"Fremont High School is our flagship school. It always has been and it always will be," said Dr. Steve Rowley, the superintendent of the school district. He was speaking at the celebration of Fremont's grand reopening— after four years of dust, loud noise and circuitous paths to class, the historic campus features new buildings and others that have been renovated, including the original school.

But while Fremont proudly showed off its nearly new campus to the public at their reopening on Apr. 8, it's still fighting what seems like a never-ending battle: That of public perception. Comparatively low test scores and rumors of gang violence have made Fremont the black sheep in the eyes of many in a high-achieving district. But the staff and students, who are pushing cutting-edge technology and learning methods, are eager to show that the diversity and challenges that many consider liabilities have instead produced a well-rounded educational experience that thousands of Fremont students and alumni share.

Different Faces

On the sunny afternoon of the grand reopening, alumni and students alike gathered on the Fremont lawn to commemorate their common alma mater. Many of the older faces reflected the mostly-Caucasian roots of Sunnyvale, but the current student body, either milling about as backpack-wearing spectators or performing the National Anthem, was much more diverse. Nearly everyone was outfitted in red, the dominant school color throughout the eras of two different mascots: The current Firebird, and the now-retired Indian.

After the ceremony, the crowd, several hundred strong, split to tour the school as well as take in student performances. The award-winning percussion band held court over the new amphitheater and the color guard did routines in the cafeteria. Phillip (or Felipe) the Firebird, dressed in his full regalia, watched classmates jam on guitars in the student center, which was once known as the Wigwam.

But many student groups stemmed from an ethnic club of some kind. Indian, Afghani and South Asian dancers entertained crowds in the auditorium, and behind the amphitheater, the newly formed Culinary Club was dishing up crepes. Clubs of Hispanic, Italian and Asian students were selling food for fundraisers as well.

In fact, nearly everyone associated with Fremont touts their diversity as their greatest asset. "When you walk across this campus and you see each little group, there's a speckling of color and religion throughout," said Peggy Raun-Linde, Fremont's principal. "It's a celebration of one another's differences. A lot of adults haven't reached that point yet."

California Department of Education statistics show a wide spread of ethnicities at Fremont. Hispanic is tops at 34 percent, with white at 29 percent and Asian at 17 percent. Filipinos follow at 14 percent, with African Americans at four percent and American Indians and Pacific Islanders each comprising one percent. Raun-Linde said over 60 languages are represented in the Fremont student body, with 85 percent of students bilingual and 40 percent classified as English language learners.

Despite these varied backgrounds, the consensus is that Fremont is the kinder, gentler school, even among those who don't work or attend school there.

"There's an environment there that's very positive, and that's unusual," said Holly Lofgren, a Fremont parent. "When my son was having difficulties with trigonometry, another student volunteered to help. At first, I was suspicious, but they got together every week for eight or nine weeks. I thought it was such a cooperative gesture."

"I invite people to come by and walk with me on campus," Raun-Linde said. "All the students are smiling."

Test Patterns

Fremont's demographics reflect their attendance area, which stretches from Interstate 280 to the Baylands area north of Highway 237. While the area is ethnically diverse, it also reflects poorer socioeconomics. Twenty-three percent of Fremont students participate in the national free or reduced price lunch program as compared to seven percent for nearby Homestead High School.

Fremont's standardized test scores seem to be affected by those factors. The 2003 Academic Performance Index shows Fremont with a score of 696, while Homestead has 817 and Monta Vista has 888.

"Fremont is the lowest ranking in the district, but many parents have no clue what the score means," said Linda Kilian, a Sunnyvale school board member who's sent three children to Fremont. She is concerned that the low scores will drive parents away from Fremont now that enrollments have stabilized enough for limited intradistrict transfers. "The majority of Sunnyvale School District's students go to Fremont, and I want to keep it a high-quality school."

Raun-Linde agreed that test scores are the thorn in Fremont's side, especially because they don't reflect the difficulties of teaching the many non-native English speakers that come through their doors. "People always look at the end results, and what they don't see is that we've moved up. We've steadily increased from year to year, and we've been reaching our goals," she said.

When compared to schools of similar demographics, such as Menlo-Atherton High School and Lincoln High School in San Jose, Fremont ranks at nine. The state of California defines that score as "well above average for elementary, middle, or high schools with similar characteristics." But Raun-Linde doesn't like that comparison. "Our kids have the ability to achieve on the level of Monta Vista and Lynbrook," she said.

Kilian agreed. "Our kids go to Harvard, Stanford and UC-Berkeley. Maybe not in the same numbers, but it is happening," she said. She said her now 25-year-old son touts Fremont was the best thing that ever happened to him because the school's diversity prepared him for differences in the real world. Because of experiences like this, taking her children out of Fremont was never a consideration for Kilian, and a growing number of parents are following suit.

Righting the Bad Rap

"My mom wanted me to go to Homestead, but I wanted to try Fremont," said junior Lisa Yee, a member of the ASTRAS community service club and a cheerleader with Fremont's national champion squad. "We'd heard that there were gangs and all of this bad stuff. But this has been a great experience."

The gang label has dogged Fremont for years, but it puzzles Raun-Linde. "I don't know why we have that reputation," she said. "Every school in the district has problems, but this campus is zero-tolerance. This is a safe place." She speculated that the current stigma may be the result of the merging of Sunnyvale High School with Fremont in the early 1980s. There were some clashes between different ethnic groups during that process, but those same problems do not remain today.

But since Raun-Linde took over the reins at Fremont last fall, she has identified a number of target areas for improvement. "Underachievement is the biggest problem. Fifty-five percent of our graduates are eligible to attend UCs or CSUs [or their equivalents], but that's not enough," she said.

A number of ideas are circulating to engage students further, including personalized learning communities, where groups of teachers work with students over a number of years. There are a number of components, including a teacher/mentor model and extending the communities throughout subjects and disciplines. The next school year will be a planning year for the concept, and to gear up, Raun-Linde is spending 90 minutes a day in Fremont classrooms. "I know a lot of kids and their schedules now because I keep seeing them in class," she said with a smile.

Perhaps the biggest student outreach is Fremont's emphasis on technology, which they have achieved through persistent grant writing. The new library hosts a slew of Apple eMacs, and is just one of the five computer labs on campus. There are also 14 wireless laptop labs. But instead of simply making computers available, Fremont is also integrating their use into the curriculum. "These kids, for their generation, the medium is the computer," Raun-Linde said.

A computer repair class began eight years ago that has refurbished 300 computers for people in the community at reduced prices. The Film/TV department produces documentaries for the local cable access channel, several of which premiered at the grand reopening. And Apple has a page on its Web site devoted to projects like the iMovies produced by students in Khir Johari's math class.

Johari, last year's Fremont Teacher of the Year, had his students create movies for an assignment called "Honey, I Blew Up the Object!" Students used their math skills to create scaled-up versions of everyday objects, such as matches, and then scripted and filmed them for a presentation. "Posters are passe," Johari said.

This is part of a movement for non-traditional grading methods that Johari is pushing at Fremont. Using portfolios, journals and presentations as evaluations instead of tests is a fairly new idea, and one that Raun-Linde said research supports. The administration will be looking into implementing those grading methods in the near future.

She said staff development and leadership has also been a priority, as well as supplying laptops to each member of the multi-talented faculty.

The staff, culled from institutions such as Harvard and Stanford, makes it their business to go beyond simple classroom instruction. Johari has founded both the Culinary Club and the Aperture Photography Club. Raun-Linde said a half-dozen students meet in a classroom every Friday for a guitar jam session with several instructors. She credited library technician Ruben Zamora with involving kids in a slam poetry league, and students have reached state championships in areas as varied as debate and cross-country due to dedicated coaches.

Firebird Pride

As alumni gathered for the grand reopening on Apr. 8, teachers were a hot topic of discussion. Faustino "Tino" Rodriguez, also known as "Mr. Fremont," teared up as he spoke for generations of alumni. "The excellent faculty of the past and present of Fremont High School, throughout the years, were the inspiration for successful students and alumni," he said. To the students, he added, "We expect you to be as proud of Fremont High School as I am and the alumni are."

As groups of former students toured the new facilities— new library, music building and amphitheater all funded by the passage of Measure H in 1998— the sight of former teachers and classmates derailed their sightseeing.

As they toured their alma mater, alumni from divergent classes developed a group camaraderie. They joked about taking Mai Tais on their tours, making their underage guides blush. Rodriguez, class of 1944, toured the new library with student body president Randall Polgar at his side, and when asked if he was having trouble navigating the area with his walker, Rodriguez said, "I've got the president with me!"

One alumnus who came to the ceremony was Tom Hashimoto, class of 1952. He ran into his old football coach on campus, where he hadn't been since his children graduated from Fremont in the late 1970s. "I was really impressed with the renovations," he said. "I graduated over 50 years ago, and I still remember all of my teachers' names."

His granddaughter, Allie Mangan, is a junior at Fremont. "I came from Sunnyvale Middle School, so a lot of my friends went to Homestead. It took me a while to get used to Fremont, but I really like it," she said. She's following in the family tradition by serving as captain for the varsity soccer team and playing roller hockey.

Not only is Mangan's grandfather a fellow Fremont alumnus, but both of her parents graduated from Fremont as well. She definitely sees her legacy as a plus. "I don't know how many kids can say that their parents met here," she said.

The community formed through this one high school seems to transcend age, race and income level. "There's an unspoken responsibility— you're always supporting your peers, your community and your school," Raun-Linde said. "That's the piece that's magical."

Students at Fremont are loath to identify themselves as freshmen, sophomores etc, but instead by the year they will graduate. To Raun-Linde, this perfectly sums up how the Fremont tradition has lived on. "We are the only school that has sister classes during homecoming. The seniors help the sophomores, and the juniors help the freshmen with their floats," she said. "Those floats are built on campus, and they're left there day and night. There's never been any vandalization because there is just so much respect between the kids."

While the Fremont campus is flush with modernized and fresh buildings and utilities worth nearly $35 million, the process that began in 2000 isn't quite over yet. Rowley said that a few touches, such as an electronic marquee and front stone, are still needed. Touring alumni marveled at how clean the campus was, and numerous speakers pledged to maintain this new addition to the Fremont heritage.

"Who we are, our identity is our history," Raun-Linde said. "We are the Tino Rodriguezes, and we are the Randall Polgars. You have established and bequeathed to us a rich legacy."

Planning has already begun for Fremont's centennial celebration in 2026.