Photograph by Robert Scheer
Aaron Martlage usually doesn't eat dinner with his family because of his busy schedule juggling schoolwork and basketball practice. Here, he and his father, Dale, share a 9:30 p.m. meal of eggs and sausage.
By Robert Scheer
With summer under way, students of one of the finest high schools in the country have time to sleep in, relax and think about higher education. Saratoga High School is well-known for its success. Ninety-eight percent of the students in this year's graduating class are going to college. That success is further evident in the fact that those graduating with grade-point averages of 3.99 were ranked in the 30th percentile of graduating seniors at Saratoga High. Those in the top 10 percent had GPA's of 4.28 to 4.61.
Why are these students so motivated? How has Saratoga High School produced these super-students, while high schools in neighboring communities fall short? And do students pay a price for their education?
We followed the lives of two juniors and two seniors over the course of a semester to find the answers. We discovered that local students must overcome several obstacles on their way to academic success: pressure from their parents, their peers, their teachers, their school and themselves.
The first part of this three-part series deals with parental pressure.
Chips off an educated block
In some communities, a good student might have to search hard for scholastic inspiration, but in Saratoga, most kids need only glance across the dining-room table.
"Most people live here because they can afford to live here, because they have a good job that usually comes from higher education," said Noreen Likins, a Saratoga High guidance counselor.
The Saratoga community is mostly made up of professionals and parents with college degrees, many of whom moved to the area because of the Saratoga school system. New homeowners in Saratoga pay as much as $125,000 extra per home for the purpose of sending their kids to its schools, local real estate agents said.
When the parents of senior Aaron Martlage, Dale and Cheryl, moved to Saratoga, they wanted their children to get a quality education. "The Realtor had a book, a resource that she used to compare all the test scores in public schools, and she directed us to Saratoga," Dale Martlage said.
Kamal Hubbard's parents, Tina and Frazier, also moved to Saratoga with professional degrees and similar intentions. The Hubbards put their three sons into private schools until their own research found the city's public schools met their standards.
"We have always valued education," Tina Hubbard said. "When we came here, we wanted to make sure we were in a good neighborhood."
Saratoga High School's success rate has also met the standards of many Asian American parents. According to the annual Western Association of Schools and Colleges Report, the Asian American population in Saratoga has grown steadily over the last six to eight years, to the degree that the school's student population is now nearly 40 percent Asian American.
"Education is extremely important to Asian parents," said Henry Chang, a dentist and the father of Katie Chang, a 1996 Saratoga High graduate, who will attend Stanford University in the fall. Chang said in Taiwan it was unheard of for families to vacation during a school year, and that only the most serious illness was an excuse for absence.
Katie Chang, born in San Francisco in 1979, is one of many students who believes that a student's family has a large role in determining academic success. "If your family is professional, there is a level of achievement you've grown accustomed to," she said.
Aaron Martlage, the 1995-96 senior class president, agreed. "There're a lot of people who have money in this area and so, obviously, the kids are going to see this as a goal, and to see the parents as a role model."
Many Saratoga parents are not only affluent, but also motivated and directly involved in their children's schooling in a number of ways.
Mary Missakian, mother of incoming senior Katie Missakian, is impressed with the amount of parental involvement in the community. Parents began to get highly involved when cuts in state education due to Proposition 13 began in 1979.
"When it passed, there went the buses, so every mom's back in her car driving her child to school," she said. Money for classroom aid dwindled, so she and other parents volunteered time in their children's classes several times a week.
According to the WASC Report, parents are very supportive of Saratoga High school, and that support means everything from being involved with the PTSA and running booster clubs to providing tutors and a positive environment to study in.
Tina Hubbard is a strong proponent of parental supervision when it comes to her son Kamal, who will be a senior in the fall.
"I've suggested to some of [Kamal's] teachers that they keep me aware of his grades on a weekly basis, although I know it could be a little tough for them to do," she said. "Actually I would love to see his grades every two to three weeks. In fact, a six-week progress report is too long for me."
Hubbard is set on her son going to college. She is leaving the choice of the college up to Kamal, but makes recommendations according to the disciplines he expresses interest in.
"If Kamal wants to go to medical school, we feel that Xavier is the university. Xavier has a good reputation. What we like about it is they keep the parents aware of just about everything that's going on--we like that."
Great expectations
Counselor Likins said that, during the fall semester, she is often asked to write students' college recommendation letters. "They come from very, very supportive families, and the families expect them to do well in school and provide them with an environment where everything that leads in that direction can happen."
Much of Likins' time is spent with students who are not successful. "In some cases, I would think that these kids are pushed by parents," she said. "There are tremendously high expectations from parents. I can think of more than a few cases I've turned to recently who are really having a difficult time because of parents' expectations."
She said when students find themselves behind in their school work, they will sometimes skip class for a day or two to study at the library. To hide their absences, they pretend to be a parent and phone in their own excuses to the school attendance office.
In one instance, a student came to Likins concerned about her tough workload. She said that her father wasn't satisfied with her grades. He contended that she wasn't managing her time well, and signed her up for additional Advanced Placement classes the following year.
"I worry about a lot of the kids here because they have that kind of pressure, particularly older kids or only kids," Likins said.
She said student suicides are extremely rare, but some kids harm themselves in other ways. "What I've seen more is that they will take razor blades and cut themselves. I can think of several kids who are doing that kind of thing. We had one incident two or three years ago where a girl took out a pen knife and stabbed herself through the arm in class."
Support not stress
Parents can also put pressure on their kids through limiting social activities.
"If you were to ask me where the stress comes from for most students, I'd have to say the parents," Aaron Martlage said. "Some parents make their kids work for two or three hours a night before they can watch a little TV, and there are parents that are even stricter."
Still, some students said they don't receive excessive pressure to excel from parents.
Katie Missakian, who will be a senior in the fall, said she receives little stress from her mother. "She thinks it's great when I'm involved in school, but she's never put pressure on me to do more than I can do," she said. "We never get into arguments over grades or anything, it's like, 'You need to get your math grade up'; it's just encouragement."
Mary Missakian's husband died two and a half years ago of a sudden heart attack. "I think after Cross died, my focus became more one of reducing stress at any cost," she said. "Katie was in accelerated math, and I just backed her up into regular math--I didn't want her struggling."
Aaron Martlage said his parents give him tremendous freedom when it comes to school. "My parents are great-- they let me do my own thing. They really are interested in my grades, but they're not going to make me work hard. I'm not getting any stress from them."
Henry Chang said that of he and wife Lisa's four daughters, Katie is the most studious. "We were very fortunate, blessed with Katie. With her, it's reversed--we tell her, 'Go out, see a movie.' "
Perhaps Aaron Martlage spoke for most students when he talked of the examples parents set for their kids. "Once the parents get the ball rolling down the college lane, their kids are going to fall in line and go down that lane too."
Next week: Robert Scheer will look at the role self-motivation plays in students' academic success.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, August 14, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved