The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Graphic by Carissa Lee

Grading the Homework Policy

By Priya Dixit, Staff Writer | September 27, 2016

By now, we are resigned to the fact that homework is an intrinsic element of school, and by extension a student’s life. Its existence is ingrained into routine, yet the specifics are always subject to...

Graphic by Anne Schill

Egan Adopts New Grading Policy

By Michael Sieffert, Maddie Chu, and Sana Khader | September 27, 2016

This year, students at Egan Junior High School will no longer see the time-honored As through Fs on their report card. Los Altos School District has established a new standards-based grading system focusesd...

English teacher Robert Barker teaches the New Media Literacy class to students in room 401. Photo by Katie Klein.

New Media Literacy Explores Digital Stories

By Priya Dixit and Adrienne Mitchel | September 27, 2016

English teacher Robert Barker created New Media Literacy as an alternate journalism elective to the school this year. The elective aims to teach students to analyze messages in news media and portray stories...

Construction teacher Tomas Ibarra demonstrates how to fix drywall at Alta Vista’s construction classroom. Ibarra works with students from the Alta Vista Opportunity Program, a newly developed satellite of Alta Vista, on Monday and Friday afternoons. Photo by Emily Aronovitz.

District Introduces Alta Vista Opportunity Program

By Avi Varghese, Entertainment Editor | September 27, 2016

Despite schools’ best efforts, students who have difficulty fitting into traditional high schools can slip through the cracks. Even as their peers find success through the school support systems, a small...

Photo by Michael Sieffert.

Downtown Sets Course for the Future

By Brian Huebner, Javin Pombra, and Danny Vesurai | September 27, 2016

Despite dramatic population growth and development in the Bay Area, Los Altos downtown has remained surprisingly unaffected. Most buildings are one or two stories tall, foot traffic is light and streets...

These test scores do not represent the complexities of the situation as the demographics of the students in the classes vary in skill and preparation levels due to the nature of the curriculum. There are other factors at play, meaning this data does not support the claim that one school has superior teaching staff or curriculum. Graphic by Anne Schill.

AP Physics I Test Scores Raise Concerns

By Savita Govind and Anisha Desai | September 27, 2016

After receiving this spring’s AP scores, the district board discussed LAHS’ AP Physics I test results in comparison to MVHS’ results at a meeting on September 6. LAHS’ pass rate hit a record low...

The End of the Tour: De-halo-ing David Foster Wallace

“The End of the Tour”: De-halo-ing David Foster Wallace

By Eli Colbert, Staff Writer | October 7, 2015

Donald Margulies’s “The End of the Tour” opens on David Lipsky learning of his friend David Foster Wallace’s suicide through a Google search. Twelve years have elapsed since Lipsky, then a writer...

TV show host Jon Stewart (left) interviewing Admiral Micheal Mullen (right). Photo courtesy of Wikicommons user Chad J. McNeeley.

For The Daily Show: New Host, New Chapter

By Josh Kirshenbaum, Sports Editor | October 3, 2015

For 16 years, Jon Stewart was a fixture in households across the nation, combining traditional news methods with satire to slowly turn "The Daily Show" into many peoples’ most trusted news source....

Alta Vista High School students (left to right) Alejandro Benavidez, Zitlaly Ramirez and Juan Carbajal smile for a group photo. Photo by Gina Kermode.

Alta Vista: a nurturing community

By Alex Wong, Staff Writer | September 30, 2015

Alta Vista High School, like many continuation schools, is often stigmatized as a place for struggling students. Yet the secluded mini-campus behind the district office has grown to nurture a small and...

Substitute teacher Gilbert Mercado points to a world map that indicates his diverse heritage. Gilbert fosters an atmosphere of cooperative learning in and out of the classroom. Photo by Kimia Shahidi.

The world through Gilbert’s eyes

By Eli Colbert, Staff Writer | September 30, 2015

There is an unofficial bulletin of substitute teachers at Los Altos High School — a network of whispers and shouts that warn of the stranger in your next period: the nearly senile sub, the authoritarian...

Graphic by Anne Schill.

Student work hours should not be increased on weekdays

By Eric Thiem, Business Manager | September 30, 2015

As more and more students flood colleges around the country, ways to differentiate oneself from the crowd are quickly becoming a necessity. Students are taking full Advanced Placement course loads, playing...

Graphic by Vanessa Mark.

By Teddy Chmyz and David Lisbonne | September 30, 2015

Last spring a subcommittee of the District Teacher’s Association dedicated to discussing possible changes to the bell schedule decided that it was, in fact, not in the school’s best interest to change...

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