In this work, author Karen V. Hansen, Brandeis University’s Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Sociology, along with Nicholas Monroe, provides a peek inside the halls of Sunnyvale High School (SHS) to uncover the way the school’s rich history, inclusive practices, and relational ethos provided students a transformational educational experience. It traces the history of SHS, a Northern California high school located just fifteen miles west of San Jose, over the period 1956 to 1981. The book uses firsthand accounts to chart the experiences of students and faculty in their creation of a school that provided hope and strength when the outside world did not. Through interviews with over fifty people, including forty-one alumni, fifteen teachers and administrators, and three parents and community members—as well as excerpts of the student newspaper and school yearbooks (p. 8), Hansen shares a story that illustrates the ways in which SHS’s innovative approaches have affected the lives of all involved.
Chapter 1 gives the socioeconomic context of SHS by providing a history of the school’s inception, bolstered by the personal reflections of the school’s alumni. Built to serve the children of workers in factories, defense plants, the military, the service sector, and local orchards and canneries, the school was under-resourced from the moment its doors opened (p. 18). This reality led to lower expectations from outsiders and school district leaders, as most of them defined success as children simply graduating from SHS. Hansen concludes the chapter by pointing out that this sentiment was not shared by those inside SHS, thus focusing on the way that students and teachers defended their school and embraced a spirit of camaraderie.
Hansen emphasizes this camaraderie in chapter 2 by explaining how SHS engaged and motivated students. The author introduces Adrian Stanga, the second principal in the school’s history, who made relationship-building a core pillar of the school’s pedagogy. Understanding that school culture is something that must be built, Stanga prioritized the recruitment of teachers who enjoyed connecting and working with students and were willing to build rapport with them. This strategy brought in teachers like Walter Hale, who explained to Hansen how the staff collectively showed solidarity with their students and were willing to fight for them regardless of how outside parties perceived them (p. 25). These decisions created a culture within the school that survived in some capacity until the school closed twenty-five years later.
Chapter 3 focuses on the role of athletics and their positive community-building impact on the student body. Sports was a uniting set of activities through which diverse students could connect and work toward a common goal. The stories in this chapter recount student experiences that highlight the impact of community-building among the sports teams, the lessons learned through the efforts by staff and students to ensure that girls’ teams also had support, and the satisfaction that students and teachers felt through these positive relationships.
Chapter 4 addresses some of the challenges that SHS came across in the midst of the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The school experienced conflict amongst the student body, often around issues of racial divisions. Although school faculty attempted to create an inclusive and understanding space at SHS, their attempts were not always successful. Hansen emphasizes that while fighting among students was a reality, the school’s efforts to create ties among student groups helped them through disagreements both inside and outside the school’s walls.
In chapter 5, the author highlights various programs and initiatives that provided a connection across student differences. For example, Principal Paul Sakamoto introduced Psychology and Vocational Education, or PAVE. The program aimed to connect students with each other and with teachers through a curriculum that taught tools for social and academic success (p. 69). PAVE also used teachers as counselors on campus, assigning them to certain students to help expose the students to different experiences and possible futures after High School such as college, vocational roles, and the military. In a similar vein, Sakamoto supported the creation of an inter-group council and of student unions such as the Black Student Union, the Chicano Student Union, and the Asian American Union. These unions were learning spaces that provided students opportunities to connect with one another. The chapter concludes by observing that race relations at SHS could only move forward through proper leadership. Once Principal Sakamoto left the school, race relations worsened.
Chapter 6 continues the conversation about race relations by recounting a Sunnyvale event in 1970 that the media called a “race riot.” On a Thursday in February, students participated in a “Smog-Free Locomotion Day,” which began with a parade before school that ran late and led to a confrontation between the school principal and the students who participated. It also caused high tensions among the student body that resulted in a fight between two students and unrest throughout the day. These events, which could have torn the school apart, led to student advocacy that resulted in positive change. For example, this crisis led to the administration meeting a major student demand to offer ethnic studies courses. Positive change within the school came in large part because of the relationships that had been cultivated among teachers and students.
In chapter 7, Hansen further details the transformative changes that occurred following the confrontation and its resolution. Due to the self-styled leadership team of the faculty at SHS, community support, and federal funding, students saw success in their advocacy, including the creation of classes on Mexican literature and US Black history and new extracurricular activities like a marching band and Neighborhood Youth Corps. Hansen also covers negative examples of student-led events that ran counter to the progress they were making, such as a yearly “Slave Sale.” The “Slave Sale” was a fundraiser that the Pep Club organized to raise money for the school dance. During this fundraiser, girls would be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder (p. 108). The author highlights that though it may not have been intentional, the event contained contradictory racial undertones with which students did not find problematic at the time but later regretted upon reflection. The chapter concludes with Hansen posing questions about our schools today and asking readers to reflect on any current school activities that might later become a source of regret.
Chapter 8 highlights the ways in which SHS faculty’s support for students encouraged them to be resilient and to believe in themselves. Through the stories of various alumni who as students had to adjust to being forced out of their homes, Hansen provides examples of how the school’s approach to community-building and positive encouragement categorically changed the lives of students. These stories magnify the role of teachers and the ways that SHS was seen by students as a space where they could be themselves, build relationships, and participate in an environment that highlighted a sense of possibility in their lives.
The book’s concluding chapter shines a light on the closing of SHS. In 1981, the Fremont Union High School District in San Jose, California, had to close one of its six schools. Following public discourse and what was ultimately received by the community as a politically motivated decision, SHS closed its doors in the spring of 1981. Touching on the legacy of SHS, the author emphasizes the ways that the school’s relational ethos provided students a space to be respected, vulnerable, and heard, a positive impact that still can be seen in the lives of alumni today. Inspired by the school and its history, Hansen closes by providing ten ways that public schools can reach multiracial, multicultural student bodies burdened by poverty today.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to learn about how innovative and relational educational practices can provide positive student experiences. Sunnyvale High School was a place where teachers and administrators prioritized the success of poor and historically marginalized students, at a time when most of the country was struggling to implement integration policy. That is not to say that the school did not face its own challenges, but this work highlights how the school provided students of different groups and with different interests a positive educational experience. The story of SHS, both in its years of success and its closing, reflects the historical experience of many other schools and programs with similar missions that were shut down despite their success. Working-Class Kids and Visionary Educators in a Multiracial High School highlights the exemplary work of SHS’s staff and students during a time of national turmoil and uncertainty, particularly for the racial and socioeconomic classes represented by the Sunnyvale community. At a time of desolation for students of color in the American public school system, the story of Sunnyvale High School provides a unique spark of hope.
