Saratoga High School has some of the best high school mathematicians in the country, as demonstrated by their sixth-place-overall finish in the 2003 Fall Startup Event, a national mathematics contest administered by National Assessment and Testing. Under individual awards, Darren Yin placed third and Anderthan Hsieh fourth in the 10th-grade division, and Andrew Chein placed second in the ninth-grade division.

Open house at Harker School

The private Harker School will be hosting informational open houses for prospective families and the community in November. The open-house event for grades 7­12 will be at 11 a.m. on Nov. 9 at the Saratoga campus, 500 Saratoga Ave., and the event for grades K­6 will be held at 11 a.m. on Nov. 16 on the Bucknall campus, 4600 Bucknall Road in San Jose. For more information, call 408.249.2510.

Motivational speaker visits St. Andrew's

Elliot Smith, a local motivational speaker, will present a seminar entitled, "Give them a high five: Five champion qualities our kids should have." Smith is a faculty member at Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco. He will share his expertise on how to best encourage self-esteem, foster character development and build self-discipline in children, whether through sports or in other areas of their lives. The event will take place at 7 p.m., Nov. 6, at St. Andrew's School, 13601 Saratoga Ave., in the fireside room. For more information, call 408.867.3785.

Saratogans garner academic honors

Jessica Anne Deleon and Kevin Sheu, both of Saratoga, were recently named to the dean's list for the spring 2003 semester at The Johns Hopkins University. To be selected for this honor, the students earned a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

Deleon is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ross Deleon, and she attended Saratoga High School. She is pre-major in arts and sciences. Sheu is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Corey Sheu, and also attended Saratoga High School. Sheu, a computer science major, graduated in May of 2003.

Saratoga High PAL update

The Performing Arts and Lecture Center is well under way at Saratoga High School. More than 40 cement trucks recently delivered more than 350 yards of concrete to the site, and the footings for the PAL stage area are now completed.

The project is an estimated 28 days behind schedule, but Principal Dr. Kevin Skelly said they still plan to have the facility finished by August of 2004. He added that some changes have been made that should simplify construction and save money.