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PUSD officials dig their shovels into the dirt to commemorate the start of construction for the new Educational Options Center. (Photo by Sophia Sucato) 
An image shows the empty space where Village High School once stood before it was demolished to make way for the new Educational Options Center. (Photo by Sophia Sucato) 
A rendering shows what the overall Educational Options Center will look like once complete. PUSD is expecting the project to be complete by fall 2027. (Rendering courtesy of PUSD) 
Heather Pereira, director of the Pleasanton Unified School District’s educational options department, talks about the benefits of the new options center to roughly 40 audience members during the March 31 groundbreaking ceremony. (Photo by Sophia Sucato) 
A rendering shows what the new multipurpose room at the Educational Options Center will look like once construction is complete. (Rendering courtesy of PUSD) 
District leaders, administrators and other community members pose for a photo on top of what used to be Village High School during the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new Educational Options Center on March 31. (Photo by Sophia Sucato) 
A rendering of what one of the classrooms would look like inside the new Educational Options Center. (Rendering courtesy of PUSD)
While driving past the intersection of Bernal Avenue and Sunol Boulevard on the edge of downtown Pleasanton, a pretty drastic change can be seen on that corner — Village High School is now a construction site.
In place of the former continuation school campus will be the new Educational Options Center. The facility, which is expected to be complete in the fall of 2027, will be home to the Pleasanton Unified School District’s alternative education programs.
“Nearly 10 years ago, district leaders and educators began imagining what it would look like to create a purpose-built campus for educational options programs,” deputy superintendent of educational services Ed Diolazo said during the March 31 groundbreaking ceremony for the new center.
“That vision was grounded in a simple belief: that students who require programs and services from different pathways deserve learning environments intentionally designed to support their success,” Diolazo continued. “Today, we’re seeing that long-held vision come to reality.”
About 40 district staff, construction workers, administrators and other community members gathered during the groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the new facility and to hear from speakers about the significance of the project.
“Educational options programs support students whose learning journeys may take different pathways and who benefit from flexible environments, strong relationships and personalized support,” educational options director Heather Pereira said during the ceremony. “The new Educational Options Center will provide a modern, welcoming home for Village High School, the Pleasanton Virtual Academy and the Adult Transition Program.”
Village High School, which opened in 1978, initially operated out of Dublin High School on Village Parkway while the two cities jointly ran schools. After nine years of challenges in Dublin, PUSD moved the continuation high school to 4645 Bernal Ave., an old elementary school building.
For decades, Village High expanded as a continuation school for students who struggled in traditional settings. Other independent study programs, including the Adult Transition Program and the Pleasanton Virtual Academy later began operating from the site.
But over the past decade, the school district began seeing aging infrastructure and structural problems at Village High and the other buildings housed at that property on Bernal Avenue.
“Things were starting to break down and show their age,” Diolazo said in an interview with the Weekly regarding the now-demolished Village High School. He also said the paint was peeling and a piece of a roof was so broken that at one point it had to be propped up by a wooden beam.
That’s why PUSD came up with the plan to tear down virtually all of the buildings at the Bernal property in order to build the new Educational Options Center using the money from the $395 million Measure I bond, which Pleasanton voters approved in 2022.
“We’re deeply grateful to our Pleasanton community for supporting Measure I and helping to make this vision possible,” Pereira said.
PUSD began designing the $47.41 million project, with input from students and staff, back in 2025 before it began demolition this past January.
The project scope consists of constructing three, one-story buildings with flexible classrooms and learning spaces; a multi-use student center; a culinary arts and catering kitchen; and makerspace and science classrooms.
The flexible classrooms refer to how students and educators will be able to reorganize and adapt the spaces as they see fit for things like small-group learning, independent study and collaborative work.
“Flexible classrooms are those that are multi-use and can be readily configured through the use of modular furniture and, in some spaces, walls to allow for quick adaptation to larger class sizes or just allow larger or smaller rooms as needed,” PUSD said in a statement to the Weekly.
The new science classrooms will offer lab spaces; the multi-purpose room will have a fully functional and adequately sized culinary space; and the outdoor classroom and greenhouse will offer students a place for environmental education and farm-to-fork learning opportunities, district officials said.
The project will also include adult transition life skills training for independent living and career prep; counseling and administrative offices; and new parking and bicycle parking. Site improvements will also be made to utilities, accessible pathways, landscaping, and outdoor gathering spaces.
Diolazo said that the flexibility of the classrooms will allow students, staff and school leadership to determine if they want to introduce creative new programs, projects or learning environments in the future.
“We need to be ready to innovate and pivot,” Diolazo said. “This school really lends itself for that opportunity.”
“We have to be ready to provide space should there be interest or inquiries from businesses or trade programs,” Diolazo added. “We are looking at all of our facilities, frankly, to identify opportunities where we could rent space and generate revenue.”
However, he noted that those forward-looking plans for the new center will have to wait until the dust settles on the actual facility being built and after the district sees how students end up actually using the spaces.
School Board President Kelly Mokashi attested to the importance of alternative education programs during the groundbreaking ceremony by sharing that her son was transferred out of Amador Valley High School and into the Virtual Academy.
“I am forever grateful for this program and can state first-hand how this will benefit not only our current students, but students in the future,” Mokashi said.
And for Diolazo, providing equitable access to education for all students continues to be the main reason why this project means so much to him.
“Equity is a cornerstone of our beliefs, principles and values as a school district,” he said. “To me, what that means is … providing a program, and now a facility, that can really help our students feel like they belong here in Pleasanton.”
I am so delighted to see this project get underway. I think it will not only serve our students exceptionally well, but will be a model for other districts and a great asset for our community. Again, thanks to voters for supporting our bond measure!