If chalkboards and eraser dust were not already long gone from the classroom, the 41 new and sophisticated whiteboards at Woodside High School this year would have consigned them to the throwaway bin.
The computerized boards use a projector-driven display to give teachers a flexibility impossible with chalk or colored markers. The boards can be “written on” in colors using any stylus, including fingers, and erased with the same kinds of devices. The system software can download and save the board’s contents in a variety of formats and can translate handwriting into text.
The new whiteboards would seem a natural fit for four Woodside science classrooms that were made larger and re-equipped over the summer, Principal Linda Common said.
Nineteen of the high-tech boards are already in use at Menlo-Atherton High School, M-A Principal Matthew Zito said. New at M-A for this school year are two sections of a two-semester digital photography class. The choral program is back on this year at M-A after a lapse of “many, many years,” Mr. Zito said.
The itinerant years for Summit Preparatory Charter High School’s staff and student body may be behind them. The Sequoia Union High School District is housing Summit at 890 Broadway in Redwood City, a former warehouse and office and home to an earlier charter school.
Below is information on three local schools in the Sequoia Union High School District that serve residents in the Almanac circulation area.
Woodside High School
199 Churchill Ave., Woodside
Phone: 367-9750
Linda Common, principal
Grades: 9-12
Enrollment: 1,990
New classes and programs. Woodside is adding a freshman section to a state-funded program intended to jump-start college preparation and improve understanding in math, engineering and the sciences, Principal Linda Common said. AVID/MESA targets students who don’t have advantages such as well-educated and economically secure parents and well-funded elementary and middle-school preparation.
Accreditation. A regional accreditation team will make a one-day visit to Woodside High in February or March. The school’s current accreditation expires in 2011.
“Health pathways.” In the second semester, Woodside plans to initiate a “health pathways” program, a collaboration with Canada College in Woodside to develop internships in local hospitals for students with career plans in healthcare, Ms. Common said.
Events. The school musical this year is “Footloose,” which will run over two weekends. The annual back-to-school night is set for Thursday, Sept. 20, with orientation night for parents of eighth-graders on Nov. 13. A talent show is planned for Oct. 11.
New facilities. Woodside classrooms in the B wing were upgraded, including the installation of the new projector-driven whiteboards, Ms. Common said, adding that her goal is to have one in every classroom. The upgrade included modernizing four science classrooms. By the end of September, the campus will have another modular classroom building to complement one installed last spring.
New Staff. Woodside has nine new teachers for 2007-08. The new English teachers are Adele Alvarez and Lauren Biagi. The new math teachers are Bich-Ng Lam and Marian Gurskaya. Seth Miller, Sarah Vergara and Kathleen Deudale are new special education teachers. Chemistry teacher Ashwini Avadhani is new this year, as is Christopher Logue for Spanish and French. The school will have seven interns and/or students teachers from Stanford University and Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.
Departing staff. Special education teachers Jeff and Sue Cowitz have retired, Ms. Common said.
Menlo-Atherton High School
555 Middlefield Road, Atherton
Phone: 322-5311
Matthew Zito, principal
Grades: 9-12
Enrollment: 1,960
New classes and programs. Cameras will be required in the new digital photography classes, but the school will have 25 of them for borrowing, Principal Zito said. The class, taught by arts teacher Cindy Lynch, will meet University of California fine-arts requirements. The re-instituted choral program will be taught by Patrick Maier, a music teacher on the M-A staff and a bandleader and veteran of the Starlight Room in San Francisco, Mr. Zito said. Advanced-placement European history will be taking a sabbatical expected to last one year because of insufficient interest, vice-principal Steve Lippi said. The M-A Jazz Band, just back from “a successful tour of Europe,” has cut a CD and will perform during the school year, though when and where are still uncertain, Mr. Lippi said.
Back-to-school night is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 20, and information night for parents of eighth-graders for Nov. 8.
New facilities. The news in this category is the disappearance in August of the J Building and the impact this will have on drama productions while the school waits for the expected completion in mid-2009 of a $29 million new performing arts center. The lack of a venue won’t stop the show from going on, however. At least one of the two planned shows will be at a suitable outside space on campus, Mr. Zito said. Meredith Hagedorn of Palo Alto-based Dragon Productions will put on a fall production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the musical “Chicago” in the spring, Mr. Zito said.
New Staff: Sixteen new teachers came to M-A this year. New English teachers are Elizabeth Bannan, Kim Dunfey and Caitlin Sullivan. The social studies department has added Hector Camacho Jr., Halo Shapiro and Ben Wellington. New in the math department are Michele Breen, CJ Carlson and Jennifer Payne, and in the science department Brian Kruse, Todd Rose and Hillary Rubin. Mary Podesta joins the physical education department, with Miki Cristerna in student support, Paula Kousounadis in guidance, and Aubrey Stevenson in special education.
Departing Staff: M-A’s economics and psychology teacher for the past 25 years, Jim MacKenzie, will be missed in his retirement. He attended M-A himself, as did his brothers, his wife and his two children, but he lives in Atherton when he is not in his Sierras mountain retreat. Science teacher Denis Lose retired after 38 years. Mr. Lose was instrumental, Mr. Lippi said, in the start of M-A’s computer academy, a school-within-a-school intended for sophomores and juniors not achieving to their potential or needing to work while in college.
Summit Preparatory Charter High School
890 Broadway St., Redwood City
Phone: 556-1110
Diane Tavenner, executive director
Grades: 9-12
Enrollment: 375
New classes and programs. Physics instruction at Summit Prep this year is moving from 11th grade to ninth grade, Executive Director Diane Tavenner said. Biology, which has been a staple for ninth-graders, will be moved to the 11th-grade curriculum and thus will not be taught for two years.
Trip. The annual all-school camping and community-building trip to Big Basin State Park is set for Sept. 6 and 7, with a first homecoming celebration planned for Oct. 13.
Events. A musical along with art exhibits — including a painting, drawing, sculpting, digital art, photography and a student film festival — are scheduled for January and June, Ms. Tavenner said.
New facilities. The new home on Broadway Street in Redwood City has an open and collaborative feeling inside because of all the glass walls, Ms. Tavenner said. “Classrooms are designed to support team and interdisciplinary teaching,” she added. The site is equipped with wireless Internet access and includes space for a college guidance center, a library, faculty office space and room for the entire school to assemble, Ms. Tavenner added.
New staff: Eight new teachers will join the staff. In social studies teachers are Elana Feinberg and Chris Kelly, while the math department now includes Julian Cortella and Maura Dudley. Brian Johnson and Brian Valek are new science teachers. Claire Amley will teach Spanish language and Jamie MacDonald is a new special education teacher.
SEQUOIA UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
480 James Ave., Redwood City, 94062
Superintendent: Patrick Gemma
Call 369-1411
Web: www.seq.org
