1999-2000 School Year

August 25, 1999
Barron Park is an exciting place these days! There is a hole in Room 3 which will turn into a back door soon. You wouldn’t recognize the parking lot, and the sign is almost hidden behind a pile of dirt. Mysterious holes have appeared everywhere and almost-modern-art twisted iron sculptures litter the playground. A new river of concrete flows by mounds of rubble. And wonderful scooping machines are all around. Every day is a new adventure.

August 31, 1999: First Day of School
We were thrilled to arrive at Barron Park and discover that we could actually park in the parking lot! June Schiller, Director of the Building for Excellence Program, was there organizing the last details to get the school ready for our students. The playground is cleared and all the scooping machines are neatly caged on the field. Gaby Landa has a new back door that opens and closes. Construction continues along the side driveway and a new pile of rubble has appeared in the back parking area. But some places will always be a disaster area!

September 9, 1999: Four Nines Day
We celebrated Four Nines Day by exploring ways to make the number 9. Posters featuring multiple solutions decorated classroom walls and lined the corridors by the end of the day. Constructing a Classic Nine quilt block was the art challenge for 4th grade.

September 16, 1999
Playing basketball is more of a challenge these days since a missed basket may mean losing the ball for awhile behind the construction fence. We were sad to see that one of our favorite trees had to be uprooted to make way for our new buildings. Part of the playground has also been removed. New yellow earth and white chalk lines mark the area for our new buildings. And mysterious little signs have appeared, which must mean something important!

September 30, 1999
Deep trenches have replaced the chalk lines, and a little house on stilts has appeared in the middle of the trenches. We really want to know what the triangle-shaped section that looks like a giant piece of pizza is going to become!

October 5, 1999
On Election Day for Student Council officers, students ran the voting booths. Thanks to the 3rd grade volunteers, 79% of the Barron Park students and staff registered to vote, and 85% of the registered to vote on election day.

October 21, 1999
This week a giant concrete pouring machine appeared to pour footings into the trenches, which were full of cement by the end of the day. Our constellation groups have chosen names for the year. So far signs have appeared for the Sporty Turquoise Wild Bees, the Blue Dolphins, the Golden Olympic Stars, and the 17 Kid Union.

October 29, 1999: Halloween Celebration
We celebrated Halloween by dressing up in costume and parading around the playground. Our new Student Council Officers (President Devin, Vice President Brian, Recorder Hyein, and Historian Brecon) managed the parade with style and flair. Most of the Barron staff came as a swarm of bees, with a few flowers thrown in for variety.

November 19, 1999
It is exciting to see the frames of our new buildings growing behind the construction fence. We think we can identify a new classroom and the new bathroom.

December 1, 1999
Every Wednesday Barron Park’s Chess Club meets in the Library. There are always lots of exciting games to observe. Here are three games in progress.

December 3, 1999
This week we had an exciting visitor: a tarantula! You can see that the tarantula loved coming to school, and even displayed a clear color preference, but we released it back to the wild after observing it for several days.

January 10, 2000
We came back from winter break to find a wonderful surprise--our new classrooms have walls! It was exciting to watch the huge King Crane that spent two days lifting and positioning beams for the new Library. The crane was very tall! One morning there was a beautiful double rainbow over the new construction.

January 19, 2000
The Gunn Robotics Team visited Barron Park to show their robot from last year. It moved across the stage and raised its arm. Then the 2nd-5th graders built ball launching machines from paper cups, straws, paper clips, tape, and rubber bands.

January 23, 2000: 4th Annual Juana Run
Even the rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the Juana Runners. Check out the One Mile Results, the Five Mile Results, and the Kid Results.

January 28, 2000
It has been raining and raining and raining and raining, but construction continues and the damp wood is a beautiful color. We are starting to paint tiles for our new and remodeled bathrooms. Here are some glazed but unfired tiles. Here are the same tiles after firing.

February 18, 2000
Each student (and adult) at Barron Park is painting a tile as part of the Art in Architecture project. The tiles will decorate the new and remodeled bathrooms at our school. We think the finished tiles are beautiful! And the frame of the new Library is growing every day.

March 2, 2000
The Library is finally getting a roof and the inside is a jumble of frames and equipment. Cathy Howard is determined to do all she can to help complete the building. Here is Room 15 looking toward the playground. Eventually the overhang by the new wing will protect us from the rain, but for now Room 17 and Room 18 are quite airy and damp.

March 15, 2000
It is still raining and there are muddy tracks across the playground. But the Library roof is growing!

March 2, 2000: Read Across America Day
March 2nd was Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’s Birthday. Barron Park students and staff celebrated the joy of reading by reading to ourselves, to each other, and by listening to guest readers. Barron Park staff even wore their Cat in the Hat hats all day!

• Julie Bagniefski (PAUSD GATE Resource Teacher) read Learning to Swim in Swaziland to Laura Losier’s 2nd/3rd grade.
• John Barton (PAUSD Board of Education) read from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi, to Lucinda Surber’s 4th grade and to Louise Veuve’s 1st grade.
• Gary Fazzino (Palo Alto City Council) read Picnic at Mudsock Meadow, by Patricia Polacco, to Lucinda Surber’s 4th grade.
• Kay Ganapathi (PAUSD Central Attendance) read The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, by the Brothers Grimm, to Lucinda Surber’s 4th grade.
• Karen Hansen (Vanir Construction) read Truck to Joan Barksdale/Kathy Plock’s Kindergarten.
• Lee Hanson (PAUSD Art in Architecture) read The Big Orange Splot, by Daniel Pinkwater, to Sarah Grade’s 2nd/3rd grade.
• Jan Hustler (BASEE Director) read A House for Hermit Crab to Joan Barksdale/Kathy Plock’s and Lori Schneck’s Kindergartens.
• Dorothy Kaplan (PAUSD Business Office) read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka, to Lucinda Surber’s 4th grade.
• Cathy Kroymann (PAUSD Board of Education) read Big, Bad Bruce, by Bill Peet, to Jin Choo’s 1st grade and Amelia Bedelia to Laura Losier’s 2nd/3rd grade.
• Augie Lavagnino (PAUSD Assistant Business Manager) read The Kraken, by Don C. Reed, to Larry Wong’s 5th grade.
• Mandy Lowell (PAUSD Board of Education) read Yertle the Turtle, by Dr. Seuss, to Gaby Landa’s Kindergarten and Kate Cavenaugh’s 2nd/3rd grade.
• June Schiller (PAUSD Director of Building Development) read Jumping Mouse to Lori Schneck’s Kindergarten and Kate Cavenaugh’s 2nd/3rd grade.
• Luis Zepeda (PAUSD Corporate Yard Supervisor) read The Old Man and His Door, by Gary Soto, to Sarah Grade’s 2nd/3rd grade.
• Carol Zepeki (PAUSD Special Education) read Louella Mae, She’s Run Away, by Karen Beumont Alarcon, to Jin Choo’s 1st grade.

March 31, 2000
Over Spring Break the skeleton of the new overhang appeared in front of Rooms 4-6. Loose rocks by the new poles caused problems until Room 6 made Warning Signs. Room 9 got smaller since their coat closet disappeared. And new empty conduit appeared in Rooms 8-12.

June 15, 2000
At the end of the 1999-2000 school year, the new library and new classrooms are still under construction. And the playground has been taken over by a pile of rubbble.

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Contact Lucinda Surber with comments about this website.
Updated November 3, 2003.