Sacred Heart School held its fifth annual Spring Gala, which was well-attended and raised funds beyond expectations. Called "La Vita di Famiglia," the April 4 event featured an old-fashioned Italian crab feast.

The event took place at Villa Ragusa in Campbell and was attended by parishioners, parents and school employees. Approximately 400 people dined on all-you-can-eat pasta and crab sold at below cost from the Riparbelli family, along with a no-host bar. A silent auction preceded the meal, and a live auction, hosted by Saratogan Chuck Page, followed the dinner.

According to gala co-chairwoman Rachel Garcia, the goal was to raise $80,000. "We definitely exceeded our goal," Garcia said, adding that no final numbers have been tallied. Garcia said the money will go to the school's endowment fund, used for school needs—such as supplies and equipment—and the parish building fund, which pays for new buildings, facility improvements, maintenance and repayment of loans taken out to fund construction.

The school has a total enrollment of about 330 students and includes a Montessori preschool and classes for kindergartners through eighth-graders. It is located on Saratoga Avenue.


SHS graduate earns psychology Ph.D.

Laura Arnstein, a 1993 graduate of Saratoga High School, has earned a doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis on autism from Binghamton University in New York. Arnstein currently is a one-year intern at the Medical University of South Carolina and has received a research grant from the school for the 2003­04 school year.

After graduating from Saratoga High, Arnstein received a bachelor's degree in psychology from UC-San Diego and then earned a master's degree in clinical psychology from Binghamton in 2000. While at Saratoga High, Arnstein wrote for the student newspaper, The Falcon. She is the daughter of Donna and Walt Arnstein, now of Cloverdale, Calif.