What’s your sign?8

ENROLLMENT DECLINES

Explaining the causes and effects of lower enrollment within FUHSD BY TANISH MENDKI AND MATTHEW YOSHIMOTO

In the past school year, MVHS’s total enrollment shrank from 2,082 to 1,842 students and is predicted to reach a student body of 1,619 by the 202526 school year. This steady decline in the number of students is “not just a bubble — it’s a trend,” according to Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Tom Avvakumovits.

One explanation for declining enrollment is record low birth rates in the Bay Area. Data collected by the California Department of Public Health shows a large decrease in births in the county, dropping from 26,730 births in 2008 to 22,137 nine years later.

Another cause of declining enrollment is the high cost of living and recent modifications to the interior designs of homes, according to Thomas R. Williams, the Principal Demographer for Enrollment Projection Consultants. New developments are mainly onebedroom units, which is targeted to young tech employees as opposed to families — this decreases the number of students who would attend FUHSD schools.

“It’s not like we’ve cut your art program or your music program,”

Avvakumovits said. “You can still a majority of the student body take band. You still have access to takes these courses. While MVHS five different levels of four different enrollment has overall decreased, the languages. [Although it] gets harder number of sections of certain offerings and harder to maintain, the course has grown, such as AVID, Drama and offerings have not diminished as a Journalism. result of declining enrollment.” English and Drama teacher Hannah FUHSD has Gould fears that prior experience with declining I’M HEARTENED BY THE courses she teaches “might enrollment at FACT THAT WE HAVE A not exist, or might Lynbrook High HISTORY OF [OFFERING just continue to School. When LHS faced record low attendance in COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMS]. shrink moving forward.” Gould is concerned that 2016, the FUHSD FUHSD ASSOCIATE students who Board passed SUPERINTENDENT are interested in the Lynbrook Supplemental TOM AVVAKUMOVITS Drama might miss the opportunity S c h o o l due to the district Assignment Plan, created by the making schedules based on the top Citizens Advisory Committee on 6 choices of students. However, Enrollment. In this plan, all students this year, MVHS added a section of from Miller Middle School had the Beginning Drama and Writing for option to enroll at LHS, while 22 spots Publication by using students’ seventh were reserved for students from Hyde choices. Middle School. “A lot of people are just thinking of “That’s an example of [FUHSD] ‘we might have to have a few more trying to say, ‘Hey, we value people split between sites,’ and, ‘No, a comprehensive high school what’s a small thing for the whole experience for our school is this massive thing for these NUMBER OF STUDENTS AT MVHS BY YEAR students,’” MVHS electives courses,’” Gould said. “[Other Principal Ben elective teachers and I are] trying to 2,274 Clausnitzer said. “That’s an example explain the urgency of the problem from our perspective. I’m honestly not 2,193 2,028 1,842 of one solution that’s occurring right now in our district, and that could be something that is explored in the sure if the people who are in these positions of power to help push these conversations forward have a full understanding of how urgent it is.” Clausnitzer acknowledges that future for [MVHS].” smaller programs will be more Clausnitzer negatively impacted if enrollment says that declining decreases to below approximately enrollment has 1,650 students. 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 a proportionate impact on larger departments, such as Science, Math, English, Social Science and World “I’m committed to [giving] students as much choice and as many opportunities to have comprehensive programs as possible,” Avvakumovits said. “We have a history of doing so when our schools many, many years Languages, since ago were even smaller.”

TAKE OUR FEBRUARY NEWS QUIZ

Test your knowledge of key events last month BY RIYA RAVURI AND MATTHEW YOSHIMOTO

1 Culture

Which country’s culture was showcased on the last day of MVHS Cultural Week? 5

Berkeley Who was the leading Republican candidate during the California recall election? Which group filed a lawsuit against UC Berkeley, causing it to cap enrollment by at least 2,500 students?

6 COVID-19

After what date will the mask mandate be lifted indoors in California schools?

7 Wordle

Who was the leading Republican candidate during the California recall election? Which company purchased the popular word game Wordle, announced on Jan. 31?

2 Football

Which team won the 2022 Super Bowl on Feb. 13?

3 Warfare

Who was the leading Republican candidate during the California recall election? What country adopted EU sanctions against Russia on Feb. 28, despite its history of neutrality?

8 Valentine

On which day were Singing Valentines delivered by MV Choirs?

9 SNL

Who was the leading Republican candidate during the California recall election? Which two staff members hosted MV’s SNL on Feb. 18 and 19?

4 Olympics

Where were the 2022 Winter Olympics hosted?

ILLUSTRATIONS | GAURI MANOJ

10 Mosque

In which country did a blast hit a mosque, killing 56 people?

Opinion

ADIEU AUX CRÉDITS

World language should be emphasized in elementary school instead

Ijust memorized the answers for the next oral.”

“I just put it in Google Translate and switched around a few words.”

“I’ve forgotten the conjugations from the beginning of the year.”

These statements fly around MVHS hallways during brunch, lunch and passing periods. Commonly taken to be eligible for UCs and to be a more competitive applicant for college admissions, world language classes have become integral to the MVHS experience.

The world language classes offered at MVHS — Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese — are taught by experienced teachers with a variety of learning methods. From orals and written exams to creative projects, these classes give students a foundation of a new language. However, the issue lies within the timing of these classes, pushed upon students in high school — a time when grasping a new language will take many more hours of practice rather than when we’re younger.

A Boston research study found that learning a new language, solely from a grammatical perspective, can be done most easily until age 18. But the ability to become fluent in a second language is strongest up until age 10.

After three to four years of taking a world language in high school, most don’t obtain fluency in the slightest — it’s often only months of not being given required homework and tests in class that we forget the basics of the grammar and vocabulary. In fact, even from the beginning of the semester to the end, we can forget words and conjugations that disappear from our brains after memorization for a test.

It’s common for MVHS students to find loopholes around taking the recommended two years of language classes to make room in their schedules for other course offerings by taking summer and online courses. At the end of the day, their counterparts with four years of high school classes just might end up with the same fluency.

And the lack of complete fluency obtained from these classes shows. According to the General Social Survey from 2006, 25% of Americans selfreported speaking a language other than English. However, only 7% of this group attributes school as where they learned the majority of their second language. This 7% isn’t enough for UCs to keep years of world language classes a requirement in high school. With the implementation of Ethnic Studies and Health courses, space to explore electives in course schedules is limited, and MVHS students simply don’t have the time to invest in language learning.

Instead, we should promote elementary and middle schools to make learning languages a requirement because learning languages obviously comes with many rewards, including the ability to obtain fluency much more quickly, cultural awareness and improved cognitive abilities that’ll pay off in the long run.

If a student is starting to learn a language in high school, they should be choosing out of their own volition, not because it’s a requirement for UC applications. In this case, they’ll be intrinsically motivated to study and seek out immersive experiences themselves, accelerating their language learning journey outside the classroom.

In a world filled with a lack of cultural awareness and appreciation, there’s no doubt that we should be promoting learning new languages. Let’s focus on teaching kids another language at younger ages when their brains are most ready and removing these courses from the UC’s eligibility requirements. This way, our next generation of graduates will be genuinely interested in their second, or even third or fourth, languages and not just jumping through hoops.

LEAVING IT ALL BEHIND

Exploring the guilt that surrounds being a child of immigrants BY DIYA BAHL

Our parents led whole different lives before us. They had their own childhoods, went to high school, hung out with their friends and had their own hobbies, just like we do. Some of them even lived in entirely different countries.

My mom used to be a fashion designer. She loved the intricate process of picking colors, cutting fabric, putting pieces together and creating something she would love for other people to wear. Without the opportunity to go to college, she dove into the world of fashion after graduating from high school, and even modeled her clothes on the side. After moving to the U.S. from India in 1999 along with my dad and older sister, who was two years old at the time, she neglected her hobby and instead did whatever she could to help make ends meet. She cleaned houses, babysat children and eventually opened a home daycare in our tiny apartment’s living room.

My dad dabbled in many fields, from serving in the Indian Army to somehow also modeling. His ultimate dream was to get his MBA and work in the business world, but after moving to America, he had to put his aspirations on hold. He began working at Subway before moving on to drive a taxi cab for many years. He eventually progressed from being a taxi driver to being an Uber driver, which he was for numerous years, but nevertheless, he still wasn’t doing what he truly desired.

Being a child of immigrants, I can’t help but feel guilty about the life I have after what they had to go through. They came here so I could go to the best schools, live in a prestigious city like Cupertino and have access to the proper resources to pursue my dreams — something they didn’t get the opportunity to have. Their sacrifices for my success cause me to dwell on what could have been for them, and how unfair it is that I will be able to achieve most of what I want when they couldn’t for many years after moving to this country.

And what adds to the guilt is their unconditional and loving support. They came here to give us a better life, so they do all that they can to ensure we

never have to go through the hardships they had to deal with. They offer to get me a tutor when I’m struggling in a subject, and they support me when I pursue my hobbies like being on the Bhangra team, or wanting to volunteer at a hospital to further my interest in medicine. I feel bad for all that they do for me, knowing that they let go of their personal interests to be 100% supportive of mine. But their sacrifices also serve as motivation to make them proud. With I FEEL BAD FOR ALL THAT THEY DO FOR the life they’ve worked so hard to give me, I can’t imagine wasting it and not fulfilling their desire for me to be as ME, KNOWING THAT successful as I can be. I actively try my THEY LET GO OF best to turn this guilt into an incentive THEIR PERSONAL INTERESTS TO BE 100% SUPPORTIVE OF for working hard so that their actions weren’t for no reason. And, it’s not like they’ve completely lost sight of their own ambitions. My MINE. mom’s favorite activity in the world is shopping — she’ll go to the mall in her free time, browsing every store even if she has no intention of buying anything. She loves to style the clothes she already owns, and enjoys creating outfits for my sister and I whenever we need the help. Although she was never able to make a career out of it, she never lost sight of her love for fashion throughout the years. In addition, my dad recently became a certified real estate agent, finally fulfilling his goal of working in the business world. Though it took them almost 15 years, they’ve come back to their goals, and accomplished most of what they’ve desired. My parents now own preschools together, continuing my dad’s love for business and my mom’s history of working with children. I’ll forever be grateful for all the sacrifices they made so I can live the life I am right now, no matter how guilty I feel about it.