BUENA PARK : Remodeling Planned for Centralia School

A $6-million modernization is in the works for Centralia School, which was closed in 1984 due to declining enrollment. The preliminary design includes rooms for team teaching, computers in every classroom and a Girls Club on campus.

The remodeling is being guided by a task force formed by the Centralia School District. Instead of a traditional-style school with long hallways and classrooms on each side, the task force is recommending a more flexible design that could accommodate team teaching. This approach pairs teachers who jointly instruct larger groups of students, requiring larger classrooms and movable walls.

The task force is also studying a “shared space” project between the school and the Girls Club of North Orange County. The Girls Club would be built on the premises and share many facilities with the school, including the gymnasium and a conference center.

The organization would contribute the projected $2-million cost of building the club, said Jean Morgan, the club’s executive director.

Other items requested by the task force include a 32-station computer lab, three kindergarten rooms, 25 classrooms, science labs and a visual and performing arts area.

Several groups, including the Girls Club and a preschool, now lease space in the closed school. The school’s remodeling is expected to be completed in 1992.

The district has not decided how it will fund the modernization of Centralia School and several other schools in the district. Last year the board sparked a controversy by discussing selling the Mira Linda School site on Holder Street to pay for the improvements.

The Mira Linda site now houses a local Little League office and the Speech and Language Development Center, which serves handicapped and learning-impaired children.