Almaden Resident | 0344 | October 30, 2003

October 30, 2003 San Jose, California Since 2003

Photograph courtesy of Christina Ferguson

Stay Clean: Parents and students at Guadalupe Elementary School do some landscaping near the kindergarten building during a 'Spruce Up the School Day' on Oct. 12. The twice-yearly event is intended to help the school keep up appearances, as budget cuts have decimated grounds work funds.

Guadalupe families take school cleanup into their own hands

By Anne Gelhaus

Members of some 40 Guadalupe Elementary School families were out in force on Oct. 12, pulling weeds, planting trees and creating a new sign for the school.

A group of parents organized this "Spruce Up the School Day" in the wake of budget cuts that forced the Union School District to trim its maintenance staff.

"The groundsman comes once a week to mow the lawn, and that's it," said parent-organizer Christina Ferguson. "We felt that as parents, we should help out the school."

Ferguson said another "spruce-up day" is being planned for spring. "It makes [the campus] look more welcoming," she said of the landscaping work. "The [surrounding] community is nice and tidy, so this way, it stays with the level of the community.

"It makes the kids proud to be part of the school," Ferguson added.

Ferguson said the school staff was very supportive of the group's efforts. "The secretary came to help pull weeds for an hour," she added. "The principal and the teachers were taken aback by what we did in one afternoon."

Principal Alice Lopez said the Oct. 12 cleanup day was the most successful one ever held at Guadalupe. "We've tried it before, but we've never had this kind of turnout," she added.