New Cardiff School classrooms complete

Teachers and students returned to brand new classrooms at Cardiff School on Jan. 4.

“This was a long-awaited and very exciting day for students and staff alike,” said Julie Parker, the Cardiff School principal for the last 26 years in a news release. “The improved campus layout and new learning spaces are what we have envisioned since the beginning. Together, these will provide the safe, modern, facilities our children and community deserve.”

All of the 18 new classrooms in the Cardiff School rebuild are equipped for 21^st-century teaching and education with learning spaces for collaboration, peer interaction and small group activities. Classrooms also have improved ventilation and airflow with large, operable windows. Outside the classrooms, teachers and students can take advantage of outdoor learning spaces with natural seating on boulders and logs cut from the trunks of the Torrey Pines that were removed from the site.

One of the new outdoor spaces at Cardiff School.

(Courtesy)

With the rebuild, the playground equipment has also been upgraded, much to the joy of the students. Recently, the district said they received guidance from the applicable agencies that allows them to complete the remaining outdoor recreational improvements, including the hard-court area with wall ball and basketball courts.

These recreational areas, as well as the lunch court, are scheduled to be finished by late March.

Construction of the new school faced delays since it began in 2019 due to legal actions pursued by Save the Park and Build the School over the rebuild’s encroachment into the George Berkich Park playfields. According to a news release, the district is working to resolve the remaining grant agreement issues in order to complete the multipurpose room and the remainder of the student drop-off/parking areas.

Per a November 2020 court ruling, the district remains obligated to refrain from the majority of its planned construction within the park boundary until it receives National Park Service (NPS) approval. In order to secure the completed parts of construction on the multipurpose room and onsite building materials during the rainy season, a temporary “wrap” is being placed around the exterior of the multi-purpose building while the remaining issues get resolved.

“We look forward to the day we can completely open the renovated campus for the entire community to enjoy,” Parker said.

—Karen Billing