Over summer break, Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School underwent a transformation, with the addition of trees, plants, outdoor seating areas and painted asphalt. Photo by Zoe Morgan.
When students returned to classes at Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School last month, they found that their campus had undergone a transformation, changing from a space largely covered in blacktop to one filled with greenery, color and various play areas.
Over summer break, the Mountain View Whisman School District added trees across Vargas’ campus, as well as outdoor gathering areas with natural seating options, painted asphalt and a garden area.
The changes were part of the Outdoor Learning Spaces initiative, a program that the district started in 2022 to add more green spaces to its campuses. The district chose Vargas, the smallest and newest school in the district, which sits on 4.7 acres, to be the pilot campus for this initiative because, out of all of the sites, it was the most in need of additional green space, Chief Business Officer Rebecca Westover said.
When Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School first opened, the outdoor areas of the campus were largely asphalt. Courtyard area photographed on Feb. 4, 2020. Photo by Sammy Dallal.
When school board member Charles DiFazio, who is the parent of a Vargas third grader, walked through the campus gates on the first day of classes, he said that it felt like walking his child into a different school.
“It used to be large blacktop areas,” he said. “Now, with the new construction done, it really feels open, feels lively, more alive than it used to, so I’m pretty excited about that.”
Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School now has landscaped outdoor gathering areas with natural seating options for students. Photo by Zoe Morgan.
During the planning process, architects from Carducci Associates visited Vargas and other campuses to see how kids interacted with the existing outdoor spaces and how those areas could be improved to better meet the needs of students, Westover said.
According to Principal Acantha Aragon Contreras, the renovations created different spaces for students to use, such as an area they have dubbed the “chill zone” with tree stumps and rocks to sit on, as well as an area for four-square and wall-ball games, giving them the opportunity to choose how they want to spend their breaks during the day.
“You can just see the sense of more joy and excitement,” Contreras said. “Kids get to spread out and do the things that they’re actually interested in.”
After the first few days of school, DiFazio said that his daughter particularly appreciated the painted asphalt, noting that campus felt less hot and much more comfortable.
Students started lessons in the garden during the first week of September. With the new space, Contreras said that students have the opportunity to create a garden from the ground up, allowing them to learn more about plants and how to care for them, as well as teaching them essential teamwork and communication skills.
Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School now has an outdoor garden that students will be able to plant from scratch. Photo by Zoe Morgan.
“Those things that they’re going to be doing out in the garden, they have to work together to see all of it come to life and work, so I think that is huge,” Contreras said.
Construction on the remaining campuses is expected to commence and be completed next summer, assuming the district gets state architectural approval in time, Westover said at an Aug. 21 school board meeting. The district is currently on track to meet this goal, Westover told the Voice.
To pay for the greening projects across all its campuses, the district has set aside $15 million from the Measure T bond that voters approved in 2020. The district allocated about $1.2 million per elementary school, $1.8 million for Crittenden Middle School and $2.1 million for Graham Middle School.
The district has not yet received the final bills for the completed construction at Vargas, but Westover said the total estimated cost sits at just over $1.2 million. Because the district had a contingency fund in place, Westover said that the Vargas project was within the overall budget and will not affect the availability of funds for the other schools.
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