By Sharon Noguchi
The Sequoia Union High School District has begun construction on a new $51 million public high school focusing on technology, innovation, design and engineering in eastern Menlo Park.
The TIDE academy is set to open with 100 ninth graders in fall 2019. When fully enrolled, it is expected to serve 400 students from southern San Mateo County. It will be the first new district-run high school built in the East Palo Alto-Belle Haven area in 60 years. Since Sequoia closed its Ravenswood High campus in East Palo Alto in the late 1970s, most high school students east of Bayshore have been bused to schools across the freeway.
The 45,000-square-foot building at 150 Jefferson Drive will have flexible learning spaces, including a makerspace shop, a coding lab and a design lab and a green roof.
The campus is funded by proceeds from voter-approved bonds. The district also will apply for state bond funds.
