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This year, schools across the Midpeninsula set a pace for new beginnings in the upcoming year. Transitional kindergarten is quickly expanding to include all 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year. As public schools are expanding, preschools are seeing a decline in enrollment.
As public school populations will continue to grow in the next year, school districts had to prepare funds for classroom expansions, facilities improvements and teacher retention by passing ballot measures during the November election. The Menlo Park City School District passed Measure U, a bond measure that would fund new buildings, facilities updates and security. The Woodside Elementary School District passed Measure Y and the Ravenswood City School District passed Measure S, both of which will increase parcel taxes to fund the districts’ growing financial needs.
Teacher aid Noralie Pillon pours more paint for kindergaten students to use in a new art space at Ormondale Elementary School in Portola Valley on Feb. 15, 2024. Photo by Magali Gauthier. 
Corte Madera School sixth grader Enzo, fourth grader Luca, sixth grader Evan, eight grader Connor, seventh grader Theo, eighth grader Shaw and eighth grader walk alongside their school mascot, the panther mascot, on Oct. 20, 2023 when celebrating the completion of a facilities bond project. Courtesy Portola Valley School District. 
Students hang out during their lunch break in a new quad area at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School in East Palo Alto on Jan. 23, 2024. Photo by Magali Gauthier.
Local school districts celebrated their students settling into renovated campuses with updated classrooms and facilities. The Almanac toured renovated buildings at Ormondale and Corte Madera schools, which opened in October 2023.
In January, RCSD completed two years of renovations at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School, rolling out a red carpet to welcome students onto a new and improved campus.
Tensions rose between staff, community members and school district administrators in Las Lomitas Elementary and Sequoia Union High school districts.
In October, LLESD faced its first teacher strike after failing to settle on a contract agreement with higher pay and benefits for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. The strike ran for three days as staff, students and community members marched the picket line. After multiple bargaining meetings, an agreement was finally made, ending the strike on Oct. 26. LLESD Superintendent Beth Polito also announced her retirement at the end of this school year amidst a petition calling for her resignation.
The Almanac reported on LLESD’s high spendings on luxury hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and overnight work trips after teachers called out the district for misuse of funds. The district is pursuing a third-party audit of its spending, but the state has not yet initiated an external audit.
In January, a Menlo-Atherton High School ethnic studies teacher faced backlash for a controversial Israel-Hamas lesson. The Coalition for Empowered for Education started a petition accusing Chloe Gentile-Montgomery of teaching a biased lesson propagated by anti-Semitism. After facing harassment, Gentile-Montgomery took a leave of absence for her mental health in November 2023.
In August, Sequoia district board meetings started to gain the community’s attention after students and parents asked the board about why longtime Menlo-Atherton teacher and varsity basketball coach Mike Molieri was being placed on administrative leave. Former school district staff also came forward to share their traumatic stories of discrimination to the public. The Almanac investigated former district staff’s claims about lack of mental health support and hostility in the workplace.
In November, Mary Beth Thompson and Maria Cruz won seats on the Sequoia district board after a competitive, and at times contentious, race. The Almanac hosted a candidate forum in which all six candidates debated over issues of interest to constituents.
Redwood City attorney sues ‘First Amendment auditors’ after Menlo Park disputeApril 2, 2026 11:31 am
