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Families in the Menlo-Atherton High School community received an early morning automated call on Friday, May 29, saying that the electricity at the school had been cut off and that classes were canceled.
Such a call was made to as many as 1,700 families, but it was a senior prank, according to a student who was privy to the caper and who agreed to an interview on the condition that The Almanac not reveal any other identifying information.
A dispatcher at the Atherton Police Department said in an interview that she received six or seven calls around 7 a.m. from M-A parents trying to check on the validity of the call they’d received.
A second automated call, this one a legitimate message from the school administration, debunked the earlier call, but classes did not get fully under way until about 8:30 a.m. instead of the usual 7 a.m., the senior said.
Senior pranks are an annual thing at M-A. This year, the pranksters managed to mimic M-A’s automated call system without hacking into school computers or violating prank-related warnings from the administration about destruction of property, vandalism or trespassing, the student said.
“It was cool,” the senior said. “I mean, it didn’t really hurt anyone. It was a really well thought-out plan.”
Students and some teachers were laughing about it, the senior said, but then added that other teachers were reportedly peeved because they had planned to give tests during the first two periods. It was the last full day of classes for the 2008-09 school year, the senior said.
Atherton police Sgt. Chris Madsen said police are consulting with the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office to see if the prank call warrants criminal charges and a police investigation.
The school will have the last word as to whether to press charges, Sgt Madsen said.
Bettylu Smith, speaking for the Sequoia Union High School District, commented via e-mail:
“It’s disappointing when anyone chooses to pull a childish prank, particularly when it causes disruption to students and their families,” she said.
“The school responded promptly and continues investigating this morning’s incident. At this time, it is believed that there has been no breach of the school’s telecommunications or student information system. Preparation for finals is in full swing and, although a number of students arrived after the school day began this morning, school business continued as normal.”
Anatomy of a prank
“M-A has a rich past as far as senior pranks go,” the senior said.
Among them: the plastering over of a classroom door that hid it so well that the teacher could not find the entrance, and the borrowing of a golf cart from that year’s arch-rival Menlo School and placing it on an M-A roof, the senior said.
This year, “the school panicked and sent out another phone call and said it was a senior prank and that everyone should go to school immediately,” the senior said. The administration, according to the senior, claimed that students hacked into M-A’s phone server and has begun an investigation into how it was done.
There was no hacking, the senior said. The pranksters collected enough money to hire a service that makes automated calls. The students used 1,700 phone numbers from the school’s directory, crafted a message, and provided a caller ID that mimicked that of the school, the senior said.
To throw off the administration and parents, the seniors arranged an earlier decoy prank in which they collected 40 “little (plastic) slow-down guys with the flags” and put them on the school roof, the senior said.
The real prank’s targets would then be led to think, “Oh, the senior prank already happened so I guess it’s real,” the senior said. “It was kind of perfect.”
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This is a great article, well written. This was the funniest senior prank I have ever seen go down. The administration pretty much got what some would call “mind-screwed”. Good job class of 2009!
Most of the senior pranks that have happened have been cleaned up by the time first period starts, but this time there was nothing to clean up. Student power triumphs over adults!
We received the prank call at 6:30 am, but not a later call from the administration as stated above. We’ve received past recorded messages, so I don’t know why we didn’t get the legitimate message today. It sort of worries me that it was so hard to find out the true story even up to an hour after the prank. What if there had been a true emergency? I kept calling the school and checking the website until 7:30, but the prank wasn’t addressed on the website, or on any of the administration’s voicemail greetings.
That was a great article. Great prank.
When I participated in a senior prank, I got permission from my parents to go and do it, since it was late at night. A photo of it made it into the school newspaper. Though I don’t think of it often, I do think of it fondly.
Am I the only one who sees the problem here? Sacramento is under countless billions in debt, how much did these shenanigans cost the school district? I would throw the book at these kids, if they are ever discovered. 6 months with 500 hours community service sounds about right to me.
The kids who did this did this in part to be funny, but also to let the administration know that they overstepped their boundaries during the basketball season. With the best 6th man in the state, school administrators refused to sponsor or support the club. It became a tug of war.
The students meant no harm to any individual, just consider it a message that they want more respect from administration, campus aides, etc.
Ain’t no party like an M-A party.
Just to make it clear, my last post was facetious. Great Prank!
When this news came into the district office on Friday morning, it was apparent that the students at Menlo-Atherton, or at least one student, had pulled off one of the most memorable pranks in recent history in the area.
The administrators have no choice but to come down on them, but if they have to forfeit their ability to walk at graduation on Thursday, you can bet your bottom dollar there will be an uprising.
Great prank, television should do a special on this person.
All I can say is wow!!!!! The brilliance of this prank is beyond incredible and I wish something like this could have happened at my school. I have been lucky to know seniors at MA, and I think the class of 2009 represents what a senior class should be. The spirit at that school is absolutely incredible and I am very regretful I didn’t go there. If these students get discovered and are punished for this brilliance, then the administration will be not only wrongful in doing so, but will be sending out a message that intuition, creativity and spirit are not tolerated.
Also, someone should submit the prank to MTV!
Menlo-Atherton is not part of the ADA (Average Daily Attendance) funding program, so the school in fact did not lose money from the government due to this prank. I’m not sure if the pranksters were aware of this, but it is an added bonus to they genius of the prank. Only telling the students not to go to 1st and 2nd period was a great idea, also.
Most of my teachers thought the prank was funny and harmless; though one in particular was furious. However, in that one class, we didn’t really do anything (as we are done with the AP and it is the end of the year), so that was a bit strange to me…
This was an awesome prank. Walking into class first period to find NO ONE around was awesome. Very well done. If someone is not allowed to walk at graduation. I guarantee there will be an uprising and I am not afraid to lead it. This also isn’t nearly as illegal as stealing of a golf cart and putting it on the roof of MA or the stealing of menlo’s deer. And finally, I went in to the front office on the morning of the prank and all the staff in there at the time thought the prank was the funniest thing ever. Way to go seniors!
AINT NO PARTY LIKE AN MA PARTY
When I got the call yesterday morning I knew it was a prank but I had underclassmen asking me what was going on. The fact that they used their own money to charge the phone calls and a website to use the caller ID made it harmless and funny. Whoever did this is a pure genius and just as it was stated before, there will definitely bean uprise.
Good Job ’09!
ONLY the atherton police would even CONSIDER submitting this to the DA for review…it is abundantly clear that they have nothing better to do. I am quite sure the district attorney of San Mateo County has more pressing issues to deal with.
this prank was amazing and so funny!!!
We never got the second call either
and hey even though I found out it was a prank around 7:3 from my neighbor who is a senior, I stayed until 2nd period because any excuse to show up late is good for me
good job seniors!!!
We heard about this prank at about 6PM Friday afternoon. We discovered that the prank had not actually broken any laws or violated any education code. This instantly turned from a no-no prank to an act of genius and intuition. Great prank, Nobel Peace Prize for disturbing the peace?
Props to Class of 2009. I don’t even recall a senior prank for my class.
You clearly don’t recall a Menlo School golfcart on the roof of the Green. It was down by the end of 1st period, but it was certainly a feat to get it up there.
HAHA This was the greatest prank ever, i found out it was a prank before school started but i just chilled at home cause i didnt wanna go haha. If the administration doesnt let whoever did it walk at graduation M-A will face the largest student uprising in the history of the universe
M-A YOU KNOW
watch out for the basketball team/6th man next year…..
You successfully pulled off a prank. Kudos! But the self-congratulation is a bit much, don’t you think?
It’s not like y’all cured cancer or brokered peace in the Middle East. You got a couple of hours off of school. Big whoop.
to Bastante: We did accomplish to pull off what is now being dubbed the “Greatest prank ever” by newspapers such as the Pasadena Sun and the New York Daily— but keep posting your criticism, the greatest don’t please everyone.
Really? The greatest prank EVER?
MA Senior, please post links to those newspaper stories.
Are you just angry at yourself for not thinking of this great prank? Just google: “menlo atherton senior prank” and you will get hundreds of links to different twitter pages, blogs, columns, and articles in regard to the prank. Bastante needs to realize it’s only a senior prank, but is being praised because of the gentleness applied as opposed to the ridiculously catastrophic alternatives [they] could have gone with such as calling every phone number in the Tri-City Area Phonebook and telling them that the bay area is being quarantined and no one should leave their houses…or maybe just vandalizing walls and windows and pouring glue into door-locks is more your physical damaging style? Mind over muscle, and obviously MA has a dark future with you at the school.
http://ipond.com/tag/prank
Name of review: “MA Seniors Pull Off BEST high tech senior prank”
just a little more in favor of the MA seniors that had the brains not hate to do this prank…go MA!
There is no such newspaper as the “Pasadena Sun.” The local paper there is the Pasadena Star-News, and they didn’t print a thing about your little prank. Neither did the New York Daily News.
Self-titled tweets or blogs calling your prank THE BEST EVER don’t actually count.
I wonder if Don Quixote considered any of his exploits to be the best ever and whether he cited various fictional publications to justify his pride and whether a Bastante Basta was around to rain on his parade.
Honestly bastante? These are all papers who’s websites are owned by the same company the san jose mercury news is owned by, along with the san mateo daily journal, this is why there are the same articles published multiple times in mulitple papers. These are not self proclaimed. I apologize for even posting to say that it was called the best prank ever. too bad people are actually saying that. bastante please just be happy for the kids at menlo-atherton and grow up a little bit. again, be HAPPY for someone ELSE
@MA Senior: Bay Area Newsgroup owns the San Jose Mercury News, the San Mateo County Times, the Daily News, the Contra Costa Times and the Oakland Tribune, but not the San Mateo Journal. I’m aware of the complicated local media landscape, but that still isn’t a reason to make up newspapers.
Also, the word you want is whose, not “who’s.”
Look, I’m happy for y’all that you managed to execute a prank that was so satisfying and did not endanger life and limb.
I’m just saying that it would have been a heck of a lot cooler without all the overblown bragging and self-congratulation.
No bragging here bastante, just proud of our class’ prank. Correcting grammar shows frustration, just so you know. 🙂
Yes, bad grammar is extremely frustrating.
Still unsolved? Come on now, there must be a single lead in the investigation…NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
In this statement, Anonymous, Inc would like to consort this prank as a joint effort in credit being given to the individual who is now associated with Anonymous, Inc. This has been hereby claimed. Check website for confirmation