Gabrielino High School

Officials of two local school districts reacted with either relief or disappointment this week in the wake of an appeals court ruling that allows Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel to remain open. "Everyone has been living in a state of ambiguity," said Gary Goodson, San Gabriel school district superintendent. "It's like a dark cloud has been lifted from over us." But in Alhambra, school officials had a sharply different view.

Long before the city of Los Angeles was officially incorporated, a Spanish priest and the Gabrielino-Tongva Indians came together to build Mission San Gabriel in 1771. A decade later, L.A.'s original settlers made the trek to Olvera Street from the mission -- a journey that allowed San Gabriel to lay claim as the birthplace of the Los Angeles region. As the city launches a yearlong celebration of its centennial, longtime community leaders are hoping to remind both newer residents and non-locals of that history.

The San Gabriel Board of Education will place a $29.9-million bond measure before voters in the school district on April 12 to finance improvements to the proposed Gabrielino High School and two elementary schools. Last March, a similar measure won only 46.6% of the vote, far short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass a local school bond.

The bailiff was an earnest teenage boy. One attorney for the defendant was a 17-year-old girl. The witnesses were high-schoolers, their testimonies invented. But when Gabrielino High School of San Gabriel beat James Monroe High School of North Hills in the Los Angeles County Mock Trial Competition finals Thursday, the tears were real. "Our team completely flipped out, even the guys were crying, we were all so emotional," said Gabrielino team member Vanessa Menchaca, 17.

Teachers and students were celebrating in the halls of Gabrielino High School this week as Alhambra school officials decided to give up the fight to shut down the fledgling high school. "Students, teachers and parents are all very excited. I can hear them whooping down the halls," Dan Mooney, Gabrielino High School principal, said Monday. "Now we can get down to work without worrying about whether or not our school is going to disappear."

San Gabriel's new high school will be the first public building in the state to honor the Gabrielino Indians. A tribal council meeting in San Gabriel erupted in cheers Sunday when the acting chief of the Gabrielinos unveiled a sign proclaiming "Gabrielino High School." "It's a great honor for our tribe. Many of those at Sunday's meeting were elders who'd struggled for decades to gain recognition for our tribe," said Anthony Morales, acting chief.

Bad news for President Clinton. The San Gabriel Unified School District will not consider naming its first high school after him. A majority of more than 60 students and local residents who responded to a district request for high school names suggested Clinton's. But a district committee decided it is too soon to use the name of the five-month president. Three names will be chosen for a ballot that will appear in the district newsletter later this year.

Re "Candidates Seek Lighter Load for School Counselors," April 24 Completing my 10th year as high school counselor (1,850 student population), I am fortunate to have a caseload of less than 475 students, unique for a public school in Los Angeles. Although this is not the greatest student-counselor ratio, I know every senior by his or her first name, and I have the ability to work with their families and teachers and to make referrals to community agencies to address family needs. Our counselors serve as advocates to students in the academic, personal/social and college/career areas, and they work hard for our students and their families.

A $29.9-million bond issue that would have funded construction of a new high school in San Gabriel was defeated in Tuesday's election, but San Gabriel Unified School District Supt. Gary E. Goodson said the high school will open this fall anyway, in temporary facilities. The bond measure fell far short of the two-thirds majority it needed to pass. Despite vigorous efforts by bond supporters to rally support among San Gabriel voters, the measure did not garner even a simple majority.

Re "Numbers Aren't Everything," editorial, Oct. 13: Having put two sons into the University of California system in the last three years, I can tell you a hard and true fact. You do not get accepted to UC Berkeley with an SAT score under 1,000. In fact, you do not get into UC Berkeley with a score under 1,300. Under a fair and equal evaluation, it just does not happen. There are top high school students being rejected at Berkeley by the thousands. Top students! The fact that 381 students were accepted with below-average SAT scores is cause for an investigation in which more than a few heads should roll.

Re "Candidates Seek Lighter Load for School Counselors," April 24 Completing my 10th year as high school counselor (1,850 student population), I am fortunate to have a caseload of less than 475 students, unique for a public school in Los Angeles. Although this is not the greatest student-counselor ratio, I know every senior by his or her first name, and I have the ability to work with their families and teachers and to make referrals to community agencies to address family needs. Our counselors serve as advocates to students in the academic, personal/social and college/career areas, and they work hard for our students and their families.

Re "Numbers Aren't Everything," editorial, Oct. 13: Having put two sons into the University of California system in the last three years, I can tell you a hard and true fact. You do not get accepted to UC Berkeley with an SAT score under 1,000. In fact, you do not get into UC Berkeley with a score under 1,300. Under a fair and equal evaluation, it just does not happen. There are top high school students being rejected at Berkeley by the thousands. Top students! The fact that 381 students were accepted with below-average SAT scores is cause for an investigation in which more than a few heads should roll.

The family of a San Gabriel Gabrielino High football player who has been in a coma since sustaining a head injury during a game Oct. 4 has filed claims against two school districts, alleging Andrew Castillo was injured because his helmet was improperly inflated and that there was insufficient medical attention provided at the game.

It was supposed to be a time of joy, of banners and balloons, flowers, a queen and her court, and, with some luck, a few touchdowns by the football team to keep the crowd in good cheer. But any celebrating was put on hold Thursday night as San Gabriel Gabrielino High football players, coaches and fans contemplated something far more serious than what was to have been their homecoming game.

Authorities Thursday said that someone set the $2-million fire that gutted an entire wing of classrooms at a San Gabriel high school last month. The blaze March 20 destroyed two offices and 10 classrooms at Gabrielino High School, forcing students into makeshift classrooms ranging from the library to the boys' locker room. More than 50 firefighters took two hours to extinguish the Saturday night blaze.

Enduring the lingering smell of charred timber, students at a San Gabriel high school used everything from the boys locker room to the library Monday for makeshift classrooms after a suspicious $2-million fire gutted an entire wing of classrooms. When fire crews finally got the blaze under control about 11 p.m. Saturday, it had devastated Gabrielino High School, destroying two offices, 10 classrooms and leaving the school's southwest wing with little more than wood framing.

The bailiff was an earnest teenage boy. One attorney for the defendant was a 17-year-old girl. The witnesses were high-schoolers, their testimonies invented. But when Gabrielino High School of San Gabriel beat James Monroe High School of North Hills in the Los Angeles County Mock Trial Competition finals Thursday, the tears were real. "Our team completely flipped out, even the guys were crying, we were all so emotional," said Gabrielino team member Vanessa Menchaca, 17.

Long before the city of Los Angeles was officially incorporated, a Spanish priest and the Gabrielino-Tongva Indians came together to build Mission San Gabriel in 1771. A decade later, L.A.'s original settlers made the trek to Olvera Street from the mission -- a journey that allowed San Gabriel to lay claim as the birthplace of the Los Angeles region. As the city launches a yearlong celebration of its centennial, longtime community leaders are hoping to remind both newer residents and non-locals of that history.

In 1994, when the doors of Gabrielino High School opened for the first time, hordes of 14-year-old freshmen walked in and took over. Because Gabrielino was the San Gabriel Unified School District's first high school, officials had to introduce students one grade at a time, creating a first-year campus populated entirely by ninth-graders.

Teachers and students were celebrating in the halls of Gabrielino High School this week as Alhambra school officials decided to give up the fight to shut down the fledgling high school. "Students, teachers and parents are all very excited. I can hear them whooping down the halls," Dan Mooney, Gabrielino High School principal, said Monday. "Now we can get down to work without worrying about whether or not our school is going to disappear."