As seen in the Feb. 21, print edition.
Audrey Park, staff writer
The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) partnered with an architectural firm and is in the process of reviewing earlier planning sessions, held in 2010, to make decisions on renovation plans for Beverly.
The committee assigned to this project includes teachers, site administrators, district administration, students and other Beverly staff. The role of the architects, according to Vice Principal Toni Staser, is to “work with the entire BHUSD and BHHS community to gather everyone’s vision.”
“The plans are still in the early stages, however there are parameters that are guiding choices that are being made, such as looking at the sustainability of the designs and accessibility to support integrated learning programs,” Staser said. “Considerations for designs will also include flexibility and adaptability.”
Junior Mason Leib was chosen to be a part of the student section of the committee, feels “honored to be chosen” for the project.
“The project is focused around remodeling and redesigning Beverly to make it a better learning place while keeping the architectural and historical integrity of the school,” Leib said. “It’s a great opportunity to learn more about my school and is a great experience.”
Leib contributes by “offering input wherever it is necessary.”
“I want to help the architects with my input and generate new exciting ideas,” Leib said.
Because the plans for the project are in the early stages, the committee of BHUSD and BHHS members are focused on studying the architecture of the school and possible changes.
“Students may have seen the large group touring the campus. The purpose was to begin to assist everyone with looking at the campus through a different lens and alter traffic patterns and building designs,” Staser said.
Journalism adviser Gaby Herbst believes it would be beneficial for the committee to contact and gather information from students and teachers outside of the committee in order to successfully reconstruct a better learning environment at Beverly.
“I think it would be very helpful if the students involved in the programs are contacted and asked what would work well for the program,” Herbst said. “It also would help if the teachers who taught those programs were involved so that they could help set up a classroom for all student learning.”
One of the parts of campus that students believe needs improvement is the arts area of the campus near the second floor patio.
“The area near the second floor patio needs to be renovated,” senior Aurora Hamner said. “The desks and chairs in the photography room are like kindergarden ones. The girls bathrooms also are built where the stalls are all different sizes and broken.”
According to Staser, the reconstruction of certain areas was driven by the “consensus that our students deserve a beautiful campus and the goal of modernization is to revitalize our 1928 campus with state of the art facilities and infrastructure.”
The committee studied the school from Tuesday, Feb. 11 to Friday, Feb. 14. The committee has yet to decide what to do from then on.