Written by Tasia Lundberg (News Editor) Although it seems like school is never going to come back, there is a spark of hope. Rumors have been spread around the faculty of school coming back in January after the long months of being gone. However many still do not believe that school will be coming back … More When Would SLVHS Return to In-Person Learning?
Written by Colleen Fitzpatrick (News Writer) With COVID-19 spreading from person to person like rapid-fire, many people are stuck wondering what it’s going to be like next school year. Many options have been thrown into the hat and there still aren’t any clear answers. One possible option is that freshmen and sophomores will go to … More Potential Plans for a Return to School Next Fall
Written by Tasia Lundberg (News Writer) The pandemic has spread. Schools are being shut down, and classes have become digital. “Social Distancing” is the new norm. Covid-19, also known as the coronavirus has completely taken over people’s lives. The county decided the best way to prevent the spread of the outbreak was to shut down … More Corona Lockdown Sweeps Santa Cruz County, SLV Campuses
Written by Beckett Glass (News Writer) Measure S passed with 55.12%, and SLVUSD will now receive $75,000,000 dollars in bonds. The bonds will be used for infrastructure upgrades, including: Parking Lot expansion and installation of solar panels for energy efficiency and air conditioning in every school (SLVUSD). Sophomore Jack McCork commented about Measure S: “I … More Measure S Passes with 55.12%; SLVUSD to Use $75 Million Dollars for Repairs and Improvements
On May 30, 2018, an Integrative Leadership Academy charter school petition was submitted to the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees in an attempt to start a new charter school in Boulder Creek. Due to numerous deficiencies found by district staff, the petition was denied. The Integrative Leadership Academy ( I.L.A.) was … More Superintendent Dr. Laurie Bruton and the Board of Trustees Denies Integrative Leadership Academy Charter School Petition
by Christopher Markey SLV has had the same three tennis courts since the 40’s. The tennis teams have been playing on the Boulder Creek country clubs courts and also the courts at Highlands Park. Slv has never played on the old courts. Saviano has made the new tennis courts. It took them four long hot … More SLVHS Installs Brand New Tennis Courts
by Amber Slaughter It is August 20 the first day of school, you walk into your first class and immediately look at the clock so you can see how much longer you have to be at school. Instead of seeing the old clocks you are surprised to see new digital clocks. Throughout the day you … More New School Clocks at SLV Serve a Purpose Beyond Telling Time
Across the United States thousands of students are paying the consequences of their beliefs. On Wednesday, March 24th, 2018, these students chose to walk out of their classrooms. The purpose of the walkout was twofold: as a tribute and as a protest. The tribute consisted of a seventeen minute walkout in memory of the seventeen … More #Enough: Students Protest for Gun Reform
On March 14, thousands of students across the nation walked out of school for seventeen minutes to mourn for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and protest gun violence in schools. In response to this, FOX News anchor Tucker Carlson made the statement, “If they’re too young to buy guns, why should … More Students Walking Out Face Backlash, but Stand Strong for Peace
Early Wednesday during an onslaught of rain at the San Lorenzo Valley Tri-Campus, a large oak tree came crashing down onto numerous cars in the elementary school parking lot, leaving many of the staff and students shaken. Causing thousands of dollars in damage, the 50-year-old tree effectively created a fair amount of chaos for several … More Fallen Tree on SLV Elementary School Parking Lot
SLV 25, Harbor 10. San Lorenzo Valley Varsity volleyball dominated against their number one volleyball rival, defeating them three matches to zero with at least a ten point lead during each match. This was eight years ago, During SLV’s Most recent run for the League title in 2010. Since then, both Varsity and JV have … More Boys Volleyball is Fighting Against the Odds
“Dear scoundrel, once Matt McMillan finds you, he will rip you into eight different pieces.” Hayden Mckinney reflects on his anger after the football team was scammed out of a bus on their way to Orange County. The team paid nearly 4,000 dollars into a scam. The bus was supposed to take the football team … More Varsity Football Faces Disappointment in Brother in Arms Classic, Homecoming Game Renews Inspiration
The San Lorenzo Valley is no stranger to extreme heat, but during Labor Day weekend the temperature reached numbers that can not be ignored. An extreme heat wave arrived in the Bay Area Thursday afternoon and persisted in its scorching temperatures until late Monday evening. The height of the temperature this weekend was a blistering … More Bay Area Heat Wave Hits Record Breaking Temperatures
As summer drifted away and another school year began, SLVHS students entered the classrooms to discover an unusual amount of students. This year, there was an unexpected overflow of freshman, which resulted in jumbled schedules and huge amounts of students in classes. The class of 2021 had more students than SLVHS was ready for. When … More Is the Freshmen Population Problem Truly Over?
As this long winter begins to subside, it appears the forested mountains surrounding San Lorenzo Valley High School are beginning to awaken. On February 21, 2017, a parent living in the area behind SLV called into the middle school office and reported seeing a fairly large mountain lion in the woods behind the middle school. … More Cougar(s) found in Fall Creek raises concerns in SLVHS community
On Monday, January 6th, 2017, SLVHS students were surprised to find out that they could no longer access the school-wide wifi on their cell phones. Many students found that their phones could connect to the server, but would not open most apps, or found that their phones did not connect at all. Students then received … More SLV Changes WiFi Policy, Crushing Students Dreams
The atmosphere on campus was grim and hopeless for many, staff and students included, on the morning of November 9, as President Elect Donald Trump took the stage for a victory speech. Now, one thing is certain as students prepare for the long awaited Presidential Inauguration trip with Ms. Martinez: It will be an election … More SLV students head to Washington DC to witness 2017 inauguration
“My mother always told me to try every part of what you love.” Senior Aaron McKay is co-directing “And Then There Was One,” one of the two student directed shows taking place this spring. He has participated in almost every aspect of theater. He has taken part in over thirty shows throughout his life, ten … More “And Then There Was One” Directors Abby Halper and Aaron McKay
The Presidential election affects everyone’s lives, but this year it is having an unprecedented effect on the nation’s schools. The Southern Poverty Law Center is an organization dedicated to fighting hatred and bigotry and seeking justice for vulnerable, persecuted members of our society. During the election, they surveyed and collected statements from educators about the … More The ‘Trump Effect’ -Bullying in Schools
As globalization progresses faster and faster as the U.S. competes on the global stage, one question has begun to loom on everyone’s mind: how do we compare to the rest? In terms of schools, the results are not optimistic. First, let’s narrow down our view and look at only two countries’ schools: the U.S, and … More School Systems in America vs Finland
Deborah Mitchell has been a mental health counselor at SLV for the past nine years– and until a few months ago, some students weren’t even aware her position existed. This year, Ms. Mitchell occupies a comfortable room in the counseling office, easily accessible and with regular hours. For the past two years, she’s been … More Mental health counselor Deborah Mitchell relocates therapy office
With the election fast approaching, our school shows a clear political bias, although our school is still somewhat divided. With supporters for each of our presidential candidates within the school, it is certain not everyone will be happy with the results. With four clear top candidates, many may not entirely know who each candidate is, … More As the 2016 presidential election draws near, SLV shows clear preference
As many students know, there has been new administration implemented at SLVHS this year, however, many do not know that there is a new detention policy put together by Mr. Hearn, the vice principal, and Mr. Calden, the principal. The new policy was created to help the administration and the students with time management. Mr. … More Possible Correlation Between School Absences and Grade Drops Discovered
On Monday, September 19, students in Ms. Osenga’s Spanish class watched with curiosity and delight as a group of exchange students performed the Chilean-based La Cueca dance. For one week, every other year, San Lorenzo Valley High School has the privilege of hosting around ten Chilean exchange students in the tenth grade. Isidora Cerda, a … More Chilean Students Enjoyed Their Time at SLV
SLVHS students began their school year this year with a completely different grading system. While last year SLV used Powerschool to post grades and Schoology was used for class updates, this year both will be done on Schoology. The only service Schoology does not fulfill this year for students is an online attendance log, which … More SLVHS Experiences New Problems and New Solutions in Online Systems
Recently a new documentary was brought to San Lorenzo Valley High School. This film by Jennifer Siebel Newsom called Miss Representation brings attention to the way women are mistreated and misrepresented in the media. It also talks about the focus on how women’s and girl’s values lie in their beauty, youth, and sexuality, and … More Miss Representation showing at SLV brings light to gender inequality
Let’s face it, school is not always easy. For some, being on campus is an outright nightmare. The pressure of constantly being on campus with several hundred other students for six hours a day is an overwhelming reality for some students here at San Lorenzo Valley High School. Also, many Seniors lack several credits needed, … More SLVUSD’s new alternative-education program offers fresh opportunities
Administrators in the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District were forced to reject the proposed schedule for the 2016-2017 school year. This year, the high school was required to extend the school day to 2:46 p.m. in order to compensate for the lack of required minutes from the state of California. Teachers’ classes have been … More SLV seeks to create a new revised schedule for the 2016-2017 school year
Abbey Meck, a junior at SLVHS, recently made headlines due to her heroic rescue of a woman, Sofia Benbahmed, in Davenport. While studying with friends she noticed chaos down on the shore. A woman was being pulled out to sea by a strong rip current. Noticing the friends of the woman panicking, quick-thinking Meck ran … More SLV junior Abbey Meck rescues drowning woman at beach in Davenport
Starting in freshman year, many of us are told that all of our efforts will be paid back in full when Senior year rolls around. Images of leaving campus at lunch to buy food with our friends and understanding teachers that act more like a friend than anything else come to mind. However, as many … More Senior Year Proves To Be Extremely Stressful For This Year’s SLVHS Graduating Class Of 2016
On Tuesday, February 2, the tri-campus of San Lorenzo Valley Elementary School, San Lorenzo Valley Middle School, and San Lorenzo Valley High School as well as the associated charter schools went into a lockdown at 9:06 a.m. until 9:38 a.m. after the elementary school received a report of a potential individual on campus with a … More SLV Tri-Campus goes into lockdown; confusion ensues on proper procedures
More than 4 million Syrian refugees, half of them children, have had to flee their home country amidst a civil war and find a new life in a new part of the world. Most of the refugees have been taken in by Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. More the 700,000 immigrants have risked their lives traveling … More Sitting down with Raneem Zaghlouleh, a local victim of the Syrian Refugee crisis
Among the technology changes faced by the SLVHS community over the last several years, the implementation of a system of school email accounts was one of the most controversial. Everyone has been concerned about their school emails. The truth is, these accounts were made to teach students how to communicate effectively, and to help them … More How much of your personal information can the school access?
On September 23, the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) class took a trip to Cowell’s beach for a day of teambuilding and paddlebaording. SLV has been offering AVID for a while now, and it is a wonderful resource for the SLV student body. In AVID, students receive tutoring for all of their classes from brilliant … More SLVHS AVID students go paddle boarding with the principal
Early October marks the beginning of fall, with homecoming week at San Lorenzo Valley High School coming in like a flurry of crisp leaves flying on a crisp autumnal wind. Homecoming at SLVHS is the first full week of October every year; it is a five day period of crazy spirit days that ends with … More SLVHS students show school spirit during the 2015 Homecoming Week
This year the district introduced the ‘Bring Your Own Device Initiative’ to see how it would affect learning. B.Y.O.D. asks students to bring portable laptops or iPads with keyboards to school for use in the classroom. This new system is encouraging students to become more adept at working with technology and learning online. The initiative … More District introduces new techonolgy initiative
As the first semester of the 2015-2016 school year begins, new policies are taking shape here at San Lorenzo Valley High School. As everyone knows, the recreational use of the parking lot at any point in time during school hours is now prohibited. This change is intended to prevent the increased use and dealing of … More SLV students suffer the consequences of last year’s parking lot drug use incidents
Boomer is a name that carries a lot of weight around the San Lorenzo Valley. An influence to many and a skilled science teacher at SLVHS, Mr. Preston Boomer shaped the minds of three generations of valley students over 56 years. Until 2013 Mr. Boomer taught chemistry and physics in the science building, also known … More The newly dubbed “Boomer Building” takes the place of science building
On March 1st a fatal car accident shocked the county, taking the lives of four young people in Aptos. Of the six people piled into a black four-seat Mercedes, three were pronounced dead on the scene when the mercedes collided head-on with a Ford F-150 truck. A night of partying for these young adults ended … More A fatal head-on car crash in Aptos claims the lives of four young adults
The state of Oklahoma introduced and passed a bill enabling then to ban Advanced Placement U.S. History in the classroom, while also instituting a new educational requirement for students. This new bill is set to require its students to learn from a designated list of 58 “foundational documents.” These include the Ten Commandments, two sermons and three speeches … More Oklahoma bans Advanced Placement U.S. History course for all state high schools
Since the February opening, the new SLV Performing Art Center (PAC) is up and running for student productions. We’ve had our grand opening, our benefit concert, the wonderful performance of “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” and now our PAC continues to stand there, as it will for the generations of students to come. Its majestic, blockish shape; … More The Performing Arts Center finally opens and holds its first performance
On the evening of Thursday, January 29th, the San Lorenzo Valley Middle School basketball team had just finished practice at 6:30 pm. Outside, in the elementary school parking lot, a white delivery truck was parked. Inside there were multiple men waiting to take somebody else home with them. Who were they waiting for you may … More Attempted Abduction of SLV Middle School Student Shocks entire Valley
There’s been a lot of talk of mountain lions lately. There were two sightings near UCSC on January sixth, and on the 30th there was a mountain lion in downtown Santa Cruz. There have been multiple sightings on my own road in Ben Lomond over the past few months, and there was even a woman … More Living In Cougar Country
On the 25th of January, two teenage girls were shot while in downtown Santa Cruz. The shooting has been ruled as gang related and has been investigated as such. The shooting happened in the area of Pacific Grove and Birch Lane. The shooting was reported at 8:07 PM, sunday evening. Both victims were transported to … More Shooting In Downtown Santa Cruz Leaves Two Unintended Victims Injured
Late in the evening on Monday, January 19, someone stole twenty-five computers from the Coast Redwood classrooms, and broke various swim equipment from the pool sheds, tossing it into the pool. The theft and vandalism took place around 5:10 pm; the classrooms suffered a loss of approximately $7,500, because each of the chromebooks stolen were … More Vandalism at SLV
Marie Schepp, Jesse McMillan, Kurt Fulkerson and Elise Whistler received the top scores after taking the PSAT in October; their achievements provide them with great scholarship opportunities that will help them immensely in the college application process. In 1959, The College board issued a test given to sophomores and juniors to prepare them for for … More SLV Students Receive Top Scores on the PSAT
Who hasn’t noticed the long construction, going on by the Staff parking lot of San Lorenzo Valley High school? Right now, our new soon to be Performing Arts Center sticks out like a sore thumb, unfinished. But it will not stay that way for long. Why had we students of SLVHS want a new theater … More The New PAC
Low flush toilets are a definite advantage. If you don’t already know what a low flush toilet is, you need to find out because a drought emergency has been declared for Santa Cruz County. Water rationing is now in effect for the City of Santa Cruz, and single-family dwellings are limited to 249 gallons per … More California Drought hits hard
Everyone at SLV is familiar with Julie Haff and her position as superintendent, but few students know what a superintendent does. A superintendent is hired directly by the school board to serve as the chief executive officer of the school board, and be an educational advisor to the board on matters such as the budget, … More A new superintendent in town
As member of the SLVHS community, we are not indifferent to hard work and success. Recently, five students in particular have experienced the payoff of hard work and the success that comes with it. The five students, Jurgen Prambs, Mikaela Slade, Lauren Smith, Connor Lydon, and Natalie Gallagher, all received invitations to the California State … More 5 SLV Students made it to the California State Science Fair
The SLV ceramics program has always been overwhelmingly popular. Students wake up early and drag themselves out of bed for zero period classes, or even spend time at lunch working on their creations, besides the usually-full regular period classes. Ceramics students at SLV tend to be extremely talented, which led many of them to participate … More 23 SLV ceramic students made it to the Santa Cruz Art League’s 59th annual High School Art Show
Flu season is back, and this season’s strain is a new kind of swine. Flu season is the time of year when the flu virus is most common, it typically begins in the late fall and continues to early spring. Usually 5% to 20% of the population contracts the flu during the flu season. The … More Flu season is back with a new stain of swine flu
“Bloop.” That’s a direct quote from the football field in the winter. Anyone who tries to run on it probably won’t feel like they’re running on grass as much as they are on a thin tarp over a swimming pool. And seeing as we already have a fully functional swimming pool, that’s not something we … More Problems arise from the new football field
Society these days seems to be pushing students to go to college. Our culture has college fever, and no one is immune. However, even the most devout college disciples agree that there is one very large obstacle on the road to economic success through college: debt. College debt, virtually unheard of half a century ago, … More The substantial price of a higher education
`These days, it seems as if new tests are being thrown at students all the time. Well, better make room for one more: the Smarter Balance Test is here. If things go well, the test will soon become a national standard, and students around the country will be able to sit at computers and take … More a new way testing awaits the nation
Vape pens are a literal representation of what the name entails- they’re pens that heat a cartridge filled with purified cannabis oil and other smoke able substances, allowing users a discreet alternative to smoking a marijuana cigarette. The number of pot smokers has drastically increased over the past few years. According to the National Department … More Steps to Decrease Vape Pen use is being put into action
Welcome to SLV’s scrumptious buffet! We have entrees of all types, ranging from science to math to literature to music. Take anything you like, as long as you think you can fit it all in your stomach! Of course, there are those dishes you just have to try; you have not truly experienced this charming … More NEW AP Classes for Juniors and Seniors in the Year to Come
Pot. Alcohol. High. Stoned. Do these words ring a bell? What do you see, what do you feel, when confronted so brazenly with these terms? Perhaps you see the kid who sits next to you in sixth period always reeking of weed. Perhaps you hear lectures and horror stories from teachers and parents about the … More drugs prevelant at the high school
Recently, the San Lorenzo Valley campus has acquired some…unwelcome guests. It seems that a pack of wild coyotes has taken up residence within the borders of the school, and now roams the campus at night. The coyotes have already killed a number of small animals, including a cat and a deer, and they show no … More Unwelcome Guests Visit the School: Things You Need to Know
Back in December, students were exasperated to find that the fire alarm that disrupted fifth period was because of a frozen pipe bursting and flooding the weight room. For many, the damage to the weight room was inconsequential, but for SLV athletes, it was a major inconvenience. Here we are in February, and the weight … More A Delay in the Weight Room
The Claw 