Guadalupe Schools set to plan expansion

With a long-awaited executive director, Guadalupe Schools is now ready to move forward with what could be an expansion.

The school's board had been seeking a leader for almost a year, and plans for further development and expansion were at a standstill.

But school leaders say with new executive director Vicki Mori on board they have already started moving forward with planning.

Mori, who started work last month, said the school has been eyeing a piece of land behind the Sorensen Center, which will eventually be the Sorensen/Unity Center campus on 900 West and California Avenue.

Though Guadalupe's plans are still in the conceptual phase, Mori said that once in a new building the school will likely be expanding its K-3 program up to the sixth grade, said Guadalupe principal Patty Walker

"In third grade they are still so young, and to have to make that transition (to their regular school), make new friends and everything else can be hard," Mori said. "If they start after the sixth grade it is a natural progression because all children will be in transition."

But Walker said the biggest expansion will be in their adult English-as-a-second-language and citizenship programs in the evening, which currently serve around 200 students.

"There are enough people on waiting lists for both the adult program and our early programs to double (the school)," said Walker.

Leaders say it's high time to look at ways to expand.

"Vicki has proven skill at building collaborations," said Walker, who has worked with Mori in the past. "If we are going to move into a campus setting that is going to be one of our strengths that we bring."

Mori comes to the post after 19 years as executive director of Neighborhood House, a day-care facility that serves low-income families on the west side.

"We needed someone familiar with the clients that we serve as well as the community that we are going to help raise funds — that's a tough balance," Walker said.

School leaders felt that Mori's experience with the community that Guadalupe serves would be a strong asset for the school.

Guadalupe is a community learning center, funded through private donors and grants. They have a parent home-educator program, a preschool, an elementary school and an adult education program aimed at serving low-income ESL families within the boundaries of Rose Park, Glendale, Poplar Grove and Central City.

Salt Lake City School District and the state provide partial funding of the elementary component of the school center.

They serve more than 400 students from infants to adults, half of them adults seeking to learn English or get their U.S. citizenship.

"I think Guadalupe has a story and has always had a story, and I think it is my goal to get that out to people, to let them know we have here some wonderful unique programs," Mori said.

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