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Letter: Remarkable year for Woodside High School

In an era when there is a flight from public schools and constant criticism of the performance of public schools ("Waiting for Superman"), I would like to point out that Woodside High School has provided an educational atmosphere that many private schools would be proud to claim.

The current senior class has many talented students. Among their remarkable accomplishments are acceptances to an impressive list of highly selective colleges. Six students will be going to Stanford, two to Harvard, and a significant number to UCLA and UC Berkeley.

Several of these students will be the first in their family to attend college.

This is the type of uplifting story that helps to counter the frequently unwarranted criticism that our public high schools endure. It would also help to assuage parental fears that their child will not be able to get into a "good" college if they send the child to a large public high school. The teachers and administrators have done a commendable job of fostering an atmosphere where students can not only succeed, but flourish and thrive.

I am certain that the outgoing principal, David Reilly, would be happy to provide you with details that would make for an engaging story. Many of us who have children at Woodside High School will be very sorry to see him go, as he has been a singular force for beneficial change at the school.

Bruce McAuley, Possum Lane, Portola Valley

Posted by Tom, a member of the Woodside School community, on Jun 13, 2012 at 10:19 am

Bruce, you forgot to mention the 12 or so people heading off to Cal Poly, 7 among them going in for engineering :D

Posted by POGO, a resident of the Woodside: other neighborhood, on Jun 13, 2012 at 10:30 am

I, for one, have always agreed that some students do well at Woodside High and congratulations to these graduates for their significant achievement.

But what about the majority of students there? How well are they served?

I'd be very curious to find out what percentage of freshmen who entered Woodside High School back in September 2008 actually graduated in June 2012? Does anyone know? Is this data available?

That may be a better measure of a school's success than celebrating a handful of students being accepted into a "good" college.