On June 14, 2024, Longfellow Principal Salita Mitchell sent out an email to all Longfellow Middle School staff and families. The district had uncovered years of dry rot under the stucco of a main building on campus. "The supports of this building are crumbling and have created an unsafe condition," stated Mitchell in the email. Discovery of the hazard was due to the start of a long-awaited renovation of the school, which had to be put on hold after the uncovering. Structural engineers red-tagged the main building, and school grounds officially shut down for construction. In a statement, BUSD shared that they believe the campus will be closed for at least the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.
Longfellow’s entire school body had to relocate on short notice. The district was able to secure a new location at the Berkeley Adult School (BAS) in the time between finding out the hazard and sending the email. This new location is almost two miles away from the Longfellow campus.
It was about a week into summer break when the public was notified, and many Longfellow teachers had left everything in their classrooms. According to Mary Patterson, a history and Two-Way Immersion (TWI) Program teacher at Longfellow, after the discovery, nobody was allowed back on campus, and everything had to be removed by specialists. “I had 21 years’ worth of stuff in my classroom,” Patterson said.
After a busy summer, Longfellow has been running at the Berkeley Adult School (BAS) for about four weeks now. Patterson said that the start of school had gone smoothly despite the move.
However, athletics and after-school programs could face issues, as BAS has no grass and lacks space for some of the former Longfellow programs. "People are having a really good attitude about it, (but) it's very hard for PE and the athletic programs," Patterson said.
Athletic Director Denise Dodson expressed how a lot had to be put on hold in order to deal with the situation. Many teachers had to undertake a bigger summer workload than expected, and Dodson was left wishing that the district had handled it a bit differently and “with more care.”
Plans moving forward regarding athletics and certain lackings in facilities at BAS are cloudy as of now. Dodson and many others are working hard to find solutions and make these transitions as seamless as possible. “These fields and gyms are already pre-assigned, so you're coming in, and if you come in in the summertime, you're pretty much not going to get anything.” Local gym and field usage gets divided up long before the school year starts. If one isn’t anticipating the need to use certain facilities, it can get hard to find availability on short notice.
As there isn’t a gym or grass at BAS, the PE program has been granted permission to walk over to James Kenney Park a few times a week. Safi Zedan, an eighth grader at Longfellow, is content with the change. Zedan explained that the new PE arrangements are easy; they are less work for him and more fun.
However, the lack of a proper yard doesn’t just affect PE. “We’re basically playing at lunch in a parking lot,” Zedan said. According to Zedan, many students have taken to just eating inside because of this.
The relocation to the Berkeley Adult School has also resulted in some increased commute times for a lot of families. Zedan is one of these students. “I live pretty far away from the school, so it's kind of hard for me to get there every day in the morning, but they do this shuttle,” Zedan said. A bus was set up to go from Longfellow to BAS to transport students who might have struggled with making the extra distance required to get to the new location.
While wishes for more support were also expressed, with Dodson saying, "There's a lot of gyms in the area that I feel can be more supportive and open up service to kids as a whole," there has also been a recurring impression of hope from almost everyone in the community.
“After the shock, what really hit me is, like, it's going to be the same teachers and the same kids, and that's what makes Longfellow beautiful. It's the people,” Patterson said. Despite the sudden changes and uncertainty surrounding everything recently, many are optimistic about the situation, having faith in Longfellow’s ability to bounce back from this all. Patterson stated how grateful she is for everyone in the community, “People really rallied, and it makes us feel really loved. You know, I feel really appreciative.”