By Sara Ballenger

Even though the school year ended in June, it has been a whirlwind summer in the Los Altos School District, moving five schools.

Springer School is moving from Covington School back to its original site on Rose Avenue in Mountain View; Almond School is moving from Egan Camp School back to its original site on Almond Ave.; Santa Rita School is moving from its location on Los Altos Avenue to Egan Camp School; Loyola School is moving from its location on Berry Avenue to Blach Camp School; and Bullis School is moving permanently to Covington School.

“We started moving some stuff before school was out,” said Kurt Weaver, director of facilities, modernization and construction for the district. Schools started packing in April, he added. “The moving picked up once school was out. I think we should have most of our moving done by the first week in August.”

According to Weaver, historically, moves of this type have cost the district $50,000 a site.

“I expect that we will be spending about $200,000,” Weaver said. “But, I am not sure, since the Bullis move might not cost as much, since it is a smaller site.”

The district hired Laurie Abate, a professional moving consultant for school districts to coordinate the sequence of moves as well as the team of professional movers to help with the moves. Abate usually hires 30 movers and five moving trucks for moving a school, she said.

“It’s a big domino affect, since we have schools that are getting renovated like Santa Rita,” Abate said. “The biggest thing is all is the preplanning, that is extremely important.”

Abate said a key to such a big move is staying flexible.

“Things can change at a moments notice. You have to keep a sense of humor,” Abate said. “Nothing goes as scheduled and that’s what makes it challenging.”

Abate said organized packing can make a move go smoothly. Abate makes sure that every teacher has enough packing materials.

“As for boxes, we average 75 to 100 per teacher. Some only use 50, some use 150,” Abate said. “My main focus is that no one is stressed that they don’t have enough packing material. Moving is stressful enough.”

Abate said another element that has made these moves go smoothly is cooperation.

“A big plus in this has been the participation of the staff, parents and Blach Construction,” said Marlene Shafran, of the district who is working with Abate on the move. “It really takes everyone working together to make a move like this happen. It’s definitely been a group effort.”

Weaver said each school should be completely moved by Aug. 18, the first day teachers will return to their newly unpacked classrooms. Abate and her team will also be available to move furniture in the rooms before the start of school.

“It’s amazing that so much stuff gets moved, and all of it ends up in the right place, Weaver said.