Oak Knoll Elementary School in Menlo Park is marking its 75th anniversary this year, and five of its staff members, including Principal Alicia Payton-Miyazaki, went to the school as children, The Almanac and InMenlo reported.
Why it matters: The anniversary shows how strongly the Menlo Park City School District campus has held on to its community over generations.
Alumni come home
The five former students now on staff are Payton-Miyazaki, kindergarten teacher Melanie Vea, fourth-grade multiage teacher Alli Zeiser, third-grade teacher Tony Yob and PE teacher Hope Scheid, according to InMenlo.
"For five of us to have grown up in this community and return to it in service to the community and to the children, I think is just astounding," Payton-Miyazaki told The Almanac.
A new oak
A nearly 300-year-old oak tree once stood at the center of campus and anchored traditions like the Spring Sing. It fell in a 2023 storm. A new Valley Oak was planted in 2024.
Celebrating
At the fall family picnic, students sang "Happy Birthday" to mascot Ollie the Otter on Sept. 17 and ate cupcakes. Staff also opened a time capsule from the 2002 50th anniversary. Inside were old newspapers, a first "Magic Tree House" book, an Otter Run T-shirt and a 1990s teddy bear.
By the numbers
The school opened in 1951 as a K-8 campus with 260 students. It became a K-5 school in 1989 when Hillview Middle School opened. Today it enrolls 590 students, the district told The Almanac.