Facilities FAQs

EBI’S CAMPUS GROWTH PLAN

EBI is embarking on the next steps in its plan to purchase and develop the site at 4550 San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville, having recently secured a conditional use permit. The Emeryville facility and our existing St. Augustine facility will serve as dual campuses for EBI starting with the 2011-2012 school year.

The EBI Board of Trustees and school administration selected this site according to search criteria laid out in 2009. The criteria was carefully identified and applied to locate a site within a two-mile radius of EBI’s existing St. Augustine campus that could eventually be developed to meet EBI’s long-term goal of creating a permanent, single campus home owned entirely by the school. The plan to purchase the Emeryville site, with financing made possible by a philanthropic venture of Oliver and Company Construction, represents an exciting development in the life of our five-year-old school.

The Building and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees will spearhead EBI’s interim development as a dual-campus school via four main subcommittees: Facility Planning, School Safety, Communications and Transition. A separate group under the leadership of the Board Treasurer will be addressing the finances related to the purchase and development of the Emeryville site, as well as the continued maintenance and improvements on the St. Augustine campus. Additionally, a Capital Campaign Committee will be formed under the leadership of the Board Chair to provide EBI with additional financial support.

EBI is committed to ensuring that both of our campuses provide an outstanding educational environment for our students, faculty and staff. Families are encouraged to get involved in the process by contacting Head of School Jon Fulk.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can’t we just stay at St. Augustine?

Our current site at St. Augustine Church is outstanding. It is centrally located, features a number of amenities like a full gymnasium and outdoor space, and has large, light-filled classrooms. Additionally, EBI has invested significantly in our St. Augustine home, including installing fire sprinklers, new computer and phone infrastructure, and painting. Even with the new Emeryville site, we expect the St. Augustine campus to be part of our overall facilities plan, likely through 2021.

However, the St. Augustine site is not sufficient to house our growing school. The building is already at capacity, and we are:

Continuing to add a grade each year through 2014
Planning to increase to three classes of students per grade in early years to support a robust middle school
Experiencing an increasing demand among prospective parents

The Emeryville site will enable us to grow our community in the coming years, eventually providing a permanent home for our entire community.

Where is the new site?

The new property is at 4550 San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville (between 45^th and 47^th Streets). It is 2 miles and a 10-minute drive from our current campus.

What is the building being used for?

The building was constructed in the 1940s and used as a commercial dairy (Berkeley Farms). It currently houses a church, Living Hope Christian Center, and a non-profit organization, Social Vocational Services, that serves developmentally disabled adults.

What EBI students will be at the Emeryville site?

The long-term plan is for the Emeryville site to accommodate the entire EBI student body. However, EBI will occupy the Emeryville site in phases as our school grows, the leases of current tenants expire, and we raise funds for renovation and construction. Here is the tentative plan for the location of EBI’s students:

Year	St Augustine’s	4550
2011 -12	PreKinder – 2nd	3rd – 5th
12 -13	PreKinder – 1st	2nd – 6th
13 - 14	PreKinder – 1st	2nd – 7th
14 -15	PreKinder – 1st	2nd – 8th
15 - 16	PreKinder & 6th – 8th	Kinder – 5th

The Alcatraz site configures well to be a middle school – appropriate number of classrooms, space for a well-appointed library and gym – make it an ideal site for an ideal school. If we are fortunate enough financially, however, to be able to accelerate our phased build out of the San Pablo campus school, we could have all students at one campus sooner than our current 10 year projection.

Did you consider other sites?

The space requirements for a school are large and complex, due to the need to provide flexible indoor space for classrooms, outdoor space for recess, and sufficient parking to meet the school’s operational needs. In its site search, the Board of Trustees was guided by:

Mission, Core Values, Strategic Plan
Long-term goal of a single campus
Commitment to serving existing community and future families (proximity to existing campus)
Open-minded and comprehensive consideration of all options

The Board reviewed over 50 properties as part of this process over an 18-month period. The Emeryville site is the best fit of any property we reviewed.

How much space is at the Emeryville building?

The building is approximately 28,000 square feet on two floors. EBI will occupy the building in phases, according to the following plan:

Phase 1 (Fall, 2011): 7,500 sq. feet on the first floor
Phase 2 (Fall, 2012): The entire first floor (14,000 sq. feet)
Phase 3 (Fall, 2013): The entire building (28,000 sq. feet)

By comparison, our space at St. Augustine (excluding the gym and cafeteria) is approximately 16,000 sq. feet.

How large will the classrooms be at the Emeryville building?

The three classrooms in Phase 1 (Fall, 2011) will be approximately 850 sq. feet, which is roughly equal to the size of the classrooms at St. Augustine. Additionally, all classrooms will benefit from high ceilings and abundant natural light.

How structurally sound is the Emeryville building?

The building was originally constructed in the 1940s. It underwent a major renovation that included seismic strengthening in 2000. EBI will perform additional strengthening prior to our initial occupancy in the fall of 2011 that will bring the building into compliance with the current building code. Additionally, the building is fully sprinklered and features a modern monitored fire alarm system.

Will EBI be purchasing the Emeryville building and grounds?

EBI has entered a joint venture with a philanthropic venture fund led by Oliver and Company Construction. Initially, EBI will own a 50% share of the venture that owns the building. After 5 years, EBI will be able to buy out the other investors and own the building outright. This arrangement will allow EBI to leverage its current financial position to secure the building for the long term.

When will construction take place?

EBI will be occupying the Emeryville building in phases. Construction to allow us to occupy additional space at the building will take place during the summer when students are not present.

Will there be Aventura at the Emeryville site?

Yes. We will have a full complement of early and after care, as well as enrichment courses at the Emeryville site, while continuing our rich program at the St. Augustine campus.

Will EBI have to go through the certification to become a Green Business at the Emeryville site?

The Green Certification process is site specific, so the Emeryville site will have to be certified independently. As we did for the St. Augustine Campus, we will engage the entire community in the process so that Emeryville Campus is also Green Certified in keeping with the School’s overall mission of global citizenship.

Who will be teaching at the Emeryville campus?

In the first year, the faculty at the Emeryville site will be a combination of new and existing EBI teachers. The Emeryville campus will also have a dedicated administrative assistant in the office. Additionally, specialty teachers (music, PE, art) will teach at both campuses. Head of School Jon Fulk and PYP Coordinator Sagrario Argüelles will both spend time at both campuses to provide support and supervision to the faculty.

Returning faculty, Douglas Palacios and Adwoa Mante'ete will be teaching third grade and José Antonio Galloso, who is new to the EBI team, will be teaching the 4^th/5^th grade class. EBI’s veteran administrative assistant Gloria Costas will also be making the move from the Oakland campus to the Emeryville campus to ensure continuity.

Will there be some sort of shuttle bus between campuses or staggered start times to better accommodate drop-off schedules for families with children at both campuses?

At this time, the school does not have a planned shuttle bus option for families. However, we have worked with AC transit to identify the best route for EBI students as well as discussed specific safety measure we can take. Additionally we will be working with families to support carpooling to the Emeryville site from the Oakland campus. We will be holding a meeting on Thursday, August 11 at 6:00 P.M. to discuss transportation options. This is especially for families with children on both campuses, but also for any 3rd, 4th or 5^th grade family that may be interested in transportation for their child from the East Campus (Alcatraz) to the West Campus (San Pablo). The meeting will take place at 410 Alcatraz and Pizza and child care provided. Finally, families will be able to drop their Lower School children (K – 5^th) off at either site. This should give them plenty of time to reach the other campus in the case that they have a dual drop off.

What kind of outdoor space is available at the Emeryville site?

The Phase 1 plan calls for many outdoor improvements, including 8,500 sq. feet of grass turf and significant landscaping, including planter boxes and shade trees. Students will also use a portion of the parking lot for hard-scape play.

Are there any environmental concerns at the Emeryville site?

As part of our diligence, we have performed a thorough environmental analysis of the Emeryville site. Underground fuel storage tanks were once present on the site, but were removed in the 1990s. Testing at the site in 2009 did not detect any residual contamination in the soil. The tank removal and cleanup was supervised by Alameda County, which has not placed any restrictions on the use of the site, including for a school. The environmental analysis identified no other concerns.

How will the school address the safety of the EBI community at the Emeryville site?

The Emeryville site is located in a vibrant mixed-use community that includes single-family homes and commercial and educational enterprises. Emeryville’s elementary, middle and high schools, the Emeryville Child Development Center [consider also mentioning Head Over Heels Gymnastics, as many parents are familiar with it] are all very close to the new site.

The site itself is surrounded by an 8-foot high fence, and will remain closed to San Pablo Avenue at all times. Additionally, vehicular access from 45^th Street will only be permitted during drop-off and pickup times.

As at St. Augustine, EBI will not initially have exclusive use of the Emeryville site. However, while EBI will share the building with other tenants for the first three years of our occupancy, no internal space will be shared. Additionally, each of these tenants accesses their space through separate entrances, and EBI students, staff and visitors will access the building through an entrance used exclusively by EBI. In the case of Social Vocational Services (who provides programs for developmentally disabled adults), individuals served by SVS are closely supervised at all times.

As we move towards our initial occupancy of the Emeryville building and continued use of the St. Augustine site, EBI will continue to work with the parent community and officials in Emeryville and Oakland to ensure the safety of our community on both campuses.

How will EBI keep the students on each campus connected? Will there still be opportunities for schoolwide events?

Its strong sense of community is one EBI’s greatest assets and a key element of the school’s IB program. As such, maintaining the ties between the students on both campuses is a central part of the work the school will be doing inside and outside of the classroom. It will be an essential part of the relationship building that takes place across all sectors of the community, including parents, faculty, staff and neighbors. One example of the type of student activities being considered by faculty and staff is a buddy program in which older students at the Emeryville site would have younger ‘buddies’ at the Alcatraz site. Additionally, the faculty and staff are planning to continue the practice of having monthly assemblies that bring the primary school students from both campuses together on the Alcatraz site which currently can best accommodate the full group. As the school builds out the San Pablo campus, this site may be able to host this activity.

Keeping in mind that as the school grows school-wide functions are likely to be fewer and farther between as the amount of time and space required to have every parent and child participate in a single event will be increasingly prohibitive. EBI will plan events which allow families to participate in activities on both campuses throughout the year, ensuring that everyone affiliated with EBI feels at home and is familiar with both campuses.

What additional communication can parents expect from the school as the project moves forward?

EBI’s bi-weekly newsletter, EBI al Dia, will be the primary source of updates regarding the new site. Additionally, the school will hold regular information sessions to share updates and gather feedback from the parent community. The EBI website will continue to be a source of updated and archived information about the schools dual-campus development.

How can I be involved?

This is a community-wide effort, and your involvement is encouraged. If you are interested in assisting in this exciting venture, please contact Jon Fulk. Additionally, a transition subgroup has been formed with the express purpose of engaging families in the process to ensure their input is reflected in the planning.