BayTech Charter School in Oakland reopens campus in renovated old theater after 2022 shooting
Next week, when students return to Bay Area Technology School in Oakland, they will be walking onto a brand-new campus.
BayTech is now on the site of an old theater transformed into a state-of-the-art school.
Principal Gail Puhl Williams says she's very excited for the new campus.
"It is nice to see the vision become a reality," she said.
Williams says a shooting in 2022 at their old shared campus had a huge impact on students and staff. They wanted a new space of their own where everyone felt safe.
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"It is extremely exciting, this is going to be the first permanent home for Bay Area Technology school," Blueprint Project Director Mary Grace Houlihan said. "They have been relocated seven times in their 21-year existence."
BayTech struggled to find a location as a charter school, but ended up at this building, built in the 1920s and once home to the Palace Theater. The gym was built where there used to be a stage. Columns are a holdover from that bygone era, and they even incorporated old fountains and the original ceiling.
They added a third floor to house eight new classrooms, retrofitting the building and reinforcing walls to meet current codes. But the multi-million dollar renovation came with problems and delays.
"When we opened it up, we found out that within the walls, there were big holes cut for film equipment over the years and it compromised the wall to where it was basically swiss cheese," Houlihan said.
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Now the campus is tricked out with the all-new tech, from iPads for students to touch-screen boards.
Quatavion Webb teaches social studies and statistics. He says the new school is nice and he believes it will have a fundamental impact on these students. More than 85% of the students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and 3% are unhoused.
"When you put kids in a space where they feel like they are being prioritized, as far as materials and this space and stuff like that, I do think that they put more effort into it," Webb said.
Staff says construction finished Thursday, and school starts August 6.
