PA I D A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Open Letter: (Continued from previous page)
Though, at the hearing you granted Save the 2,008 last September, you embraced none of our action-steps, and though the Superintendent informed us last Oct. 12th, “We will not be returning the plan to the agenda for discussion and action,” we ask you to reconsider. Last fall we had only 353 members; now we have 467. You’ve welcomed a community initiative to change a middle-school name; ours is a similar, grassroots plea. Recently our group has been joined by Vicki Abeles (filmmaker of “Race to Nowhere”), by St. Louis physician Stuart Slavin (moving spirit behind lowered stress at medical schools nationwide), by Richard Freed (Gunn, ’82; adolescent psychologist and author of Wired Child), and by Matt Miles and Joe Clement, high-school teachers in Fairfax County, Virginia, where there’s been a teen mortality rate that matches ours. Let’s do these six favors for our students. A high-schooler who isn’t
lost in classroom crowd, who can communicate confidentially to the teacher about homework loads, who hasn’t lost hours of sleep to APs, whose mind isn’t straying to social media during discussions of mitosis or “Macbeth,” who isn’t always under a G.P.A. gun, and who doesn’t have to make nightly decisions about cheating—such a young person will have a far less bumpy ride through adolescence and will feel less fear during the schoolday, much more joy. We respectfully ask you to return Save the 2,008 to your agenda, for discussion and action. We honor the care and diligence that you bring to our shared public trust: the fate and condition of our schools. We’re rowing in the same direction you’ve already pointed—with last year’s zero-period change and creative bell schedule—and these six proposals will bring further relief at no cost to our kids’ future prospects. We call upon you as Palo Altans who are in the same boat we’re in, riding out the same sea of troubles. The shore is in sight, the lighthouse shines. Let’s pull together.
Signed By: (Continued from previous page)
Lindsay Okamoto Heather Ostrom Nancy Huddleston Packer Pam Page Arnie Papp Carolina Parada Grace Pariante Michele Parker Liza Patnoe Gary Patou Karen Patou Maria de la Paz Aliza Peleg Roy Peleg Karen Persson Peggy Phelan John Phelps Scott & Donna Poland Emily Pollard Alan Polley Shanna & Kyle Polley Stefania Pomponi Katherine Price Helen Purcell Annette Puskarich Gloria Pyszka Chris Quaintance Fred Radford Elizabeth Radigoy Leah Ragen Devi Ramanan Ramanathan Family Janet Ramusack Luisa Randon Mayma Raphael Katy (Schnitz) Reamon Nicole Redzic Cathlyn Reem Georgia Relman Sophie Relman Terry Rice Christopher Rich Hallie Richmond Ann Robinson Cheryl Balcon Rodella Cathy Pinsky Rohloff Heather Rose Jessica Roth
Marine Rudelle Al & JoAnne Russell Elle Rustique Mimi Salmon Michelle Sandberg Vicki Sandin Meera Saxena Aileen Schmoller Lauren Schryver Anna C. Schultz Dan Schwartz Greg Schwartz Dayle Schweninger Anantha Sethuraman
Mimi Sommers Sylvia Stanat Philipp Stauffer Catherine Steinkamp Andrea Stern Kim & Kevin Stern Hayley Stevens Jana Stevens Abigail Stone Emily Stone Janice Stone Jon R. Stone Mark Stone Monica Stone Katie Crocker Storey Adam Strassberg Myra Strober Mike Strong
You can add your voice to our chorus, with just the keystrokes of your name, at savethe2008.com. Deepa Shah Piyush Shah Macy Sharif Chris R. Shatterly Kathy Sherman Lois Shore Shu Family Jeff & Corrie Sid Carl Siegel Lee Siegel Paul Siegel Paula Siegel Elaine Sigal Cara Silver Gabrielle Simpson Steve Sinton Stuart Slavin Rolana Smith Curtis Smolar Stephen K. Smuin Jeanese & Jeff Snyder Corey Sommers
Suganthi Subramanian Janani Sundar Bill Symon Gloria Symon Jack Symon Farhad Tabrizi Ruth Tarnopolsky Emanuela Todaro Yidong Tong Debra Hapgood Toscanelli Samuel Toung Maureen Tri Garima Tripathi Tammy Truher Stephanie Tsai Veronica Tung Steve Turner Tal Tversky Laura Usich Julie Valentine Fabiana Vega Natalie Veldhouse
Page 22 • May 27, 2016 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
FACTS & FIGURES: • According to 2015 District surveys by Challenge Success, the number of Paly and Gunn students who report being “often or always stressed by schoolwork” is 66%. • According to District records released this school year, at Gunn and Paly during the fall semester there were 780 classes with 25 or more teenagers per room. There were 407 classes with 30 or more. • According to District information provided for the Board meeting of 9/8/15, although our schools strongly recommend that students take no more than two AP courses, 680 Gunn and Paly students were enrolled in three, four, five or more. • According to 2015 District surveys by Challenge Success, the number of Palo Alto high-schoolers who report being “often or always” prevented by schoolwork from getting enough sleep is 60%. • According to a 3/20/15 statement by twenty PAMF pediatricians, printed in the Weekly, although teenagers need 9 hours of
sleep per night, the typical Palo Alto teen gets 6.5. (Over the course of a school year, then, that teen is losing the equivalent of 70 full nights of sleep.) • According to a Nielsen study in 2011, the average American teenager was sending 3,417 texts per month. (Average girl, 3,952; average boy, 2,815.) • According to a 2010 Pew study, in schools that allow students to use phones during passing-periods, prep periods, brunch and lunch, but forbid their use in the classroom—the policy on most U.S. campuses, including Gunn and Paly — 65% of students nevertheless manage to get on their phones in class. • According to 2015 District surveys by Challenge Success, the number of Paly and Gunn students cheating at least once in the previous year was 81%. This included forbidden collaboration on individual work (67%), copying others’ homework (54%), getting questions or answers from someone who’d already taken the test (40%), and plagiarism (37%).
Caroline Vericat Caroline Vertongen Marc Vincenti Walter Vincenti Beverly Wade Keely Wade Steve Wagman Manoj Waikar Carolyn Walworth John Wandling James Wang Emily Watkins Larienne Weber Lance Welsh Denise White James White Katie White Virginia White Lynn Wiese JoAnne & Bob Wilkes Liliana Williams Lisa (Whisnant) Williford Melissa Wilson Laura Wingard Mary Wolff Jackie Wyant Larry Yang MeeLon Yee Jessica Yu Marina Zago Mila Zelkha Roni Zeiger Jin Zhang Among the signers of this letter are at least 51 parents and grandparents; 22 teachers (from the PAUSD, Girls Middle School, Keys School, Castilleja); 19 therapists, LMFTs, psychologists and psychiatrists; eight physicians; six Stanford professors of education; four rabbis; four pastors; attorneys with Skadden, Arps, with Cleary, Gottlieb, and with the City of Palo Alto; martial-arts, self-defense, yoga, music, and drama instructors; two former high-school principals; a chief health strategist from Google; a garden manager for Living Classroom; the director of Stanford’s Genome Technology Center; software engineers; venture capitalists;
an Academy Award winning filmmaker (Gunn, ’84); tutors with Avenidas; a senior communications officer for the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health; a Florida psychologist & national expert on suicide intervention; a St. Louis pediatrician & national expert on reducing stress in med schools; fiction and non-fiction authors (on parenting, education); a retired 5th-grade teacher who, in memory of a girl he’d taught, launched a petition to require universities to publish data on student deaths; the author of Beyond Measure and filmmaker of “Race to Nowhere”; Paly and Gunn students and alums.