Phillips Brooks School seeks neighborly input on project Phillips Brooks School seeks neighborly input on project (January 12, 2005)

No one likes to pour a lot of money into improving a rental, but officials at Phillips Brooks School are undertaking a building project at the school's leased campus on Avy Avenue in Menlo Park.

Officials of the private school are looking to replace portable classrooms at the former La Loma public school site with permanent buildings, and build a multipurpose room at the center of campus for holding all-school assemblies.

While school officials are searching for a place to build a permanent campus, they estimate that it would take at least five years from the time they purchase property before a new campus would be open for classes, said Phillips Brooks School spokeswoman Joyce Massaro in a letter to neighbors.

"In the meantime, the school is willing to make an investment to improve our students' experience at our leased facilities," she said.

Phillips Brooks spent five years developing plans to build a campus on an environmentally sensitive piece of property in Woodside on the west side of Interstate 280 between Woodside and Sand Hill roads, but ended up selling the 92-acre property after the Woodside Planning Commission denied approval of the project in September 2002.

The school is holding meetings with neighbors to discuss design options for the classrooms and multipurpose room January 18 and 20, said Ms. Massaro. Currently, portable buildings house the third and fourth grades, as well as the music, art, computer and science programs.

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