Wanting more square footage and a quiet workspace in classrooms designed with high ceilings, several Ohlone teachers arranged for lofts to be constructed, even including older students and parents in the actual construction. The bottom of the lofts were about eight feet from the floor, railings were provided to assure safety and ladders were secured to allow for access to the “upstairs” space, about 100 sq. feet. The floors were carpeted and the area included beanbag chairs for comfortable reading spots and/or desks and chairs. Usually, the typical sized loft would house up to six children at a time and were mostly considered to be silent areas for work and study. The advantages of the extra space may be obvious but it should also be noted that six kids working in the loft left more floor space for the other twenty-two. Besides, as one can imagine, climbing up to greater heights to work was quite an attraction that motivated many to work silently in such a treasured location.
The lofts, though not in every room, became an important feature in about half of the classrooms, older and kindergarten rooms unlike. All of the kinder lofts included play houses on the floor level. Appreciated so much, they were dismantled, moved and reconstructed in classrooms at the new Ohlone site when the school moved from the Charleston campus to its present location on Amarillo, 1989. Several years later and out of compliance with the American Disabilities Act, they were removed in 2001, but not forgotten by those who experienced the unique extra space.
I remember spending the summers “helping” my dad, Ted Wassam, Bill Thompson, and other teachers build these from scratch.