district received good news when workers discovered an underground well at the site.

"We were originally going to abandoned it, but we did some testing on the well and it was not that old," said Jerry Jankowski, a spokesman for construction contractor Lundgren Management. "The water’s been tested and it’s very good."

When used to irrigate the school’s new landscaping, the well will save the school district between $12,000 and $15,000 in annual water bills, according to Las Virgenes Deputy Superintendent Donald Zimring.

"This has been the biggest plus so far," Zimring said.

Irrigation will be needed for the grass, shrubs and more than 900 trees to be planted at the school.

Zimring predicted the school would open to 800 students in August 2003, but added that the finishing touches on the campus wouldn’t be completed until several months later.

While the new school will alleviate crowding at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, Zimring said, it won’t create smaller class sizes for Calabasas sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders.

The 105,000 square-foot school will have 11 classrooms for each grade level and ultimately about 30 students in each class. The buildings will have tile floors to reduce the chances of mold.

The $15 million project also includes a media center and library, a computer lab, industrial arts building and a multipurpose room with seating for 450. The school, which remains unnamed, will be the only middle school in the district to have its own multipurpose room.

Other amenities include basketball courts and fields for soccer, flag football and softball.

Zimring said one of the school’s crown jewels will be its six state-of-the-art science labs.

Principal Mary Sistrunk will conduct a contest of sorts to produce a name for the school. California’s middle schools must be named after locally important people or places.