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Published on 01/04/1999 All articles from this issue

1998 review: Space issues, facility upgrades, academic benchmarks

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

Local schools put into action improved academic programs and facility plans - making 1998 a banner year for improvements.

Facilities were of the utmost concern for school districts faced with growing enrollments, aging buildings and lower teacher-student ratios.

Two districts, Mountain View and Fremont Union High School, passed bond measures for facility upgrades with an overwhelming majority during special elections April 14. Mountain View's $36 million bond measure passed with 82.1 percent of the vote and Fremont's $144 million bond measure with 78.8 percent of the vote. The Los Altos School District passed its $94.7 million bond measure Nov. 3 with 75.4 percent of the vote.

The Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District began construction on new science buildings at each school as part of its $58 million bond measure passed in 1995. The Cupertino Union School District reached its final construction phase as part of the $70 million bond measure passed in 1995. Students at St. Francis High School saw the dedication of the school's new Olympic-size pool in November.

Foothill College began the first series of fund-raising efforts in September for its new Center of Innovation and Interactive Learning - a $3.16 million, 18,000-square-foot site that will serve as a multimedia computer lab and technology training center for teachers and students.

Mountain View High School dedicated a memorial grove at the school April 22 in honor of Tom Baer, the beloved principal who died in August 1997 after a nine-month battle with cancer.

Foothill College music instructor Elizabeth Barkley was named 1998 California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She was the only professor statewide from a two- and four-year college to receive the award.

Mountain View High teachers Frank Navarro and Karen Koshgarian were named to the Who's Who Among American Teachers 1998, an annual list of educators that includes only 5 percent of the nation's teachers. Gilbert Hwang, a junior at Los Altos High, won the prestigious Junior Division of the American String Teachers' Association State Solo Competition in San Diego.

Students in the Los Altos School District earned among the highest scores in the county on the state's new Standardized Testing and Reporting exam in the spring. The Los Altos High math league placed third in a state competition. Of the 333 Los Altos High spring graduates, 32 earned National Honor Society awards, 51 graduated as Gold Seal Graduates and three earned perfect grade point averages.

The Los Altos School District opened its doors with 46 new teachers and 3,748 students - 147 more than the previous year. The Cupertino Union School District started the school year with the addition of Eaton School, the expansion of the state's class size reduction program into three grade levels, an alternative Chinese Mandarin language program. Fremont Union High School District hired 40 new teachers and enrollment went up 288 students from the previous year to 8,650 students.