Residents on Alameda’s East End have no doubt noticed that most of the buildings on the Otis Elementary School campus have been demolished.

We at the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) know this can be hard to witness, especially for people who went to the school, those children attended the school or those who once worked there. However, we hope the promise of a beautiful new campus with beautiful buildings, modern technology and its own playground will help mitigate the sting of losing what had been on that site for about 70 years.

To celebrate the start of this new project, we’re holding a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday next week at 4 p.m. The ceremony will feature a chance to meet the project’s architects and managers and speakers who will talk about the project’s background and features. The entrance will be through the High Street gate for the ceremony expected to last about 45 minutes.

Board vacancy: The AUSD’s Board of Education has announced the three finalists it has chosen to interview for the seat left vacant when Board Clerk Jennifer Williams resigned in mid-August.

After reviewing the 13 applications submitted, the three applicants chosen for the next step in the process are Erick Bell, Doug Biggs and Joyce Boyd. The interviews were to take place at this week’s board meeting. Once the question-and-answer and public comment periods were over, board members were to start making motions to nominate one candidate to be the board’s provisional member.

The appointed candidate will be sworn in at the board’s Oct. 13 meeting for a term that will run unitl November 2028, which would have been the end of Williams’ term. More information on filling vacancies is available on the board’s webpage at bayareane.ws/4h1NSwg.

Also coming up: The Annual College Fair, which brings in representatives from dozens of colleges and universities, including the University of California and California State University systems, the state’s community colleges, private colleges and the U.S. armed forces, will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 at Wood Middle School. The fair is free and open to all Alameda students.

Reach Susan Davis, the Alameda Unified School District’s senior manager for community affairs, at 510-337-7175 or SDavis@alamedaunified.org.