Castilleja School

Castilleja is a private, all-girls’ school for 6th through 12th grades, located at 1310 Bryant Street at Embarcadero Road with existing vehicle access from Bryant Street, Kellogg Avenue and Emerson Street. The school has been at the current site, which is zoned Residential -- Single Family Residential (R-1) 10,000, since 1910.

Want to know the latest regarding what will be happening at the School site once construction begins? Please see the School’s website, and consider signing up for their e-news updates.

Find regular updates from Castilleja School on this project here.

Castilleja Neighborhood Committee

**Castilleja Neighborhood Committee Agendas and Minutes**
Date	Agenda	Minutes
September 10, 2024	Agenda(PDF, 126KB)	Draft Minutes(PDF, 73KB)
June 13, 2024	Agenda(PDF, 28KB)	Minutes(PDF, 92KB)
April 11, 2024	Agenda(PDF, 102KB)	Minutes(PDF, 120KB)
November 8, 2023	Agenda(PDF, 101KB)
October 27, 2023	Agenda(PDF, 149KB)	Minutes(PDF, 173KB)

Approved Applications

Overview

On June 30, 2016, the Castilleja School Foundation (Applicant) submitted a new CUP request to increase enrollment to 540 students associated with phased redevelopment of the Castilleja property over a three year period. This includes construction of an underground parking structure and demolition and replacement of campus gross floor area. The CUP (File# 16PLN-00238) and other planning applications submitted 2016-2019 with plans and other materials, later updated, can be viewed in Castilleja School Project Documents. The City Council certified the Environmental Impact Report and approved the project applications on June 6, 2022, which followed presentations and public testimony to Council on May 23, 2022. See Council Record of Land Use Action and Enrollment Exhibit.

Post-Entitlement Activities/Documents in 2023:

Castilleja School submitted a building permit application which is under review. Status is found on BuildingEye under 1310 Bryant Street.
Castilleja School submitted an April 2023 monitoring report and a second monitoring report to the City staff on August 15 which covered March through June 2023; monitoring reports are posted on Castilleja School’s website and are subject to the neighborhood committee’s review.
City Council review of Castilleja School's final TDM Plan(PDF, 1MB) began during a public hearing on August 7, 2023 (Item 16). Council continued its review to a date uncertain and directed the Neighborhood Committee and School to review it and provide comments to Staff.
Castilleja School submitted the enrollment audit report(PDF, 179KB) for the 2022-2023 school year.

2024 City Actions

The City issued the garage construction permit 22BLD-03130 on February 5, 2024, following the City’s extensive review and approval of the logistics plan(PDF, 14MB) and narrative(PDF, 61KB), and receipt of building permit fees and development impact fees. The start of construction is anticipated to begin June 2024. The construction logistics plan and narrative for the garage permit and other and other documents are viewable on Building Eye.
The City Council approved the easement relocation on January 22, 2024

Public Hearing Dates 2022

January 19, 2022 PTC Hearing (Continuation from December 8, 2021 PTC)
ARB March 17, 2022 Hearing
PTC March/April Hearings
City Council May 23, 2022 Hearing (Packet pg. 163 for staff report)

Public Hearing Dates 2021

Public Hearing Dates 2020

Architectural Review Board (ARB)
Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC)
Historic Resources Board
- September 24, 2020

Staff Presentations and Technical Reports 2020-2022

Enrollment

In the year 2000, Castilleja received a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from the City of Palo Alto for a maximum enrollment cap of 415 students. Castilleja’s student enrollment has exceeded this cap for years and upon learning this in 2013, the City began enforcement actions that included imposing a significant financial penalty and requiring the school to reduce its enrollment and apply for a new use permit to request to exceed the cap. 426 students were enrolled in the 2020-2021 school year, down from 430 students the prior year, and 422 students were enrolled in the 2021-2022 school year. On June 6, 2022, Council allowed a maximum enrollment of 540 students via incremental increases over several years. For the 2022-2023 school year, 416 students were enrolled and the Record of Land Use Action Permit Condition 4(b) states "if students remain on the main campus during construction, student enrollment shall not exceed 416 until campus construction is complete, at which point the School may enroll up to 450 students. If students are moved off-site during construction, the School may immediately enroll up to 450 students at the off-site location. For the 2023-2024 school year, 365 students (the 7th through 12th grade students) were enrolled at the 1310 Bryant Street campus and 64 6th grade students were attending the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life (TKCJL) campus (these numbers were later reduced to 362 and 62, respectively). Castilleja has informed the City that no students will be located off-site for the 2024-2025 school year, and that enrollment will not exceed 416 students on campus for the 2024-2025 school year.

News Updates

June 19, 2023: The Council approved members for a neighborhood committee via consent calendar Item #13 on the June 19, 2023 Council agenda. The committee is subject to Brown Act rules and the role of the Neighborhood Committee is to review the TDM monitoring reports submitted three times a year.

June 13, 2023: Castilleja provided the City with a letter(PDF, 242KB) indicating its intent to enroll 365 students at Castilleja's Bryant Street campus for the upcoming academic year and 64 students (6th grade) at the Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life (TKCJL).

December 19, 2022: Castilleja provided the City with the verification report of the 2022-23 school year enrollment(PDF, 179KB) and the final TDM plan(PDF, 1MB) which was transmitted to the City Council with a staff report.