Hillside Elementary School

Hillside School

Buena Vista Way entrance, Hillside School
Location 1581 Le Roy Ave., Berkeley, California
Coordinates 37°52′51″N 122°15′32″W / 37.8809°N 122.2589°W / 37.8809; -122.2589Coordinates: 37°52′51″N 122°15′32″W / 37.8809°N 122.2589°W / 37.8809; -122.2589
Area 0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built 1925
Architect Walter H. Ratcliff
Architectural style Tudor Revival
NRHP Reference # 82000961[1]
BERKL # 61
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 29, 1982
Designated BERKL June 21, 1982[2]

Hillside Elementary School is a former public elementary school that now houses 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).[3]

History

Hillside first opened in the Fall of 1901 on the nearby southwest corner of Le Roy Avenue and Virginia Street.[4][5] This first Hillside, constructed under the auspices of the newly formed Hillside Club,[6] 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 of 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. Some additions were made in the 1930s and again in 1964-65. The 1930s work included some upgrades pursuant to the Field Act which resulted from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.

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[7] 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) leased part of the site from the school district until 2003 when it moved to its new location in the old Berkeley Santa Fe depot on University Avenue. The Berkeley Chess School has also leased space since the closing of the public school. In 2012, GISSV purchased the site from the Berkeley Unified School district. Throughout, area residents have used Hillside's playground as a de facto neighborhood park since it was constructed.

BUSD Principals

Some recent dates

Detail from original blueprints

Movie Set

Hillside stood in as an English mansion in the 2012 movie The Master. Filming took place during June 2011.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. "Berkeley Landmarks". Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  3. berkeleyheritage.com
  4. History of the Berkeley Public Schools, Cowan, 1918, Internet Archives
  5. National Landmark Application
  6. The shrinking legacy of Volney D. Moody and his heirs, Daniella Thompson, BAHA, 2008
  7. Minutes, School Board Meeting, May 4, 1983
  8. City Manager's Office (2009-03-24). "Findings for Acquisition of 1581 Leroy (Hillside School)" (PDF). City Council Packet (City of Berkeley). Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  9. School Board Agenda (PDF) http://www.berkeley.net/uploads/school_board/2011spring/06-29-11_packet.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help).
  10. Taylor, Tracey (June 27, 2011). "Paul Thomas Anderson shoots new movie in Berkeley". BerkeleySide.com. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  11. "Finding filming sites in Bay Area is just the beginning of this job", Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle, July 17, 2013

External links

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