Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Hillside Elementary School

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Area
  
0.2 acres (0.081 ha)

Architect
  
Walter H. Ratcliff

NRHP Reference #
  
82000961

Built
  
1925

Architectural style
  
Tudor Revival

Hillside Elementary School

Location
  
1581 Le Roy Ave., Berkeley, California

Hillside Elementary School is a former public elementary school that until January 2017 housed the Berkeley campus of the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV). The site is located in the hills of Berkeley, California on the block bounded by Le Roy Avenue, Buena Vista Way and La Loma Avenue. Hillside is registered as a local historic landmark. In 1982 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#82000961).

Contents

History

Hillside first opened in the Fall of 1901 on the nearby southwest corner of Le Roy Avenue and Virginia Street. This first Hillside, constructed under the auspices of the newly formed Hillside Club, for the Berkeley Public Schools, was one of the hundreds of structures that was destroyed by the 1923 Berkeley fire. The school was temporarily relocated, from late 1923 until August 1926, to the University School (1414 Walnut Street) while a new school building was constructed.

The Berkeley School District built the present structure in 1925 on the site of several homes that were destroyed by the same fire that destroyed the original Hillside. A major seismic retrofit was made in the 1930s and an additional wing added in 1964-65. The 1930s work included upgrades pursuant to the Field Act which resulted from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. The building is landmarked for the degree to which it is intact, along with the quality of both architectural design and construction.

In the early 1970s, Hillside became a primary school (K-3) as part of a district-wide re-organization.

In 1983, the school district closed Hillside because of a declining school age population, and because it sits near or on the Hayward Fault. The Berkeley Montessori School (since renamed The Berkeley School) and the Berkeley Chess School leased part of the site. In 2012, the German International School (GISSV) purchased the site from the Berkeley Unified School district and operated classes.

In December 2016, the GISSV closed the building, due to unmet seismic retrofit needs. Diggings nearby show the fault may be braided in the area, and an active fault trace below the building cannot be ruled out.

Throughout, area residents have used Hillside's playground as a de facto neighborhood park since it was constructed.

BUSD Principals

  • Clara. G. Potwin, 1901-1907 (d.1907)
  • Jeannette Barrows, 1907-1937 (d.1945)
  • Eugenie E. Jackson, 1937-1943
  • Helen B. Maslin, 1943-1959 (d.1963)
  • Theodore F. Blitz, 1959-1973 (d.1993)
  • Frank L. Fisher, 1973-1978
  • Kathryne L. Favors, 1978-1981 (d.2008)
  • Marian K. Altman, 1981-1983

    • Some recent dates

  • In 2009, with sale of the site to a housing developer pending, local residents proposed a special assessment district to fund purchase of the playground section of the site.
  • In June 2011 the District signed a preliminary purchase agreement with the non-profit German International School of Silicon Valley
  • In July 2012, work began on the restoration of Hillside. The old concrete walkway, which had buckled and cracked was, removed and new concrete laid down. The brick steps of the old Kindergarten entrance were replaced with concrete. A deteriorated temporary building, which had been situated on the old Kindergarten playground since the early 1970s, was removed.
  • The German International School held its first classes at Hillside August 13, 2012.
  • In early 2016, the original slate shingles were replaced by new slate shingles, and the original copper gutters which had been vandalized and stolen were also replaced.
  • In early 2016 a new historically accurate slate roof was completed, along with new gutters and downspouts.
  • in December 2016 the building was vacated because of safety concerns.

    • Movie Set

    Hillside stood in as an English mansion in the 2012 movie The Master. Filming took place during June 2011.

    References

    Hillside Elementary School Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA