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California Newspaper Publishers Association
MARCH 10, 2017 VOLUME 25, NO. 7
www.MountainViewOnline.com
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MOVIES | 20
Google’s new dome-home wins city approval UNIQUE DESIGN FOR EAST CHARLESTON CAMPUS WINS OVER CITY COUNCIL By Mark Noack
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MICHELLE LE
Olivia Byun and Kristen Cheung assemble a custom intake gear box at a meeting of Mountain View High School’s robotics club.
Robotics club thrives at Mountain View High STUDENTS TURN SPARTAN ROBOTICS INTO A WORLD-CLASS TEAM By Kevin Forestieri
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very Friday night when the clock strikes 7 p.m., dozens of students flood in to Mountain View High School to get back to work. Whether it’s drilling, cutting or bending metal parts, design-
ing software or working on electrical wiring, members of the school’s Spartan Robotics team seem to have no problem committing the next five or six hours to tinkering when most students are more than happy to leave school behind for the weekend.
Whatever is driving students to commit countless hours to building a robot that can perform complex actions, both autonomously and with a remote control, it appears to be infectious. Over the last See ROBOTICS, page 7
isten closely and you can probably hear the champagne corks popping over at Google. After nearly 10 years of planning, Google’s vision to create a premier headquarters in Mountain View’s North Bayshore will become a reality. At a Tuesday, March 7, meeting, City Council members gave what will likely be their last round of approvals for the company’s plan to create a campus with a unique design. The plans for the 18-acre site at 2000 N. Shoreline Blvd. known as Charleston East will represent the Google’s first attempt at designing its own building. Since revealing its grand design about two years ago, the company has emphasized that its new home would reflect its culture of innovation and community. Those values led to an eyecatching proposal marked by glass walls, a public promenade and what could be one of the world’s largest solar array draped over the campus like a tent canopy. Architects for the company say the structure was tailored for
everyone to enjoy, not just the company’s workforce. They point to a public “Green Loop” cutting through the dome-like structure that will include cafes, art and other attractions. The open plaza at the southeast corner of the site will be reserved for public events, such as food trucks, live music or tech exhibits. Early preparations for construction have reportedly already begun at the Charleston East site, and Google officials expect to move forward swiftly with the project’s grading and foundation. Depending on the weather, the company is aiming to complete the project by late 2019. Executives, architects and other Google representatives pitched their new campus as a showpiece for the city, not just for the company. John Igoe, Google’s real estate director, described it as a new “front door” to Mountain View for tech tourists and other visitors. “This was our opportunity to make this location more open to the community,” he said. “We took such an effort to make sure See GOOGLE, page 8
Parents say big questions still remain over Teach to One DISTRICT OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY PROBLEMS WITH DIGITAL MATH PROGRAM By Kevin Forestieri
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arents in the Mountain View Whisman School District are still uneasy about the handling of a controversial digital math program. In comments to the board and in emails to the Voice last week, parents roundly criticized the district for refusing to acknowledge deep flaws in the roll-out of the Teach to One program
INSIDE
last year. While the district is is putting forth a new protocol for new and experimental pilot programs, emphasizing a need to listen to everyone — teachers, parents and community members alike — parents say they’re not confident that the new strategy is going to bring more quality assurance to a process that ultimately failed students. Some board members, on the other hand, argued that it’s time
‘I want to learn the appropriate lessons, but I feel like we have.’ BOARD MEMBER LAURA BLAKELY
to move on, and that dwelling on the problems with Teach to One digital math amounts to
CLASS GUIDE 11 | GOINGS ON 21 | MARKETPLACE 22 | REAL ESTATE 24
beating a dead horse. At the March 3 board meeting, Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph laid out a new process that injects more public accountability into pilot adoption. Any new experimental curriculum will have its own advisory committee, which will develop a timeline and duration for the pilot, metrics for success and a review process. The committee will give the board a final recommendation at the end
of the trial period. The policy is less clear on how the community gets a say when new pilots are initially proposed and cleared for launch, which is done by the superintendent “or designee” and formally approved by the board. Up until now, the district had pretty meager guidelines for trying out new programs — a See TEACH TO ONE, page 6