"Build
it – and they will come" was the message to the man in the
movie who put a baseball diamond in his cornfield. "Build it –
because they are already here" is the message heard loud and clear
throughout the District of San Francisco, where today some 9,500 students
of middle school, high school, and college age are enrolled in Lasallian
schools.
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The
schools of the District continuously challenge themselves to respond
to the needs of current and future students. One result is the current,
intensive period of improvements in physical plants and facilities.
Ron Tapper, Director of Engineering for the District, has been helping
schools with this process since 1987, and he says, "The past
five years have seen the most significant construction activity
in the District's history, with all the renovations, upgrades, replacements,
and new buildings." |
From
the beginning of Lasallian education, proper facilities have been important.
The Conduct of Schools handbook (1720), compiled by John Baptist de
La Salle and the early Christian Brothers from their years of experience,
calls for schools with plentiful light, proper ventilation, large enough
rooms, appropriate tables and chairs – and indoor lavatories. The
Conduct lays down this basic principle: "The schools should be
arranged in such a manner that both the teachers and the students can
easily fulfill their duties."
Love,
Loyalty, and Intellect
Those
duties include both heart and mind; they involve both the individual
and the community. A century ago, at a school dedication at Peralta
Park in Berkeley, George Thomas Montgomery, Coadjutor Archbishop of
San Francisco, put it well: "The Christian Brothers are devoted
body and soul, by enthusiasm and vow, to the course of the young. They
do not neglect their secular obligations, but teach the highest ideals
of Christianity. They are specialists in their line. This is the age
of specialists, and they know love, and loyalty, and intellect."
It
is so that love, loyalty, and intellect may flourish – and so that
students can receive a truly human and Christian education – that
the schools of the District are improving their physical plants and
educational facilities. The modest essentials specified in The Conduct
of Schools must be supplemented by more complex and costly modern essentials:
chapels, assembly spaces, libraries, media centers, computer networks,
science labs, dining halls, recreational facilities, sports venues,
offices for staff and faculty, and – that often elusive educational
resource – parking spaces.
The
schools of the District are challenging themselves to provide all this.
La Salle High School Milwaukie's statement of belief acknowledges that
the task is never-ending: "The commitment to continuous improvement
is imperative if the school is going to empower students to become confident,
self-directed, lifelong learners." And Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep's
strategic plan states the goal succinctly: "SHCP will provide students
with the best possible facilities."
Schools
are meeting this challenge, from large constructions that change a school's
skyline, to invisible but critical upgrades, such as wiring or heating.
The schools are continually upgrading for the benefit of students. Science
facilities, for example, are crucial to modern education but can quickly
become outdated. Athletic facilities and dining facilities receive constant
wear. Smaller class sizes have been shown to correlate to better educational
outcomes – which means more classrooms are needed. And the prevalence
of computer networking and Internet research calls for much retrofitting
and re-equipping.
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Each
school looks to its supporting community for help in accomplishing
its mission. A number of the schools were founded in the 1960s.
As they have grown older, they have developed devoted cohorts
of alumni, and many alumni are involved in this new epoch of improvement,
as teachers and administrators, as trustees and regents, as expert
advisors and generous donors. Other talented people who share
the Lasallian vision are at work on behalf of every school –
in planning, in fundraising, in community outreach, in designing
and building. The volunteer energy and professional expertise
of thousands of contributors are essential to this unprecedented
era of development and advancement.
Through
three hundred years of educational tradition, the need for excellent
facilities and good resources has not changed. The Lasallian commitment
to providing them has only grown stronger, as a tour around the
District of San Francisco reveals (Begin the tour below).
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A
Thousand Hands Have Helped
When
a student walks into a classroom and takes a seat, a thousand hands
have helped to build that room, to place that seat, to open that door
for him or her. Why are so many people throughout the District of San
Francisco gladly sharing the enormous responsibilities entailed in providing
the facilities and venues for Lasallian education?
Richard
Gray, President of La Salle High School in Pasadena, may have the answer.
He quotes the founding Principal of the school, Brother Celestine Cormier,
FSC. When asked why he would take on the task of building a brand-new
school in the northeast corner of Pasadena, Brother Celestine replied:
"I now have a chance to change lives from the ground up. What a
precious and awesome responsibility!"
It's
within the physical buildings that the building up of mind and spirit
occurs. In the District's halls and classrooms, on the courts and fields,
in the studios and libraries, in the chapels and assembly halls, students
and teachers "can easily fulfill their duties" to love, and
loyalty, and intellect. It is on these ever-improving campuses that
the foundation of achievement is laid, and the house of love is raised.
Visit
District schools' Web sites under the Work We Do – District
Schools & Educational Works
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Science,
Math and Technology Wing, Christian Brothers High School,
Sacramento
The
enormous potential of this new 34,000-square-foot building
matches the enormous potential of the school's students.
Pictured is the TV studio with its overhead lighting grid.
There are also labs for chemistry, physics, and biology;
a computer center; a multimedia center; student publication
offices; multi-use rooms; and seven math classrooms. This
is phase one of the "Building on the Tradition"
campaign. Says Development Director Allison Cagley, "Our
alums talk about what Christian Brothers High did for them
and how they want to 'give back' to make sure other students
get the same opportunities."
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Library expansion,
De La Salle High School,
Concord
The
old library could seat only 50 students, and its shelf space
was filled up. "With this addition of 1,000 square
feet," says Librarian Elaine Seed, "we have seating
for 10 percent of the student body, which is the ALA standard.
We have 32 computers instead of 14, and room to expand our
book collection." The renovation was funded by the
capital campaign "Touching Lives, Creating the Future."
Pictured
Above: Michael Stead, campaign chair, left, and De La Salle
President, Bruce Shoup, right.
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The Peter and Vernice Gasser Library Media Center,
Justin-Siena High School,
Napa
The
8,000-square-foot facility has a media lab, audio lab, meeting
rooms, 34 computer workstations and computerized databases,
as well as places to read and study. The school's Web site,
www.justin-siena.com,
features a virtual tour of the outstanding new library media
center.
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The Gamache Chapel of Saint John Baptist de La Salle,
La Salle High School,
Yakima
A
true sign of faith, the chapel, funded by the Gamache family
and dedicated in March 2002, is the focal point of the new
campus, which is still under construction. Catholic secondary
education had been absent from the Yakima Valley for a dozen
years before the school opened in 1998. Says Development
Director John Colgan, "Now the youth of the valley
are learning and growing in an environment where academic
excellence and faith formation go hand in hand."
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Frates Memorial Hall,
Saint Mary's College High School, Berkeley
Frank
Frates, Sr. attended Saint Mary's in the19th century at
its original San Francisco location. In the 20th century,
Frank Frates, Jr. was a member of the Class of 1927, the
last high school class to graduate from the school's Oakland
location. Now Frates Memorial Hall in Berkeley will help
carry Lasallian education into the 21st century. The Frates
family's leadership gift sparked the "Creating Futures"
campaign which resulted in this eight-classroom building
and an increased endowment for tuition assistance. "Both
new construction and new scholarship funds are essential,"
says Brother Edmond Larouche, FSC, school President. "We
want to reach out to inner-city youth, but when you bring
them here you have to have a roof for them."
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J. C. Gatehouse Hall,
Saint Mary's College,
Moraga
A
new framework for higher education in science: This three-story,
56,000-square-foot science center was opened in October
2000, with large teaching laboratories, the latest in audio-visual
technology, smaller labs for collaborative research using
advanced equipment, and seminar rooms and study rooms. Professor
Gerard M. Capriulo says, "With our new teaching and
research spaces, our new equipment, temperature control
rooms, venting hoods, and overall state-of-the-art facilities,
we can now embrace all Saint Mary's students, majors and
non-majors alike, in an immersive science experience."
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A
Tour Around The District
Saint
Joseph School, Sunnyside, Washington
Reopened by the District of San Francisco in 1998, it serves the
largely Hispanic population of the agricultural Sunnyside area,
which is 35 miles from Yakima, where a new high school – La
Salle High – was also opened in 1998. Current projects: A new
heating and ventilation system is under study.
De
Marillac Middle School, San Francisco, California
Founded in 2001, it serves the low-income, inner-city Tenderloin
area. (Read the full story of De Marillac).
Located in the former St. Boniface parish school built in 1907,
it is the only middle school in the neighborhood. Current projects:
Extensive renovation has been done and is ongoing, and a fundraising
strategic plan is being developed.
Cathedral
High School, Los Angeles, California
Founded in 1925, it has traditionally served young men from the
oldest and poorest neighborhoods of South Central and the Eastside.
Current projects: A capital campaign is being organized to raise
the funds necessary to begin the first phase of the master plan
to rebuild the aging campus in order to provide Cathedral students
with needed state-of-the art facilities, making the most effective
use of its small land area.
Christian
Brothers High School, Sacramento, California
Founded in 1876, it serves students from all social and economic
levels of Sacramento. Current projects: As part of a master plan,
the new 34,000-square-foot Science, Math and Technology Wing was
opened in April 2002. Other goals include a new performing arts
center, expanded cafeteria, and new gymnasium. The next capital
campaign is being discussed.
De
La Salle High School, Concord, California
Founded in 1965, it serves the growing population of Contra Costa
and eastern Alameda counties. Current projects: Opened in spring
of 2002 were a new music building and the expanded and renovated
library. An all-weather running track has been installed, and
in the planning stages is a new athletic facility.
De
La Salle North Catholic High School, Portland, Oregon
Founded in 2001, it occupies the former Queen of Peace grammar school
and brings college preparatory education to a low-income neighborhood
through its innovative corporate internship program. Current projects:
A new phone and voicemail system has been installed. Work is beginning
on development of a master plan for expansion of facilities that
includes the purchase of property adjacent to the school.
Justin-Siena
High School, Napa, California
Founded in 1966, it serves a diverse student population from the
largely agricultural Napa-Sonoma-Solano area. Current projects:
The master plan calls for a new performing arts center and outdoor
amphitheater, new chapel, improved athletic facilities, and other
upgrades and site improvements. A new library/media center was opened
in 2001. A capital campaign is ongoing.
La
Salle High School, Milwaukie, Oregon
Founded in 1966, it serves a student population from the six counties
of the greater Portland and Vancouver metropolitan areas. Current
projects: Complete renovation of the academic wing was completed
in 2001. Site improvements were completed in summer 2000, and a
capital campaign is underway in support of a facilities plan that
calls for renovation or new construction for the science wing/library
complex, chapel, athletic facilities, cafeteria, and performing
arts wing.
La
Salle High School, Pasadena, California
Founded in 1956 as the first Catholic high school for boys in Pasadena,
it is now coeducational and its student body has doubled in size.
Facility improvements in the mid-1990s included a new library, dining
facility, science wing, amphitheater, dance studio, and chapel.
Current projects: A strategic planning process is assessing future
needs, including improvements to athletic facilities, art studio,
television studio, and technological resources, as well as real
estate acquisition, enrollment management, and endowment.
La
Salle High School, Yakima, Washington
Founded in 1998, it brought Catholic secondary education to an area
without it since 1986, and serves students of varied cultural and
economic backgrounds. At first occupying rented space in a disused
school building, it started construction of its new Union Gap campus
in 1999. Facilities completed so far include classrooms, offices,
a commons, and a chapel. The foundation has been laid for a gymnasium
and student center, and a capital campaign is underway.
Sacred
Heart Cathedral Preparatory, San Francisco, California
Created
in 1987 through the merging of Cathedral High School for
girls (1852) and Sacred Heart High School for boys (1874), it became
the first coeducational Catholic high school in San Francisco and
serves a diverse population of students in the heart of the city.
It has one of the state's finest and most technologically advanced
high school libraries, opened in 1997. Current projects: March 2002
saw the groundbreaking for the new Student Life Center, which will
be used for athletics, recreation, assemblies, liturgies, and dining.
A capital campaign is continuing.
Saint
Mary's College High School, Berkeley, California
Founded in 1863, it has been coeducational since 1995 and now educates
a truly diverse student body, the largest in its long history, from
throughout the East Bay. November 2001 saw the dedication of Frates
Memorial Hall, a much-needed classroom building, and the adjacent
amphitheater. A recently completed capital campaign has surpassed
its fundraising goals.
Saint
Mary's College of California, Moraga
Founded in 1863, the College not only serves traditional undergraduates
but also reaches out to working adults with its extended education
and degree-completion programs. In 2001, the college completed a
five-year capital campaign, the most ambitious capital campaign
ever undertaken by a West Coast Catholic college, that raised over
$195 million. Among the results are a new student union, new student
housing, classroom renovations, a state-of-the-art science building,
and renovation of the chapel. Planning continues for new construction
and other upgrades.
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