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September 2022 VOLUME XXXV ISSUE I
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STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL
Most AP exam scores increase, returning to pre-pandemic numbers By Tiffany Lieu
Courtesy of Milpitas Days Inn
As of Sept. 11, 2022, 66 families have indicated interest in providing rooms or residential units for teachers.
MUSD requests that residents rent rooms to teachers as housing prices rise By Stephen Huang
The Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) has asked residents of Milpitas to rent rooms to faculty members because housing prices have increased to unaffordable levels, according to Superintendent Cheryl Jordan. The district first proposed the appeal in a school board meeting on Aug. 23, she said. As of Sept. 11, 2022, 66 families have indicated an interest in providing rooms or residential units, Jordan said. However, only one faculty member has shown interest in renting space through the list of available families sent to them, she said. The human relations department sent a Google form to determine the availability of families to offer either a room or a secondary property for rent to educators, she said. Practical living wage and affordable housing can be achieved with the combined efforts of the community and the district as a whole,
she said. “There aren’t a lot of people coming into the teaching profession at this point, and I think one of those reasons is feeling unappreciated,” Jordan said. “What I like about our Milpitas community is that, even throughout COVID, we have definitely demonstrated an appreciation for the people in the classrooms and the people supporting those classrooms so that our students can be their best selves.” Seven staff members left MUSD in 2022 in search of a more affordable area to live in California, but this number does not represent the living situations of the district’s current employees, Jordan said. “The district did an initial survey to all employees in 2018 regarding their housing situation,” Jordan said. “We discovered there was one person, who was a school psychologist at the time, that shared in the survey that they were couch-surfing because
they couldn’t find a place to rent. … Another longtime MUSD employee had initially purchased a small townhome, but because of the pace of housing prices, they missed the opportunity to purchase something larger. And so they are stuck in their one or two-bedroom apartment, even though they now have a grown family,” she added. As of August 2022, the median sale price of housing in Milpitas is $1.3 million, an 18% increase from the previous year, according to the Realtor real estate company. “Milpitas used to be the affordable place to go to if you couldn’t afford other areas of Santa Clara County and you wanted to be close to Silicon Valley action,” Jordan said. “Now, the housing crisis has made it difficult for people to afford a place to live in if they haven’t already established themselves in the community beSEE PAGE 8
District plans fencing for school safety By Anannya Bhuskat
MUSD has planned and begun the blueprinting of new fencing around the Milpitas High School campus, which will be funded by the money from the Milpitas School Saftey and Classroom Upgrade Measure, Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison said. The goal is to have fencing around all the schools of the MUSD district, she said. Many schools, including most of the elementary and middle schools, have or are working on their fencing, she said. The planning is expected to continue and building is set tentatively to start during the summer, she said. “There was a voting that took place, and part of the finances that were approved were about the safety of the schools. It was then determined by the people who oversee these bond measures what that safety would look like - fencing included,” Hutchison said.
Bond measure AA, which was passed in 2018 with a 71.41% vote, holds $284 million in bond monies for the Milpitas School Safety and Classroom Upgrade Measure, according to the MUSD website. This money was set to be spread across four categories: modernization, overcrowding, safety, and security, the website states. “Specialists were brought in to look at safety on every campus in the Milpitas Unified School District,” Hutchison said. “A walk through campus with them has already been done. We talked about various options, and now the (fencing) company is going back and drafting some plans. We’ll look at those and decide which ones we like … or go back to the drawing board again if none of them work, ” she said. Although the exact perimeters of fencing have not been determined yet, the school is in an ex-
ploratory phase of determining what locations and systems will serve best for security, safety, and aesthetic purposes, Hutchison said. The school is looking into different concepts of fencing and considering opening them at different times depending on the day of the week, Hutchison said. All these factors will be considered when determining the placement of the fencing , she added. “We want to ensure fewer access points to be able to come into campus, but enough exit points to be able to get off campus and leave it a little open,” Hutchison said. However, the administration has raised concern on how the school will best use the fencing to provide safety while managing to regulate the flow of car traffic and students walking to and from classes, she said. The logistics are still being worked on, and will be finalized once the blueprint is created, she said.
The average score and the percentage of students who passed the Advanced Placement (AP) exam at MHS for most AP subjects were greater in 2022 than 2021, according to data provided by Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison. While the College Board offered online testing options in 2021, all exams were administered in person in the 2021-2022 school year, Hutchison said. “This year, we’re back to where Milpitas has always been,” Hutchison said. “We exceed in most areas, both state and national scores.” Teaching online during the 2020-21 school year came with difficulties that included sharing class material to students and maintaining accountability, AP calculus BC teacher Annie Nguyen said. However, after returning back in person, the resources from the year online remained useful, Nguyen said. “One good note about COVID is that I did a lot of the videos online,” Nguyen said. “So then when we went back to in-person, if a student was absent, I could just
give them that video.” Similarly, AP United States history teacher Casandra Parada said that it was easier to hold students accountable for completing assignments honestly in person, and that being in the classroom allowed students to better connect and collaborate. “Overall, motivation decreased when the students were at home, versus, when they’re in class, they have that camaraderie and they can build those relationships that help motivate each other,” Parada said. “And I can help motivate that person much better than through a computer screen.” For the 2022-2023 school year, AP exam fees will be due in early November, as required by College Board policies, Hutchison said. In-person digital exams will be offered in seven subject areas for the 2023 AP exams, according to the College Board. However, Hutchison said that MHS would likely not choose this option. “I want to make sure that College Board has an opportunity to work through the kinks that happen on that platform before we take risks with our test scores and all the students’ hard work to get to that point,” Hutchison said.
Community-oriented performing arts center set to begin construction By Tiffany Lieu
A performing arts center funded by Bond Measure AA is set to be built on the site of the current staff parking lot, according to Associate Principal Skyler Draeger. Until the groundbreaking of the performing arts center, staff and students will remain in their original designated lots, Draeger said. Though, it is uncertain exactly when construction on the center will begin, he added. “Construction has been affected over COVID due to supply
chain as well as availability of workers,” Draeger said. “We will be groundbreaking at some point, hopefully this year for the theater art center.” According to theater teacher Kaila Schwartz, who was a part of a team in charge of design decisions, the performing arts center has been in the planning stages for several years, with the need arising from a lack of adequate facilities. “Anybody who is involved in SEE PAGE 8
Courtsey of Milpitas High School website
Sketch of 550-seat theater which will be located inside the to-be-built performing arts center.