Gitika Nalwa

How the community fractured over what is best for students

Saratoga: where “all the children are above average,” where doors are left unlocked, and where cop cars respond in pairs to lemons being plucked from a wayside tree. You wouldn’t expect arson in Saratoga, and neither did I, but that changed one night four years ago.

With a rolling block schedule confirmed to start in the fall of 2016, teachers and students are expressing a range of reactions to the change.

We entered the Chinese pastry shop Kee Wah Bakery with high hopes and empty stomachs, expecting to be amazed. The bakery had received rather generous reviews on Yelp, perhaps due to its friendly staff and lovely ambiance. However, its hours were too short and its pastries were too small for the price, leading to a rather disappointing visit.

While most students were stuck in classrooms taking their final exams last month, members of Saratoga Strings, the elite string orchestra, were gallivanting around the Windy City, visiting “The Bean,” eating at local diners and most importantly, participating in The Midwest Clinic Conference.

Substitute teacher Tom Head, the son of English teacher Cathy Head, shares his experiences.

This year district leaders decided to lower Saratoga High’s athletic asked-for contribution from $275 to $225 — the same amount now being sought at Los Gatos High School. Los Gatos’ contribution has been raised from $200 to $225. According to Robinson, the district’s decision to lower Saratoga’s asked-for contribution has left SHS sports programs with a $12,000 deficit.

The Falcon talked to Kellean Fransham and Monte Bippus, two middle-class Americans living in a homeless shelter.

The girls’ water polo team made quite a splash in CCS this year after two wins against Stevenson and St. Ignatius.

With the arrival of Sources of Strength, a nationwide youth suicide prevention program, a wave of confusion emerged among Common Roots members.

After sustaining several losses, the boys’ varsity water polo season is off to a rough start with a league record of 1-4.

J-Day, a journalism conference sponsored by the Journalism Education Association of Northern California, was held on Sept. 27 at Palo Alto High School’s new Media Arts Center. 

Saratoga High's class of 1984 had a reunion on Sept. 20.

Measure E, a bond measure that will provide the school district with $99 million to re-modernize classrooms as well as upgrade the school’s plumbing, electrical, sewer, heating and air conditioning, was passed on June 3. Renovations began this summer and are expected to take five years.

Girls' water polo team looks to advance further in CCS than last year.

Boys' water polo hopes to repeat last year's success.

UC Berkeley is snatching my brother, Sanj Nalwa, away from my flailing arms and I don't know what to do with myself.

This book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” immediately sparked controversy because of its highly self-assured parenting style, which was viewed skeptically by many.   

Teachers Erick Rector and Sarah Thermond recount their prom experiences from high school.

The softball team is currently tied for second in the De Anza league, with a league record of 5-2 and an overall record of 12-8. With CCS starting on on May 21, the team has begun preparations, working specifically on its defense.

During its meeting on Feb. 25, the district board decided to include the $99 million General Obligation bond on the June 3 ballot. Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District residents will be able to vote on the bond, which aims to renovate both Saratoga and Los Gatos High. It is estimated that $55 million would be allocated for Los Gatos and $44 million for Saratoga.

After last year’s record of 24-5, the school’s close-knit softball team, led by coach Joe Medeiros and assistant coach Fred Santos, is looking forward to build on last year’s success. This year, the team has moved up from the El Camino league to the De Anza league.  

As I stepped across the threshold of Siam Thai Cuisine, an exquisite aroma enveloped me. I smelled sweet, sour and everything in between. So, this was Thai food. Unsurprisingly, the quaint restaurant near the DACA Swim School was packed, with a waiting time of around 30 minutes. Couples sat beneath apple-red Mylar balloons, celebrating Valentine’s Day with the legendary zest of Thai food. 

In Saratoga, where many consider the children to be above average, students can find it difficult to stand out. Whatever you can do, someone else can probably do better. Sleepless nights are commonplace; sky-high grades and SAT scores are the norm, and most students seem to play a musical instrument.  At a school where overachievement is the norm, what constitutes overachievement? One example would be sophomore Meera Rachamallu, who excels in sports, music, academics and more.  Rachamallu has boasted a spot on the school’s varsity tennis team for two consecutive years. Last year, she was one of only two freshmen to make the varsity team.

Raise your hand, raise your grade. Incredible, but true — at least in some classes.   I am, of course, talking about “participation points.”  Through my year and a half at the school, it is becoming increasingly and annoyingly evident that those who make the most noise in class are rewarded, and those who remain quieter see their “participation points” plummet on Aeries. 

This June, district residents are likely to vote on a $99 million bond to upgrade and maintain facilities at both Los Gatos and Saratoga High Schools. The bond, an additional tax paid annually by property holders, has yet to be approved by the school board, but principal Paul Robinson believes it will receive the board’s approval within the next two school board meetings, which are scheduled to take place on Feb.  4 and Feb.  25.

Chinese New Year, also known as The Lunar New Year, is a time of both new beginnings and old traditions. This year’s holiday, which starts today, Jan. 31, marks the Year of the Horse.

Whereas the American revolution ushered in democracy, with founding father George Washington insisting on a non-imperial presidency, America has gradually evolved into an elected monarchy.  

I was born and raised in Holmdel, New Jersey. I lived there until 2004. I prefer winter storms and April showers to the unchanging beauty of Northern California weather. I adore pencil-yellow school buses, ice cream trucks and snow days.

The early 1970s were tumultuous times in South Vietnam, as Suong Nguyen remembers well. North Vietnam was seeking to gain control of the South to impose its communist rule over it. Nguyen, a little girl then, recalls air strikes piercing the twilight calm over Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam. The country was in the midst of the Vietnam war.

In the early hours of Thanksgiving day, sophomore Felicia Hung will stride toward the crowded streets of Downtown San Jose. Children and parents, runners and volunteers, people from all walks of life, will be gathered on Santa Clara Street, awaiting the start of the Ninth Annual Turkey Trot, which comprises six races, including a 10K run and a 5K run/walk.

At halftime of the football game against Mountain View on the evening of  Oct. 4, seniors Ingrid Hong and Nikhil Goel, both section editors for The Falcon, were crowned Homecoming Queen and King. Their victory came as at least a mild surprise since it, as it challenged the tradition of enthroning mainly marching band members.

Sophomore Matthew Tran doesn’t do pull-ups or air squats or run the mile once a month for time, the way many freshman or sophomores enrolled in PE do.  Instead, he is one of 31 students now enrolled in the school’s Independent Study Physical Education program.

Annelise Nussbacher became interested in the school’s drama program than four years ago, when she was just an anxious, wide-eyed freshman trying to find her place among her fellow Falcons. Today, theater is her passion and her “first love.”

On the pleasantly warm morning of Aug. 13, the dreaded back-to-school feeling plagued the line of incoming juniors. They ambled forward sluggishly, with heavy, lifeless movements that marked the beginning of late night studying and early mornings.  Beyond the distressed sea of students, however, in the school’s Small Gym, sat registrar Jeanne Jamieson, smiling enthusiastically, ready for the start of another school year.

Beyond the multitude of concrete steps to the school office, through the thick glass doors and a few steps to the right, sits principal’s secretary Sue Dini. She offers welcoming smiles to bleary-eyed students passing by. 

On Sept. 15, New York’s Nina Davuluri twirled across the polished Oxford blue stage of Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on in a Ghagra Choli, a traditional Indian dress adorned in crimson and gold. 

This year, the administration has altered the school attendance policy, making the consequences for cuts and tardies more severe.

In the early hours of a Monday morning, across a desolate quad, lies the promise of a fresh start. Through a crack in the door of Room 404, Algebra 2 and Trigonometry/Precalculus Honors teacher Lauchlin Loeffler's cheerful smile welcomes students back from their summer break. 

At the Senior Prom last May, the administration tested a policy that prohibits dancing commonly known as “freaking”, in which the boy dances directly behind the girl in a way that often shocks those who haven’t seen it.  The policy, known as “Face to Face,” required students to face each other during dances, and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive: Last year’s Leadership class took a survey that stated that more than 90 percent liked it. 

There is great power in a pen. I’d like to wield it, one day.  I’d like to create alternate realities buried within the dog-eared pages of quaint books, giving the masses an escape from the humdrum of their dreary lives.