Many new teachers have been hired and new autism classes will be started at Woodside and Menlo-Atherton high schools, where the doors opened August 24 for the 2006-07 school year.
It will be a benchmark year for Summit Preparatory (Charter) High School, now near its maximum of 400 students in grades 9-12 and set to graduate its first senior class in the spring.
New educational ground is being broken at Woodside in the form of two classes for autistic children and two new teachers hired to provide them with one-on-one instruction. The district used to send autistic children to off-campus schools, but is bringing them on campus as a cost-saving move.
Campus life will benefit with the presence of these children, said Principal Linda Common. They should “mix well and become part of the Woodside family. I think it’s healthy,” she says.
Also new at Woodside is an orchestra class and a talent show in October. The drama production this year will be “Seussical: The Musical,” a story about life in a jungle and based on the Dr. Seuss books.
M-A High
The view of M-A from Ravenswood Avenue is set to change in the spring when the J Building multi-use room is torn down to make way for a new performing arts center, scheduled to open in 2008.Also in the spring, M-A will host a team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges with the goal of having M-A’s accreditation renewed for another six years.
Like Woodside, M-A, too, will start an autism class on campus this year, and will offer more opportunities than last year for psychological counseling from the Adolescent Counseling Service.
Summit Prep
The Class of 2007 at Summit Prep may not be breaking any bottles of champagne, but they will be the first class to head out into the wider world as high school graduates.Between September and June, the seniors will face at least a few of the new advanced placement classes that cover English and Spanish literature, government and U.S. history, statistics and environmental science.
Summit is also planning field/study trips for each grade, including trips to Cannery Row and the Steinbeck Museum, the Getty Museum and the Museum of Tolerance, and perhaps some white-water rafting in Arizona.
WOODSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
199 Churchill Ave., WoodsidePhone: 367-9750
Linda Common, principal
Grades: 9-12
Enrollment: 1,960
New classes and programs. Woodside is launching two classes in one-on-one instruction for autistic children, Principal Linda Common said. The school is also starting a second special education class, and a new orchestra class in the performing arts center taught by music teacher Robert Baker. In October, the school will put on a talent show. The drama production this year is “Seussical: The Musical.”
New facilities. Woodside has refurbished and redesigned two existing science classrooms.
Departing staff. Longtime English and business teacher Ben Stein retired last year, Ms. Common said. English teacher Corinne Tsui is on maternity leave. Math teachers Jeff Payne and Madelyn Quinol and social studies teacher Derek DeNardo have moved out of the area. Math teacher Ralph Crame now works for the high school district.
New staff. There are 15 new teachers at Woodside this year, Ms. Common said. The new math teachers are Eric Ettlin, Noelle Mendoza, Cindy Nguyen, Josh Rubin and Adrian Session. Steve Berner and Margarita Ortiz are new to the social science department, while Allison Hyde is returning to social studies from a position with the district. In the sciences, the new teachers are Alexandra Brown and Joe Ezrati. Math teacher Aaron Campbell is the department’s new math coach, and English teacher Jennifer Buchanan is new the English and reading coach. Coaches ensure that a department’s teachers are moving through the curriculum on schedule, Ms. Common said. Guidance adviser Sharlett Downing is new this year, as is business teacher Lynn Emrick, and English/English as a Second Language teacher Karen Dorsey. The new autism classes will be taught by Jeanne Crawford and Katie Johnson. Pamela Ranganath will teach special education.
MENLO-ATHERTON HIGH SCHOOL
555 Middlefield Road, AthertonPhone: 322-5311
Denise Plante, principal
Grades: 9-12
Enrollment: 1,950
Fewer students. Enrollment has dropped by about 50 students from last year.
New classes and programs. Anticipating the arrival of a performing arts center on campus, M-A will begin a two-year plan to “expand and enhance” the dramatic and visual arts, including a feasibility study for a media arts academy, said Principal Denise Plante. Planning will be completed for new biotech and environmental chemistry classes in Fall 2007. The school garden will receive a makeover and also serve as a lab for science experiments. In March, a team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges will visit M-A to judge the school’s worthiness for another six-year accreditation. The Adolescent Counseling Service will offer more counseling hours thanks to funding from the Foundation for the Future. The AVID program to promote good study habits will have its profile raised among students and staff.
New facilities. Groundbreaking for the new performing arts center and food-service area is scheduled for spring 2007, with a grand opening set for 2008. The J Building multipurpose room had been scheduled to come down over the summer, but the school district elected to use it through the school year and take it down in the spring, said Sequoia district Assistant Superintendent Ed LaVigne. The school modernized two science classrooms over the summer, and landscaped and repaved interior courtyards, including putting math-symbol decorations on the pavement, Ms. Plante said. The school’s gas, water and electrical utilities underwent an overhaul. The school’s Web design lab has new computer hardware and software, courtesy of the Foundation for the Future.
Departing staff. Two veterans, each with more than 30 years experience at M-A, won’t be back this year. Science teacher Rich Kueny retired, as did Mike Schneider, who taught safety education and driver’s education, and supervised the student work-experience program.
New staff. M-A employs about 115 full-time staff. The new teachers this year include math teacher Kirsten Clark, who comes to M-A from Santa Cruz High School; physical education teacher Muszetta Jones, who most recently worked in the San Francisco Unified School District; social studies teacher Kai Lee Hay, who taught at M-A while a student at San Francisco State and who is from Arkansas; special education teacher Susan Shearer, who comes to M-A from the Palo Alto School District and will inaugurate the program for autistic students; and special education support specialist Victoria De Luca from the San Mateo-Foster City School District. Speech language pathology specialist Michele Garcia Winner will be consulting with the special education staff. In the sports department, Shanelle Cotton is the new girls’ volleyball coach, Tom Sorenson and Carlos Aguilar are the new coaches of girls’ tennis, Robert Sykes is the new varsity football coach, and Gloria Sectish is coaching girls’ golf. A search is under way for coaches for boys’ soccer and girls’ softball.
SUMMIT PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL
2600 Middlefield RoadRedwood City
Phone: 369-5851
Diane Tavenner, executive director
Grades. 9-12
Enrollment. 375
New classes and programs. With its first class of seniors taking their seats this year, Summit is adding senior advanced placement classes in English literature, Spanish literature, government and U.S. history, statistics and environmental sciences, said Executive Director Diane Tavenner. Sports this year include soccer, basketball, girls’ volleyball, boys’ baseball, girls’ softball, flag football, ultimate Frisbee and badminton. A camping trip to Big Basin for the entire school is set for September. Field trips, organized by grade, include Cannery Row in Monterey, the Steinbeck Museum in Salinas, the Getty Museum and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, possibly whitewater rafting in Arizona, plus visits to colleges and universities local to field trip sites.
New facilities. Summit is temporarily housed in 17 portable buildings installed on the tennis courts at Sequoia High School in Redwood City. The school district plans to find Summit a permanent home within two years.
Departing staff. Robyn Yilmaz, the school’s first director of operations, left Summit to take a position at Google, and math teacher Megan Taylor left to pursue a Ph.D. at Stanford University, said Ms. Tavenner.
New staff. Summit’s new director of operations is Isabelle Parker. New teachers are David Cade, math; Carolyn Jones, math; Angela Knotts, math; Andy Lichtblau, resource specialist; Zulema Ortiz, Spanish language; David Richards, history; Sarah Stapleton, science; and Crystal Yang, English.
SEQUOIA UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
480 James Ave., Redwood City, 94062Superintendent: Patrick Gemma
Call 369-1411
Web: www.seq.org
