College View Elementary in Huntington Beach holds reopening ceremony

The College View Elementary School hallways now show off full-length murals, featuring colleges and universities throughout Southern California.

The touch is a nod to the Huntington Beach school’s name, and a clue to where its students might hope to someday end up. The murals feature Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, UC Irvine, UCLA, USC and Chapman University, along with Golden West College and Orange Coast College.

“When you walk the halls at College View, you can’t help but feel hopeful and optimistic,” Ocean View School District Supt. Carol Hansen said. “The newly improved College View Elementary conveys a message to our students. That message is, ‘Dream big, the future is yours.’”

College View held a reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon. Hansen, OVSD Board of Trustees President Gina Clayton-Tarvin and Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Kim Carr were among those who spoke before extensive campus tours were offered.

Dr. Carol Hansen, left, the Ocean View School District superintendent, Marisa Cardenas-Joslyn, center, the Ocean View Teachers Assn. president, and Dr. Julianne Hoefer, the district assistant superintendent, walk down a hallway past a mural of Long Beach State during a tour of the newly remodeled College View Elementary School.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

The renovation was part of improvements funded by Measure R, a $169 million bond passed by voters within the Ocean View School District in 2016.

College View’s renovations cost about $18 million, district public information manager Trish Montgomery said. Ledesma and Meyer Construction Company and DLR Group architecture handled the renovations.

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“It’s the first time the district had ever had a bond, so it was really the first time to do major modernization,” Hansen said. “Many of these schools had never had any kind of modernization since they’ve been built. Really, a main emphasis was safety. Before, our schools were not fenced in. Now all of our schools are fenced in. We have a single point of entry.”

Improvements to College View, which has about 300 students on campus during the novel coronavirus pandemic, included new air conditioning and heating systems, as well as more than 50 solar tubes that bring in natural light.

Dr. Michael Conroy, left, the deputy superintendent of the Ocean View School District, gives a tour of a classroom at the newly renovated College View Elementary School.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

There have also been technological and security upgrades, including an upgraded front office. All classrooms now have two flat screen TVs, which are connected to each other and allow for casting.

College View Principal Elaine Burney, in her third year in charge, said the campus looks beautiful.

“It has been truly heartwarming seeing the sense of pride our students, parents and staff have in our new and improved school,” she said. “While we all had high expectations going into the modernization process, the finished product absolutely exceeded our expectations.”

Marine View Middle School is the district school currently undergoing renovations, Hansen said, followed by Vista View Middle School next year. While schools undergo renovations, students are taught at an alternate location near Beach Boulevard and Heil Avenue, formerly known as Sun View Elementary.

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