City of Menlo Park history

1928 Citiy Council begins meeting at 1090 El Camino Real while it was still occupied by American Trust Co.

1942 Duff & Doyle building demolished as part of widening of El Camino Real through Menlo Park

The property was purchased in 1947 and began planning an eight room school on the 4 acres that were initially purchased.

Since 1948, four Bond issues and two special tax issues were placed on the ballot.

The first classrooms were built in 1952.

1957 New library building (5,500 sq ft) at Civic Center opened.

The classroom pods were originally built in 1959 with 3 classrooms and a central core area.

1967 Major expansion of library building triples its size (to 18,000 sq ft).

1982 2nd Dumbarton Bridge opens in October

The school is set on about 6 acres and was brought into the District in 1984 when the Willows were annexed from the Ravenswood District.

The first discussion of creating a single middle school in the District occurred in 1985, but opposition to change led the Superintendent away from the middle school recommendation, and she tried to implement the program recommendations of “Caught In The Middle” into the existing configuration.

But after the election, one of the newly elected members joined the rest of the board in endorsing the Hillview proposal, and 1989 became the first year Hillview served 6th-8th graders.

1990 was the first year that 5th graders from Oak Knoll and from Encinal came together to begin the new school.

1992 Third expansion of library, this time to 34,000 sq ft

1999 Belle Haven branch library (3,800 sq ft) opened

O’Connor School in the Willows is a surplus site and is currently leased to the German American School through 2010.

2013 Beginning of Friendship Agreement between the City of Menlo Park and Galway City (which incorporates the village of Menlo or Menlough) in Ireland