Over the course of the past few months, I have been asking faculty and staff members to review our new “Who We Are” video and to share with me examples from their experiences that exemplify these values – we are curious, we work together, we talk…and we listen, we solve problems, we make things better.
Their stories have inspired me and remind me of the extraordinary educational experience that happens each day for our students. During this past week, these stories have also helped to ground me as I have spent time with Board members and many other members of our community preparing for next week’s Town Council meeting where our appeal of the October Planning Commission decision will be heard. After nearly four years, we are nearing the end of this complex and challenging process.
As I was talking with one of the teachers earlier this week, it occurred to me that our school’s approach to the CUP application provides another exemplar of “who we are.” Throughout this long and sometimes frustrating process, our community has remained resolute, focused on finding a solution that enables the school to better meet our mission while ensuring that we are good neighbors and members of the broader Los Gatos community.
We have retained a growth mindset throughout, hosting numerous meetings with neighborhood groups and showing our willingness to both talk and listen as we have sought creative and meaningful ways to address the concerns of our neighbors. Looking at our proposal today, we have responded directly to the suggestions of our neighbors, including:
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proposing an all-day count that ensures that traffic will remain at the 2011 baseline level (880 average) in perpetuity. This 2011 baseline represents a 40 percent decrease from traffic levels in the early 2000s.
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proactively and in good-faith adopting an aggressive Traffic Demand Management program that includes a range of shuttle options and shows the neighborhood and the Town of Los Gatos that we are serious about meeting the proposed all-day count.
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hiring a staff member to serve as a Transportation Coordinator and placing a traffic support person in the neighborhood each day to ensure we are able to manage traffic proactively and ensure the safety of our students and of the broader Los Gatos community.
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proactively implementing an all-day counting system that is hosted by a third-party provider and ensures that the Hillbrook community, the Town and the neighborhood will all have a clear and transparent mechanism to monitor the school’s compliance with the new conditions.
I am incredibly proud of how our community has worked together to improve traffic in our neighborhood. It is a testament to the community’s focus on solving problems and making things better and a model for other schools in Los Gatos and beyond.
Next Tuesday, we need our community to come together to share our story and to stand up for Hillbrook. We need to show the Town Council members that we are united in support of our application and that we are serious about our commitment to being good neighbors. We also need to explain to the Town Council that the Planning Commission’s decision to create an 880 cap, instead of an 880 average, significantly impairs our ability to operate as a school. As Board Chair Chuck Hammers and I shared in our letter in early December, a small number of neighbors are no longer focused on finding a fair and reasonable compromise, they are intent on creating conditions that will cripple our school. We cannot allow a small group of people to use misinformation and hysteria to damage our school, a thriving part of the Los Gatos community for the past 79 years.
Who are we?
We are a school that is committed to providing an extraordinary educational experience that inspires students to achieve their dreams and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world.
We are a school that has asked for a modest increase in enrollment that will allow us to strengthen our program and ensure we can continue to thrive for generations to come.
We are a school that, true to our values, has listened with an open mind to our neighbors and has proactively adopted and implemented a Transportation Demand Management program that will ensure that the school will be able to increase enrollment without increasing traffic.
In the end, we are a school. A school that has served children from Los Gatos and the surrounding area for 79 years, and that will continue to serve children for generations to come. Each day that I walk around campus and see children and teachers at work and at play, I am reminded what an engaging, vibrant, and joyful place it is.