Planning for the future
As one looks across Seven Oaks, they can see an intricate network of residential neighborhoods, parks, trails, schools, commercial and retail businesses. As a master plan, each detail of Seven Oaks is carefully designed to work in harmony with one another to provide a cohesive neighborhood.
Designing a master-planned community such as Seven Oaks is no small task. It has been a continual process that has stretched over more than three decades and reflects the collaboration of multiple parties – landowners, residential builders, City Officials, and School Administrators, to name a few.
The West Ming Specific Plan, a development plan approved by the City of Bakersfield in 2006, guides all current and future growth within Seven Oaks. As residential development continues to progress westward, over the years, Bolthouse Properties has been working closely with the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District to prepare for Seven Oaks’ educational needs.
Come Fall 2021, Panama-Buena Vista Union School District’s
newest school, Highgate Elementary School is set to open to aid the growing community. The new campus will serve the residents of Highgate Seven Oaks and Belcourt Seven Oaks and is built for 700 students (1,000 with portables) from Kindergarten to 6th grade.
Additionally, both the District and Bolthouse Properties are already discussing how the next Seven Oaks campus can be a fully-integrated part of the community.
“As we analyze a location for the next school, we are paying particular attention to safe travel routes and the walkable, bikeable connectivity the school campus will have to homes and its relationship to parks and other amenities,” said Bruce Davis, Executive Vice President at Bolthouse Properties. “We are going to great lengths to consider the best possible location within the community.”
The future campus is projected to open in five to six years and serve Kindergarten to 8th grade. A plan such as this will allow students to begin and end their primary education within Seven Oaks before going across the street to Stockdale High School.
“Bolthouse Properties’ master-plan approach to this process has provided a framework for all parties to work within and sets a new precedent for future planning. The result is going to be a very well-thought-out, integrated school facility when we present it to the public,” said Glenn Imke, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services at the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District.