My Education

1970 to 1976 - Kindergarten through 6th grade I went to Manual de Vargas elementary school in Cupertino.  Their mascot is apparently the "Lions" now, though I do not recall that from my days of youth.  The picture on the web site shows a school painted in somewhat pleasing colors.  When I went there it was painted a color one of the teachers called, "San Quentin Green."   Later it was painted puke brown with racing stripes in fall colors.

1977 to1978 - 7th grade was spent at Warren E. Hyde Junior High School, which is now called a "Middle" school.  Their mascot also appears to be the "Lions."  This I do recall.  This school has gone through a serious make-over.  Not only was this school also in the "San Quentin Green" color, but its flat-topped box buildings and exposed pipes made it really look like a prison.   It has been remodeled, repainted, and now has the look of a low budget Spanish Mission, which is really a step up.

1978 to 1979 - 8th grade I went to Collins Junior High School because my parents moved.   Another school in the Cupertino Union School District colors, though this one was puke brown by the time I got there.  It closed after I left, though it was opened back up again as an elementary school.  So if you go to the link, you'll see the information about K-6.  Their mascot is also some sort of cat, judging from the paw-print background on their web site.  Cougars, maybe?  I seem to recall that they were the Colts back in my day, but I am not going to go verify this any time soon.

1979 to 1983 - High School.  I went to Monta Vista High School in Cupertino.  Compared to my previous schools, this place was at least visually pleasing.  It was also the only school I went to that was younger than I am.  It opened up in 1969 and looks more like De Anza college than a high school.  Some of the teachers I had are still teaching there.   Twenty of them, from a quick scan of the 2000 faculty list.  

There is a dedicated Monta Vista High School Alumni site here.

Monta Vista's teams are the Matadors, though quite a bit of the Monta Vista apparel has a bull on it, which would seem to me to be the enemy of the Matador, but maybe I am missing the point.

Nancy also went to Monta Vista and it is quite possible that we had a class together.  We think we were in German 3 together, but we have not gone about confirming it.

1983 to 1992 - San Jose State University.  I must have really liked college, I spent so much time there!  I majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Management.  Being in the Business Department is enough to explain why I took so long.  I couldn't get my sophomore accounting class until I was a graduating senior.  I minored in Cybernetic Systems, which no longer exists as a minor at SJSU.  Don't ask, as it would take me another page to explain it.  

I actually lived on campus for three semesters, in Allen Hall.  It was a failed experiment in trying to get "in to" college life.  If you think the admissions and records at a large public university is uncaring, wait until you try out the people who run the dorms!   Nobody will build student housing around SJSU because the dorm occupancy is so low.  And that is because usually one semester in the dorms is enough for most people.  And to add insult to injury, when *I* went to SJSU it actually cost you significantly more to live in the dorms than to rent an apartment. (This may have changed with the high rents now charged in Silicon Valley, but I wouldn't bet money on it.)

On the SJSU web site, it says that the "six red brick halls foster unique communities."  I think they are referring to the roaches.