News

School board drafts goals for upcoming year

September 15, 2017

Written by Caroline Ro The Board of Education’s Aug. 8 special meeting included a discussion of a draft of Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD)’s goals for the 2017-18 school year. The goals themselves are fairly theoretical: their passing would bring them up for further discussion in order to eventually spell out their details and enact [...]

New assistant principals aim to open up conversation in school community

September 15, 2017

Mike Heffner Written by Liza Kolbasov One of two new assistant principals joining the administrative team this year is Mike Heffner, former chief academic officer of Carmel Unified School District. Heffner came to Gunn in hopes of working more closely with students and staff than he did previously. “As much as I loved the job I had in Carmel, I [...]

OCR Climate Culture Survey results released to public

September 15, 2017

Written by Kaya van der Horst Three months after it was concluded, the Climate Culture Survey was released on Aug. 1 with unsettling results—of the 10 percent of Palo Alto Unified high school students who have been subject to sexual harassment at least once within the past year, only 12 percent chose to report it. The survey was [...]

Gunn launches new SELF program

September 15, 2017

By: Ayala Tzadikario This year, the bell schedule has been changed yet again, this time to implement the newest state-mandated social-emotional learning (SEL) program, known at Gunn as Social Emotional Literacy and Functionality (SELF). SELF is a program designed for high school students that aims to help students with self awareness, social [...]

District partners with grief non-profit Kara to hold parent meetings

September 15, 2017

Written by Stephy Jackson Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) partnered with Kara, a Palo Alto-based non-pro t that deals with grief support for children, teens and families, to coordinate meetings for parents in Palo Alto. When the Palo Alto community goes through a time of grief, PAUSD relies on Kara to provide support for teachers, [...]

Students and staff gather together for total solar eclipse

September 8, 2017

Written by Kristen Yee On Aug. 21, Americans were greeted in the morning by a total eclipse, the first to cross the United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic since June 8, 1918. The total eclipse was incomplete for Palo Altans, as the moon blocked only 75 percent of the sun in California. The total eclipse began at around 9 a.m., reached [...]

Student input to be considered in appointing new principal following resignation

May 27, 2017

Written by Clara Kieschnick-Llamas and Caroline Ro On May 24, Principal Dr. Denise Herrmann announced her resignation from Gunn to take a position as Associate Superintendent for Instructional Services in the Fremont Unified School District. Herrmann announced her resignation to students in a Schoology post, and explained her reasoning behind [...]

Low test attendance rates affect additional school funding

May 19, 2017

Written by Joy Huang This year, due to many students opting out of the annual California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) tests, the school did not meet the 95 percent participation rate required to receive additional federal funding. Students were able to opt out of testing because California Education Code section 60615 [...]

Middle school sex education class causes controversy

May 19, 2017

Written by: Ayala Tzadikario In Jan. 2016, the new California Healthy Youth Act (California Education Code Sections 51930-51939) was passed. It requires all California school districts to provide unbiased comprehensive sex education to all public school students. To comply with this act, PAUSD schools decided to implement a curriculum from [...]

Children’s Health Council launches Intensive Outpatient Program

May 19, 2017

Written by Kaya van der Horst The Children’s Health Council (CHC) launched its first Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) on May 8, marking a pivotal point in expanding local teen mental health services. The program will address the needs of high school teens ages 14 to 18 who show signs of significant anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts. [...]