Redwood Heights Neighborhood News

by Denise Davila

Portable(s) on Playground

The first of two portable classrooms was moved onto the playground to accommodate a growing student body and the district's mandate for full-day kindergarten at Redwood Heights School next year. An unprecedented 60 siblings and neighborhood children will begin kindergarten in the fall, and if the district has its way, RHS may continue to expand over the next four years to add 160 more students at the site.

Principal Ann Kruze says that the faculty and staff at RHS want to keep a small school environment, but if they must enlarge, they want to do it intelligently, over time. Another class would be added in 2007 and two more in 2008. Rather than filling the playground with permanent new portables, however, Kruze hopes to conserve as much play area as possible by expanding the actual school building. Such a project will require bond monies and the support of the community.

RHS is one of the biggest draws for new families moving into the neighborhood, and Kruze wants to assure the community that Oakland is committed to making sure neighborhood kids get into neighborhood schools.

Anybody who would like to see the proposed growth plan is welcome to stop by the RHS office (4401 39th Avenue). Input from the community about the school expansion plan is also appreciated.

Bay-Friendly Garden Tour

This year's free Alameda County garden tour, on April 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., features a number of amazing gardens in Redwood Heights. Stroll through Keith Stover's native-plant hillside, terraced under a lofty oak. Visit the NEWT habitat restoration project at Peralta Creek. Enjoy the eclectic and vivid garden of Richard Cowan and Kathy Collins. The tour also features a Mediterranean garden retreat with olive, fig, and pomegranate trees; a corner garden hedged by drought-tolerant plants from around the globe; and an edible kitchen garden complete with hens and bees. Native plants and vegetable starts will also be for sale at select gardens. Register by April 20 to receive a guidebook with directions and garden descriptions; call 444-SOIL, or visit www.stopwaste.org.