{"id":165968,"date":"2026-02-06T01:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T01:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/165968\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T01:00:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T01:00:21","slug":"up-to-9-san-jose-unified-elementary-schools-could-close-here-are-the-options-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/165968\/","title":{"rendered":"Up to 9 San Jose Unified elementary schools could close. Here are the options \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Jose Unified School District released a list of up to nine elementary schools that could be closed or consolidated next year<\/a> in an effort to tackle years of declining student enrollment and budget constraints.<\/p>\n

The list comes as San Jose Unified has seen a 20% decline in student enrollment since before the pandemic \u2014 a loss of roughly 6,000 students, the district\u2019s superintendent Nancy Albarr\u00e1n said in a letter to the community this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recognize that seeing a school\u2019s name included in discussion about consolidation, attendance boundary changes, or relocation is deeply emotional,\u201d Albarr\u00e1n said in the letter. \u201cWe know families love their current schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we know that thoughtful school portfolio changes can help ensure strong, sustainable programs for both current and future students throughout the district, continuing our long-standing legacy of tackling challenges with a focus on what is best for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

The list of schools potentially facing closure or consolidation is part of the district\u2019s \u201cSchools of Tomorrow\u201d initiative. Started in September 2025, the plan focuses on evaluating the district\u2019s current elementary schools \u2014 including their total enrollment, staffing, school climate, programs and instruction \u2014 to determine which schools to close or consolidate.\n<\/p>\n

San Jose Unified said nearly half of\u00a0the district\u2019s 26 elementary schools serve fewer than 350 students, with the smallest elementary school serving 200 students and the largest serving more than 800 students.<\/p>\n

The Schools of Tomorrow Implementation Committee presented three potential options at a meeting earlier this week. The committee will spend the next month discussing the options and any changes, before presenting a finalized recommendation to the district\u2019s school board no later than March 12.<\/p>\n

Albarr\u00e1n emphasized in her letter to the community earlier this week that the three proposed options are a \u201cstarting point\u201d and no final decisions have been made.<\/p>\n

Option 1: Closes nine elementary schools, relocates one<\/p>\n

Almaden Elementary
\nAnne Darling Elementary
\nCanoas Elementary
\nGardner Elementary
\nLowell Elementary
\nRachel Carson Elementary
\nSelma Olinder Elementary
\nSimonds Elementary
\nWalter L. Bachrodt Elementary
\nRelocates Hammer Montessori at Ernesto Galarza Elementary to Rachel Carson Elementary<\/p>\n

Option 2: Closes nine elementary schools<\/p>\n

Empire Gardens Elementary
\nGardner Elementary
\nLowell Elementary
\nRachel Carson Elementary
\nReed Elementary
\nSelma Olinder Elementary
\nTerrell Elementary
\nWalter L. Bachrodt Elementary
\nWilliams Elementary<\/p>\n

Option 3: Closes eight elementary schools<\/p>\n

Almaden Elementary
\nEmpire Gardens Elementary
\nErnesto Galarza Elementary
\nGardner Elementary
\nGrant Elementary
\nRachel Carson Elementary
\nReed Elementary
\nWilliams Elementary<\/p>\n

The district created a school locator<\/a> for parents and families to see which elementary school a student would be assigned to under all three options. If a school closes, the district said two options are possible: the students at the closing school would all move to the same school for the 2026-27 school year or\u00a0would be split to new schools depending on new attendance boundaries.<\/p>\n

The district also said if schools are closed, impacted students will have the option to request a transfer to another San Jos\u00e9 Unified elementary school and will be given priority in the assignment process. The district said affected students will also be provided no-cost access to the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program \u2014 which provides three hours of afterschool extracurricular activities at their new school \u2014 and bus transportation will be provided for students who live more than 1.5 miles from their new campus.<\/p>\n

San Jose Unified said any elementary school picked to close will receive twice their usual funding to support the transition for the remainder of the 2025-26 school year, while schools that will receive new students for the 2026-27 school year will receive twice their usual funding to support integration.\n<\/p>\n

Elementary schools picked to receive new students will also host open houses and receive priority for campus facility improvement projects.<\/p>\n

The next Schools of Tomorrow Implementation Committee meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the district office located at 855 Lenzen Ave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Jose Unified School District released a list of up to nine elementary schools that could be closed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,8,15,4730,1533,181,100,182,385,88,90,89,198,30515,200],"class_list":["post-165968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-california-news","tag-education","tag-k-12-education","tag-keywee","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-pm-report","tag-regional","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-school-boards-measures","tag-south-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}