Crittenden and Stevenson Principals Selected
Crittenden and Stevenson Principals Selected
The Mountain View Whisman School District is pleased to announce the selection of principals for Crittenden Middle School and Stevenson PACT School for the 2012-13 school year.
Geoff Chang has been selected as the new principal of Crittenden Middle School. Geoff is currently the Assistant Principal of Lower Manhattan Community Middle School in New York City, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, and has masters degrees in special education and secondary social studies from Queens College and in educational leadership from Columbia University. Geoff’s prior experience includes teaching social studies and English in New York City Schools, a summer teaching English in Zhejiang Province, China, and serving as a selection manager for the New York City Teaching Fellows Program.
Tyler Graff has been selected as the new principal of Stevenson PACT School. Tyler is currently working as a resident principal intern at William E. Russell Elementary School in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate degree from California State University, Chico, where he also obtained his multiple subjects teaching credential. In May, he will complete his masters degree in school leadership at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Tyler previously served as an elementary teacher in the Cambrian School District in San Jose, and his experiences include a summer as a foreign exchange teacher in Nanjing China.
Both principals are from the Bay Area and are looking forward to returning “home.” We are looking forward to the enthusiasm, knowledge, and expertise they will bring to our District as school leaders. There will be opportunities for Crittenden and Stevenson students, staff, parents and community members to meet their new principals prior to the start of the school year.
iWalk 2011 Graced by Double Rainbow and Showered with Green
2011-10-05, Mountain View (Reported by Yuan L. and K. Shankari) 
- Stevenson PACT, the only one in MVWSD to participate in International Walk To School USA (iWalk) 2011, registered a 75.8% participation rate and raised $1,000 for the progressive public school. Rain was predicted for Wednesday - and fell rather heavily by the time armies of PACT students walked, scootered, and biked to Stevenson. The showers didn't dampen the roaring spirit of the iWalk crowd the least bit. On the contrary, the double rainbow that preceded and accompanied the raindrops dressed up the walk routes and campus.
Five minutes before the bell rang, over a hundred PACT students had arrived at the school by their legs, on bicycles, unicycles, scooters, from buses, or in a carpool, with more still coming. The two bike racks were full, some had to park along the fence. As students lined up in front of classroom doors, eager to share their experience with friends, their parents gathered around the small campus, enjoying the scene of double rainbow and the high school spirit. Leslie Z., who bikes to school with her second grader every day, described the nice feeling: "It was an awesome experience to come onto Central Ave and see this long line of people and realize that they are all from our school!" Principal Angela Lyon also observed: "Traffic and parking on San Pierre are so smooth today." (The presence of Mountain View Police helped, too.)
Families who did not regularly walk to school found this experience enjoyable and motivating. "My son has been asking to bike to school for a long time," said first grader mom Archana U. "But we (had) always said that we'd do it later. This event motivated us to try it out and it was so much fun." Even kindergarteners would not let go the opportunity. The daughter of Shankari, the kinder mom who organized the event for PACT, felt tired and was ready to go into the trailer when her friend's bike passed. "Wait for me," the kindergartener called out and whizzed off after her.
Whilst little bikers may have the most fun, those who came out of school bus were the proudest: "We didn't drive to school today - we take the bus everyday. Why should we drive?"
The iWalk campaign and organization also brought the already tight PACT community even closer. One kinder class found five families living within a radius of half a mile, and was able to set up two carpools. "I think that walking and biking help us integrate into the community better," Maia C., whose third-grade son joined PACT only a year ago, said. "I have a neighbour whom I've emailed with before but never actually met until today morning, when we biked in together."
For iWalk 2011, the Eco Committee secured private donations to match percentage of student participation for Stevenson PACT: The more students, the more greenhouse gas reduction, the more greenbacks for the school! They even enlisted three Councilmembers including Vice Mayor Mike Kasperzak to joined the school's (un)drive to reduce emission. (A fourth member, Magaret Abe-Koga, who is a PACT mom naturally joined the walk.) In the end, 195 students out of 258 on campus that day arrived by one of the greener means. (The entire fifth grade was out on science camp for the week and could not join.) Not only has this exceeded the Committee's initial estimation, but the huge turnout, the enthusiasm of the community, and Stevenson PACT's school spirit have impressed the anonymous donors so much that they decided to donate the full amount of the matching fund.
Hooray for a green day!
Green Living to the Full
2011-09-30, Mountain View (Reported by Yuan L) - Last Saturday's Recycle e-Waste for Education event at Stevenson PACT Elementary School was a resounding success! EarthCare Recycling brought its truck and readied the tables in front of the school site at 9 am. By 11 am, three boxes of 4' x 4' x 6' had been filled. Some old monitors, TV's, and desktop PC's were waiting to be packed.
When the truck left at 3 pm, at least 79 people, some from outside PACT community but heard the news, had brought old electronics to be recycled and disposed properly. Larger ones, including 23 computer monitors and TV sets, filled five boxes. Smaller and denser materials added another three trash cans. It did help that three dozen parents came to Stevenson campus for Parent Ed, a popular program that teaches parents how to engage in progressive education that is at the center of PACT's mission. Additionally, two dozen PACT parents and kids showed up in Garden Work Day, another PACT tradition, to prepare their beloved green garden for the new season.
Thanks to Stevenson PACT's Eco Committee and the extended PACT community, 500 cubic feet of electronic waste weighing a total of 3,448 pounds has been prevented from ending up in landfill or becoming health and safety hazard in China and other developing countries! According to Steve Ramona of EarthCare, collected materials will be processed at ECS Recycling, one of three recyclers in California to receive e-Steward certification. For a small fee, you can obtain a letter that certifies responsible disposition after you drop off.
Green your attic, reduce environmental hazard. Green your garden, grow organic crops. Learning from teachers and parents' examples, PACT kids lead a green life from a young age. On Saturday September 24, living green also meant green the school's coffer - with green backs! For this event has just earned $134 for PACT Foundation, the school's PTA. (Well, you can say that some participants have greened their own coffers, too, by disposing items that usually require a fee to be recycled.) Green is the way of living in Stevenson PACT.
John S. from the Eco Committee who organized the event reminds PACT families and friends that you can continue to drop off e-waste at the Earthcare Recycling site in San Jose. Just note that it is for Stevenson PACT.
PACT in the News
Stevenson PACT sometimes finds itself in the local press. Here are some recent articles.
(Older press)
