The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by Skye Dunlap Over The Top: Aided by three Willow Glen members, the Legacy Co-ed All-Stars cheerleading squad has qualified for two national competitions. 1998: The Year in Review Classroom Action Bilingual ed, banned books and a new band kept things hopping in the halls January SJUSD Opposes English for the Children Ballot Initiative The San Jose Unified School District board came down solidly on the side of bilingual education, passing a resolution Jan. 22 opposing the so-called English for the Children ballot initiative. Despite the widespread controversy surrounding the issue, the board meeting was calm, with no one speaking in favor of the initiative. "This initiative is very destructive to children," Bob Gonzalez, a member of the district's Latino advisory committee, said at the meeting. "Everything this district's done for non-English speakers will be dismantled." Locals were upset that the initiative would impact schools such as Willow Glen's River Glen Elementary, where students in kindergarten through seventh grade have been taught in both English and Spanish through the school's immersion program. River Glen principal Cecilia Barrie said she was concerned about the impact the initiative might have on the school. Carol Myers, vice president of the school board, said the plan, introduced by Palo Alto businessman Ron Unz, was deeply flawed. "Most people as educators realize the fallacy of the initiative," she said after the meeting. Music Returns to Willow Glen Ed Park After 10 years of quiet, it was announced that the halls at Willow Glen Educational Park would soon be alive with blasting horns, tweeting flutes, off-key clarinets and students' voices raised in song as the music program returned after a long hiatus. "We're very, very happy," said Patrick Day, principal of Willow Glen High School. The new music program was the largest the school had seen in more than 10 years. Students were excited to finally have the option of learning an instrument or participating in the choir. "I'm going to take choir because I want to be a theater arts minor in college," 18-year-old Christina Mendoza said. "I think not having a music program deprives people of being well-rounded." Parents were also thrilled that their kids would be learning music in addition to academics. "We're finally going to be able to bring more art to our kids," said Carla Fugashima, president of the Willow Glen High School Parents' Club. "Music is one of the things that helps with school spirit. We're all very excited about it." February San Jose Unified Raises Graduation Requirements Beginning in 2002, every student who graduates from San Jose Unified School District high schools will be eligible to apply to state colleges. To accomplish that goal, the school board unanimously voted to increase high school graduation requirements with an additional year each of math and science, two years of foreign language and 40 hours of community service. The new requirements went into effect in the fall of 1998. To aid students who might have trouble meeting the new requirements, the plan features a support system with an extensive summer school program and annual notices to parents about their children's academic status. To ready students for the new requirements, administrators planned to study ways to better prepare students in reading, foreign language and math programs in elementary and middle schools. May Photograph by Skye Dunlap Reading the Situation: Lincoln High School graduate Leanna Kinsey, 17, speaks at a San Jose Unified School board meeting in support of the book Always Running; La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. San Jose Unified School Board Votes to Keep Contentious Book After a heated hearing on Always Running; La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez--marked both by angry threats of lawsuits and political reprisals and by firm defenses of the book's educational value--the San Jose Unified School Board voted unanimously to bring the book back to the classroom as part of the district's optional reading list. The board acted on the recommendation of an ad hoc committee of parents, teachers and administrators, which met to study the matter after a parent said her daughter had been sexually harassed by a male classmate, and demanded that the district remove the book from schools. Both students were reading Always Running for a Lincoln High School English class; the book had also been used in English classes at Broadway High School for several years. A gritty look at the author's experiences with gangs, the book also contains graphic sexual passages. September New Principal at WG Elementary Willow Glen Elementary School's new principal, Anita Sunseri, offered thanks to her colleagues and students for their help in making the first week of school a success. As Sunseri described her team-oriented approach to running a successful school, it became apparent that she would describe just about every member of the school's 100-person staff with reverence --especially its former principal Lois Allen. "My job is to learn this school, to learn its culture," said Sunseri, a San Jose native and former teacher who has been working in school administration for 12 years."I have a fabulous staff, and I plan to rely on them a lot. I see my role as one of support for the teachers." October Photo courtesy of International Space Camp The Right Stuff: Willow Glen resident Ginger Brown, California's 1998 Teacher of the Year, tests a Manned Manuevering Unit at the ninth International Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. River Glen Slated for Move to Broadway School superintendent Linda Murray announced that U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte was expected to approve a plan by the San Jose Unified School District to move River Glen's bilingual immersion program to Broadway High School and to build a new elementary school at the River Glen site on Bird Avenue at Willow Glen Way. According to the plan, Broadway would be relocated, either to the Central County Occupational Center or to a yet-to-be-determined location. A few weeks earlier, River Glen parents stood at a school site council meeting and pledged to fight against the move. Some argued that Broadway is too small for River Glen's student body, because there's not enough parking and there are minimal outdoor playing fields. Other parents conceded that they were dedicated enough to follow the program anywhere. Broadway principal Susan Votaw said the students, parents and faculty at Broadway didn't much mind moving. "We are quite flexible," she said. "It's just hard to pack up and move things." November State Bond Will Help San Jose Unified San Jose Unified School District's modernization plan received a boost in November when voters approved Proposition 1A, a $9.2 billion K-12 school and higher education construction bond. The new money, combined with last year's local $165 million school construction bond, will enable SJUSD to complete all the projects outlined in its plan. "We don't know how much money we're going to get from the statewide bond, but it's a minimum of $27 million to the outside of $40 million, but $40 million is unlikely," said Maureen Munroe, SJUSD spokesperson. In other terms, the statewide bond will give the district another $500,000 to $600,000 per elementary school to complete the construction projects. Modernization work at Booksin and Schallenberger began in late September and early October. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, December 30, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.