Schools

Gilroy and Morgan Hill schools are flying their flags at half-staff Monday and Tuesday to demonstrate solidarity and support for the 26 victims – 20 of whom were children – slain in the mass school shooting that devastated the idyllic community of Newtown, Conn. Friday.

Mrs. Foster's second grade English Language Development learners and homeroom classes performed “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” for parents and friends Friday morning at Eliot Elementary School in Gilroy.

After eight years serving as a trustee on the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education, outgoing member Rhoda Bress, 62, received a heartfelt farewell and standing ovation from colleagues, friends and family as her second term came to a close Thursday evening.

A local chef whose regulary culinary classes at Gilroy High School are a smashing success – boasting 100 percent daily student attendance – is spreading her forward-thinking learning model to Morgan Hill.

The Gilroy and Christopher High School Choirs will present their winter concerts at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18 and 19 at the GHS Student Center, located on campus at 750 West 10th Street. For the finale song, “Hallelujah Chorus,” Choral Director Phil Robb expects about 250 students and returning alumni to participate.

The Hollister School District had been billed $19,200 through October from its contracted legal firm that developed a report detailing “deficiencies” in a charter school petition, according to figures released to the Free Lance.

Each month, the principals of Gilroy and Christopher high schools choose a total of four students (two from GHS and two from CHS) to spotlight. CHS sophomore Jake Moen, 16, is this week's Student of the Week.

Founders of a Gilroy charter school who have their eyes set on opening a similar school in Hollister next fall were “thrilled” with the outcome of a Hollister School District board vote Tuesday offering conditional approval of the petition.

Each month, the principals of Gilroy and Christopher high schools choose a total of four students (two from GHS and two from CHS) to spotlight. GHS junior Sara Cedano, 17, is this week's Student of the Week.

On the heels of a tight 3-2 vote that will allow the founders of Gilroy’s highly successful charter school to open Hollister Prep next fall, some Morgan Hill parents are raising their hands and hoping their neck of the woods is next.