Classrooms “filled to the max”

I know that I am not alone when I ask for more well trained educators to reduce classroom sizes and help students have a better learning environment at Golden Valley High School. Golden Valley High School is located in southeast Bakersfield in a poverty-stricken neighborhood, where more than 70 percent of students receive free or reduced lunch. Even though there are many things that need improvement in my high school, I feel that we need smaller classroom sizes to allow for more one-on-one relationships between teachers and students. As shown in the picture, many if not all classrooms at Golden Valley are filled to the max with about 35-45 students per classroom, which is way over capacity. Much of this is not due to lack of classrooms, but to budget cuts which restrict the hiring of new teachers, causing a shortage of staff that results in too many students being fit into small classrooms.

~ Chris Romo, Golden Valley High School, Kern High School District (KHSD)

Food “just isn’t appealing”

The lunch menu is terrible! Instead of moving to whole grains and gluten-free, why not add diversity to the menu? Every time I go to lunch, many students refuse to get the standard: one fruit, one vegetable, a milk and an entree. It just isn’t appealing. Furthermore, lactose-intolerant students must look elsewhere if they are to eat lunch, no alternative is offered. I once found a cockroach in the tray of oranges in the cafeteria. Lovely. My school has, and knows it has, a cockroach infestation, yet there isn’t much they seem to do about it.

~ Maria Hammet, Merced High School, Merced Union High School District (MUHSD)

The food in our cafeteria needs to be better. It is either undercooked or overcooked and they serve the exact same thing everyday. There is no variety and that is a huge issue.

~ Deborah Juarez, Merced High School, Merced Union High School District (MUHSD)

More resources for “teaching the AP Exam”

At Buhach Colony High School, there is more of a focus on the general class curriculum, and not as much on the AP exam. For this reason the amount of students who earn [a good score] on the AP exam are those who make it their goal to be successful and decide to form study groups, as well as pursue other kinds of outside educational aid. My suggestion would be for schools to better prepare the students by teaching the AP exam, and not simply show them the requirements or the format of the test.

~ Fernando Almaraz, Buhach Colony High School, Merced Union High School District (MUHSD)

Tags: LCFF, schools, spotlight