Mayberry Street School Finally Gets Some Elbow Room : Education: After 68 years in “temporary” bungalows, the institution gets a new building. But staff and teachers say close-knit atmosphere will remain.

The way folks around Mayberry Street Elementary School talk, you would think the school was actually in Mayberry, that quaint little one-sheriff town in the old Andy Griffith television show.

Teachers rave about the close-knit atmosphere at the Echo Park school. They say they make a point to meet a student’s entire family, and students often return as adults to work there.

The school’s nine portable bungalows, two of which date back almost 70 years, perhaps have promoted this closeness. At the very least, the old classrooms do conjure up images of simpler days gone by.

But now, after seven decades as a “temporary” school at 2414 Mayberry St., Mayberry has come into the 1990s with a sparkling new--and permanent--building. The two-story structure, painted pale yellow on the outside with forest green accents, includes 13 classrooms, a spacious library and administrative offices. Administrators will show off the new facilities at a 9:30 a.m. dedication ceremony Thursday.

“A real school, with halls!” Principal Andrea Allen-Gonzales said proudly. A new playground and a parking lot were also built, and a separate building housing the cafeteria and multipurpose facilities is to be constructed in the coming year.

The school opened in 1926 as a temporary campus to handle the overflow from other schools in burgeoning Los Angeles. But rather than shut down after a few years as it was meant to, it continued to grow, operating out of the original gable-roofed bungalows and portable classrooms that were added to the site over the years.

Today, 480 children from preschool to sixth grade attend Mayberry. Next year, sixth-graders will be transferred to a local middle school, which will alter Mayberry’s enrollment slightly.

One reason it took so long for Mayberry to get a permanent building was that it did not qualify for state construction funds because the community is not considered a high-growth area with immediate space needs, said Lynn Roberts, facilities project director for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

But the school district in the 1980s recognized the need for a permanent structure and sought other funds, Roberts said. Finally, the district identified the school as a “special needs project” and got funding for the $4.8-million building through special legislation. Construction of the multipurpose room, which will cost roughly $918,000, will be funded by money from the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Bunker Hill project, according to district officials.

Other glitches delayed construction after the funding problem was solved. The building’s original design was downsized after construction bids came in too high. During the replanning, the architect died, forcing the district to go through the tedious process of finding a new architect. La Canada Design Group, of Pasadena, was chosen.

Work was completed in 16 months, allowing teachers and students to move into the new building last November. It is a far cry from Mayberry’s former cramped quarters.

For instance, the library and main office were squeezed into one of the original clapboard bungalows. The library, which was also used as a multipurpose room for school performances, music classes and parent gatherings, was housed in a classroom.

The new library in the freshly painted building is easily double the size of the old room, with plenty of seating and green-carpeted gathering areas and so much shelving that the present stock of books fills only about a third of the space.

In the former main office, two office employees dealt with students, parents, teachers and other visitors in one tiny, narrow room that was slightly wider than their desks. “I had to watch my back, because I could step on someone’s foot with my chair, and people would hang over my desk to use my phone,” recalled office assistant Irene Aguirre, a seven-year Mayberry employee. “After school, when all the teachers would come in, and parents and kids . . . that was something else!”

Two bathrooms served 18 teachers and their 16 aides in the old office building; the number of bathrooms has quadrupled in the new building. But another feature has proved to be more appreciated by teachers. “Air conditioning!” several agreed.

Students also raved about the building. “It’s pretty big,” said Desiree Canales, 10. “It’s got a nice color and the inside smells fresh.”

Mayberry will keep three of its nine portable buildings. The other six will be refurbished and moved to other schools throughout the district, officials said.

Even with a modern schoolhouse, the small-town character of the school will remain, teachers and community members said. In fact, having all the classes in one building allows even closer contact among students, according to staffers and parents.

“It’s an old-fashioned neighborhood school,” said Donna DiStefano, who has taught at Mayberry 20 years. “(As a teacher), you don’t just talk to and know the child in the classroom; you get to know their whole family.”

A former student of DiStefano, Liliana Jerez, has returned to teach, and another, Veronica Gardea, is a teacher’s aide there.

“I lived across the street for 18 years and I said, ‘This is where I want to work,’ ” Jerez said.