Castro Middle School
Elvira Castro Middle School is a middle school (6th-8th grade) located in San Jose, California, United States. It is part of the Moreland School District, of San Jose.
Often referred to simply as "Castro Middle School", without the inclusion of the "Elvira" name (Elvira Castro was a beloved former teacher), the school has been in operation since 1958 and uses a cougar as its official mascot.
Castro Middle School has been designated as a California Distinguished School both in 1996 and 2001. In 1998, the school underwent a major renovation, and a community center adjacent to the school was built in 2000. This facility is currently used both by the community and by Castro students as a gymnasium.
In addition, the Moreland School District's district office, which was previously located across from the school on Campbell Ave., was moved onto the Castro campus and the land it previously occupied sold to a townhome developer. This move permanantly took away much of Castro's field and track and left a large ditch in the middle of the field.
In April 2006, the Moreland School District announced sweeping new changes in the district, affecting not only the Castro campus but other schools in the district as well. Samuel Curtis Rogers Middle School, the only other middle school in the district, would be shut down at the end of the 2005-2006 school year, and its students merged with Castro students. The Rogers campus would be closed and all of their students moved to Castro's campus. In addition, Latimer Elementary School would be closed and the school boundaries for the schools in the district redrawn. These changes were a direct result of the imminent budget cuts for the district stemming from the loss of enrollment due to the opening of Discovery Charter School, a charter school located within the district. Currently, it has been decided that the name will be changed to Moreland Middle School, despite a petition from Castro's students. The petition was signed by many students who disliked the name "Moreland Middle", but did not change the school board's decisions.
Castro's current principal is Tom Kennedy, with Ann Doumanian serving as assistant principal. However, in the 2006-2007 school year, there may be two principals, Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Ready.
Castro's homepage is at: http://castro.ca.campusgrid.net/home