The Flavor of Castro/Valencia
City College and middle school brew distinctive mix

By Asiana Ponciano
Guardsman Staff Writer

Grade school memories of soggy brown bag lunches and sticky gum-soled shoes seem far away now... unless you take classes at the Castro/Valencia campus of City College, where adults and kids share the same facility.

photo by Jorge Parada

By day, it's known as James Lick Middle School; by night it's City College, mature yet bursting with the energy of a 10 year-old.

James Lick Middle School is located at Noe and 25th Streets. There's nostalgic charm in the art deco detailing, and a youthful flair, with graffiti art sprawled across the walls surrounding the asphalt playground.

The school's youthfulness is an element of the campus that both faculty and City College students enjoy.

Dr. Bruce Smith, Dean of the campus, feels that the maturity of City College students is a great juxtaposition with the energy of James Lick middle-schoolers.

"There is something about the atmosphere that is appealing," said Smith.

Yet James Lick wasn't the first site for the campus.

When first conceived in the early 1980's, classes were held at Mission High and Everett Middle School. As a campus tailored toward the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, location was important. It also served as the base for City College's Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Studies program.

Today it continues its outreach to the gay and lesbian community from its Noe Valley home, but also provides students with a wide variety of classes.

According to the Fall 2002 schedule, 55% of the courses offered were in foreign language, 12% in the Arts, and 8% in English. The remainder were: "Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Studies", Health, Humanities, Physical Education and Learning Assistance.

"The Castro/Valencia campus has the largest credited program separate from the Phelan campus," said Dean Bruce Smith. Out of 100 classes, 96 are credited.

Smith takes pride in the services available on campus such as a bookstore, internet registration, and on-site counselors.

"The faculty is awesome here as well as the counselors," said Judy Piotrikowski, a student taking "Sex and Gender in American Society".

Smith points out that the campus tries to meet students'' needs in spite of an administration of modest proportions.

"There is no language lab so we have a service that duplicates cassette tapes inexpensively," he said.

Since its presence at James Lick, the satellite campus has worked well for both the adults and the kids.

Smith said the college installed a ramp to the first floor, enabling students with disabilities to attend classes. Although the second and third floors do not have disability access, classes are rearranged to the bottom floor as needed. This improvement was a benefit to the Middle School as well.

Site director Tom Menendez reinforces the presence of City College as a positive influence on James Lick students.

"It shows them accessibility to college," he said.

City College student Sandy Andrews echoes the sentiment. "They see adults going to school and they see that as an inspiration."

The partnership of City College and James Lick is also reflected by the enrollment of parents in classes.

According to Menendez, some of the adults attending class at night are parents of children who attend the middle school during the day.