Former Hill Students Prepare for New Middle School Homes

When school starts on Aug. 24, students from the recently closed will find themselves on different campuses, with new classmates and teachers. 

Based on boundaries much discussed by the last spring, students will either transition into or middle schools, or join the newly expanded K-8 program at . 

Sinaloa Principal Mary Pritchard said she expects the Sinaloa community on the west side of the city to be “very accepting” of their new classmates. 

“It’s a big thing,” Pritchard said about the Hill closure. “I mean, it’s disappointing. It’s tough and it’s sad, and we’re well aware of the fact that if the shoe had been on the other foot, we’d be the one closing.”

Her goal is to “make them feel like this is home.”

Hill, built in 1953 on Diablo Avenue near Hill Road, as a cost-saving measure. The district expects to save about $554,331 annually through the consolidation, which also addresssed declining enrollment and . Hill mostly served families in Novato’s downtown area.

Students from Bahia, Olive and other neighborhoods on the city's east side will go to San Jose, while most students in the Lu Sutton Elementary School drawing area and unincorporated Indian Valley will be sent to Sinaloa.

Sinaloa began welcoming new students with informational events last spring. During the last week of the school year, Hill students were bused to Sinaloa for a walking tour of the school. 

Sinaloa will hold its WEB (Welcome Everybody) student orientation on Aug. 18. The school will have about 200 more students this year.

“This is like a new blended family,” Pritchard said. “I don’t want to go out at lunch and see only the Hill kids with Hill kids and the Sinaloa kids with Sinaloa kids.”

Besides the students, Sinaloa will have about 10 new teachers and five or six new classified staff, Pritchard said.

“It’s not an all-new school,” she said, “but it’s got its all-new sense.”

Some teachers will be “traveling” throughout the day, changing classrooms in order to make space.

“We’ll be big,” Pritchard said of the campus, which will have about 865 students. “It’s really crowded. We’ll be using every single room.”

“My feeling is we’re gonna make this work and it’s gonna work well,” she said.

Former Hill Principal Chona Killeen has now become principal of San Jose. After 2 1/2 years in charge at San Jose, Principal left the district at the end of the school year to move closer to his home in San Diego. Killeen said San Jose will be up about 250 students from last year, the majority being incoming sixth graders. Including Killeen, there will be 10 staff members coming from Hill.

“Big change," she said. "I think it’s going to be a really positive merger. What I like about San Jose is the culture they’ve established here, with the emphasis on college prep skills and respect and responsibility.”

Killeen said the policies match those of Hill, which was known for its innovative programs. Many of those programs, including one run in partnership with Dominican University called Math, Engineering and Science Achievement, will now take place at San Jose.

San Jose will have a parent information night Aug. 22 and its WEB sixth-grade orientation Aug. 23.

Hamilton Meadow Park School, the southernmost middle school in the district serving mostly Hamilton families, is another option for Hill students. This year, it completes its three-year transition to a K-8 school by adding its eighth grade classes. Principal Ruthanne Bexton said six teachers from Hill are coming on board to teach middle school grades.

This summer, a newly asphalted area was added as a playground just for the middle schoolers.

“I actually think it’s pretty exciting for them,” Bexton said about the students’ reaction to all the changes. “I don’t think there was any anxiety, but I think at this point there’s a lot of excitement.”