December 11, 2020 Print Issue
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NEWS 6 SCHOOL SCOPE 17 SPORTS 23 Dump truck Schools Colleges cut worldwide sports, leaving in SHS back student athletes parking lot. returning. upset. THE saratogafalconAN INDEPENDENT HIGH SCHOOL PUBLICATION Friday, December 11, 2020 Saratoga High School Saratoga, CA Vol. 61, No. 3 FALCON // AVANI KONGETIRA AVANI // FALCON Drama students filmed scenes on-campus 2020... and now 2021 for their original productions. FALCON // SELINA CHEN // SELINA FALCON Sports like football returned for masked, socially distanced practices. SHS to remain in online learning BY ChristinaChang #e district introduced the four- & AnjaliPai phase plan for returning to campus at the beginning of the school year. #e A!er Santa Clara County and school year began in Phase 1 with all most of the state shi!ed back into the students in remote learning. In Phase purple tier of a color-coded tracking 2, which began in the fall, the school system in mid-November, the district brought back speci$c groups of stu- will not transition to Phase 3 hybrid dents in small stable cohorts. Phase education in January, as o"cials ini- 3 involves bringing back all students tially hoped, according to an email into a hybrid learning model, and sent to the community by superin- Phase 4 would consist of bringing all tendent Dr. Michael Grove on Nov. students back for full-time in-person FALCON // AVANI KONGETIRA AVANI // FALCON 20. Instead, the school will consider learning. #e schedule for reopening proceeding with Phase 3 later in sec- is in%uenced by the tier the county is ond semester, potentially in March or in. April as COVID-19 conditions im- prove. SEMESTER on pg. 3 McAfee manager Benjamin Brotzman COVID-19 NEWS on pg. 3 transitioned into Zoom coordinator. Graphic by ALEKHYA VADLAKONDA AND JOANN ZHANG Season 1 sports postponed BY JonathanLi Grove directed the school to shut down & CarolynWang non-academic onsite school activities, al- though four academic cohorts are still on Athletes’ hopes for school sport sea- campus. #e last in-person sports practice sons to $nally restart in mid-December occurred on Nov. 20. were crushed when coaches announced Governor Gavin Newsom has not re- that practices would be canceled for the leased guidelines for athletic activities, rest of the year and may tentatively start leaving many schools and athletes uncer- in January following the recent surge of tain of what lies ahead. In a press release PERMIT #3335 PERMIT HAYWARD CA HAYWARD COVID-19 cases and Santa Clara County’s on Dec. 1, the state announced that the PAID move back into the purple tier. governor would delay the release of sports SARATOGA CA 95070 CA SARATOGA US POSTAGE US Although the county still allows guidelines until January at the earliest. 20300 HERRIMAN AVE AVE HERRIMAN 20300 NONPROFIT ORG NONPROFIT schools to host in-person sports prac- #ese delays come with a local cost. tices provided that social distancing can be maintained, superintendent Michael SPORTS on pg. 21 NEWS 1-6 OPINION 7-10 LIFESTYLES 11-13 ENTERTAINMENT 14-16 SCHOOL SCOPE 17-18 IN-DEPTH 19-20 SPORTS 21-23 BACKPAGE 24 The Saratoga Falcon 2 NEWS December 11, 2020 picturethis newsbriefs Hope for an in-person Homecoming dims further Despite initially postponing this year’s Homecoming fes- tivities, spirit commission currently has not set any o!cial Homecoming plans for next semester. According to senior Emily Choi, head spirit commissioner, in-person Home- coming activities have been canceled until further notice. At the beginning of the school year, ASB and the spirit commission "oated the idea of combining Homecoming celebrations with Spring Fling week or a potential January date if the school reached Phase 4 of the reopening plan. Given the recent surge of COVID-19 cases and Santa Clara County’s return to the purple tier on Nov. 16, the school may be less likely to move beyond its current status of Phase 2A. #e Leadership class has discussed the option of live- streaming quad day performances without an audience, FALCON // SELINA CHEN but that would also require a progression in phases of the Fruit Fundraiser | Sophomore Anushka Sankaran hands a box of fruit to a customer at a fruit sale fund- reopening plan. Because quad day practices are considered raiser for Speech and Debate on Nov. 4. !e club sold pears, apples and grapes among other fruits. social gatherings, they would have to be supervised and reg- ulated for health safety, which Choi said would be di!cult. Other traditional Homecoming events are even more dif- $cult to modify. “One of my favorite parts of Homecoming is the corona- tion ceremony and football game,” Choi said. “But football Private schools try hybrid model season is in question, and separating the coronation cere- mony from the football game kind of defeats the purpose.” BY ChristinaChang son said she now rarely sees big Still, Choi is optimistic that some aspects of a traditional & ChrisChen groups on campus. Homecoming might be possible next semester. But until the According to #e King’s Acade- school reopening plan is $nalized, Choi said that the spirit Editor’s Note: !is story was my high school principal Je& Wil- commission cannot plan large in-person activities. written before the most recent liamson, pre-pandemic, the school — Audrey Mah coronavirus surge in the Bay Area averaged class sizes of 19 students. and re"ects the situations at these Now with hybrid learning, the in- schools as of mid-November. !e person class size averages seven King’s Academy and Bellarmine students, with a maximum of 12. 1: Widespread College Preparatory have returned King’s Academy sophomore to a fully remote learning model as Keila Barton believes that many -Close many non-essential of late November. students $nd it di!cult to stay Graphic by CHRISTINA CHANG businesses while building out testing, contact tracing, PPE, and locked-in during online classes. to reconnect with friends and sta&. hospital surge capacity. #is fall, many local private “I’m looking forward to learn- As of Nov. 23, the school has now schools have tested in-person ing in person because I have a re- been back at school for four weeks, 2: Substantial PURPLE teaching, a path Saratoga High ally short attention span,” Barton with no COVID-19 cases. Zone has been tiptoeing toward with a said. “Being at school really makes “I’m really excited that we’re all pilot program that began on Nov. me more accountable for this.” going back, especially for being -Open lower risk workplaces, 9. In Phase 2A and 2B, a few small A%er returning to campus on able to connect with friends and some schools, and some indoor teacher-led groups have returned Nov. 2, Barton said she found in- teachers,” Peterson said. non-essential business operations 4 PHASES OF to school, and others were slated person school to be more engag- RED to return a%er #anksgiving. ing, as there are fewer distractions Bellarmine College Preparatory Zone “For us as a school district, I and physically being on campus Although Bellarmine College 3: Moderate LOCKDOWN SOURCE: SCC think the issues that we’ll have with a teacher motivates her. Preparatory originally planned to are that we will have [teachers, Another bene$t of returning have a cohort system like the two -Open some indoor businesses, students and their families] who is the ease of social connections. other schools, the plans were ad- higher risk environments, and gatherings with modifications will be concerned about coming Many students have had little so- justed to lower the number of stu- back,” principal Greg Louie said. cial contact for the past half year. dents and ensure their safety. ORANGE “Whether it’s us or any other pub- In the revised system, put into Zone lic or private high school district, place on Sept. 23, teachers who 4: Minimal [reopening is] very much depen- “Something as simple are comfortable with returning to dent upon the availability of teach- as raising your hand or campus would teach classes that -Open most indoor businesses ers, and the interest of the students are o&ered in-person, so students and highest risk workplaces with and families.” speaking in class is not can opt-in to attend one class per all indicators satisfied Private schools like #e King’s as easy as it would be day. In order to better integrate Academy and Bellarmine College both students attending class from YELLOW Preparatory started the return in in-person class.” home and those on campus, cam- Zone process in late September and Oc- BELL. JUNIOR Ryan Alapatt eras display both groups in Micro- Graphic by SINA SALEHI tober, with students and sta& back so% Teams. #ese cameras display on campus until the recent surge those who are on campus and in cases in Santa Clara County “I resolutely believe returning broadcast it to students attending forced them back online recently. to campus is extremely important class from home, and vise versa. for the learning, mental and emo- Bellarmine junior Ryan Alap- !e King’s Academy tional health for all of us,” William- patt said he looked forward to re- Falcon Focus #e King’s Academy, located son said. “As amazing as Zoom is turning to in-person schooling. Seniors Divya in Sunnyvale, reopened on Oct. from a technological standpoint, “I know online classes have Sarkar and 26 with an opt-in hybrid learning it can never fully replace the in- de$nitely put a damper on partici- Amy Munson model. Sixty percent of the stu- person interaction.” pation,” Alappatt said. “Something wait to be dent population of 935 chose to But parents have the $nal say as simple as raising your hand or picked up a"er to return.