Hurrah for the School on the Hill

Published in the July issue of the Mountain Network News.

At the Jogathon awards assembly, our visiting friend Jenny—who teaches art and library in East Bay public and private schools—looked around, smiled, and said, “This feels more like a private school.”

While she was impressed by the modern and clean facilities (including the robust library and art studio), what really stood out to her was the energy in the room. The teachers were fully present during the school-wide assembly: standing the entire time, singing along to “It’s the Best School After All,” and revealing a deep connection to the students. According to Jenny, that level of enthusiasm is rare in the public schools where she works. Burnout is real. But here, she felt something different.

That’s part of why I joined the Loma Public Education Fund (LPEF) in fall 2024. We were new to the district; our only child had just started first grade. I’d heard about KEEP (Keep Excellent Education Programs) during his kindergarten year and was amazed by how much money LPEF was raising. I found myself wondering: Why does a Bay Area school need to raise this much money? Where is it all going?

Here’s what I learned.

Our small, rural district faces challenges that larger districts “down the hill” don’t. With fewer homes and no big commercial tax base, we receive less funding through the state’s “basic aid” formula. Meanwhile, California law caps how much we can collect from property taxes. It’s a tough equation. Many schools in our situation struggle just to stay open, let alone provide enrichment.

And yet—here we are with art, music, counseling, reading support, two libraries, and more. We have these because of the parcel taxes, grants such as KEEP, and because of deliberate choices—often made during school board meetings that don’t get much attention. At the meeting in which the school board approved the KEEP priorities, a school leader joked about the two YouTube viewers—one of whom might’ve been their mom. I take the low viewership to mean most people are pretty happy with how things are going—as well as just busy with their Silicon Valley lives. But still, it’s a reminder: we can’t take any of this for granted.

Coach Patiño and Felicitas during P.E.

Did you know that our teachers earn up to 30% less than they would for doing the same job at many other Santa Clara County school districts (though we pay the most of any Santa Cruz County school district)? I asked a few of them why they choose to work in our district. Kelli Cole said, “I have worked on both sides of the hill and the only home I have found was Loma.” They told me it’s the dedication of the teachers, love from the community, joyful students, and camaraderie, all taking place in this beautiful, peaceful setting. They like the culture and they feel supported to do what they think is best for their students without being micromanaged. According to Karren Zook, “As a staff, we are incredibly supportive of one another. We have an attitude that all Loma students are ALL our students.” 

When the teachers are happy, they are able to focus their attention on educating our children with delight in their hearts. This doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through empowering our teachers and supporting their needs. Having dedicated faculty for enrichment subjects like art, PE, music, and counseling not only helps students thrive—it also helps classroom teachers focus on the core subjects with the time and energy they need. Support goes beyond the school day. The Home & School Clubs at Loma and CT cover classroom materials and help organize teacher appreciation efforts. These little things matter. They add up to a school environment that feels positive and connected.

When we bought our home in the mountains, our realtor said it was worth paying more to be zoned for Loma. We shelled out—and we continue shelling out for property taxes every year, including Measure M. So why are we still being asked to donate more?

Measure M, a $348-per-parcel tax passed in 2022, brought in about $695,000 for the 2024–25 school year (the total annual budget is nearly $9M). Along with salary increases to retain faculty and staff, that funding enabled our schools to include the nice-to-haves of music, P.E. at Loma, Spanish at CT, reading intervention, an athletic director, a lead teacher at CT, web services, and yard duty. Even with Measure M, there were things the community wanted that remained out of reach. For that reason, the community had the opportunity during last year’s KEEP campaign to directly fund an 11th teacher at Loma (to reduce class sizes), counseling services, art, and library—programs other schools often cut, but that we were resourceful enough to keep.

5th grade value studies

Still, every year brings hard choices. For the 2025–26 school year, the school board had to prioritize. Art was at risk again and made it into KEEP’s tier 1 priority. Other desirables did not fare as well. For instance, math intervention will fall solely on classroom teachers this year. Classroom teachers will be responsible for teaching science, building on the foundation and science lab that last year’s science teacher established. And while many families are passionate about bringing TK to Loma, that too requires funding among other things. These trade-offs are tough, but they’re also a chance to ask: what kind of school do we want?

This year, the KEEP campaign reached its tier 1 goal of $234,050, securing financial support for K-8 art and P.E. at Loma. This was a tremendous achievement for the community and we are impressed and grateful for the generosity we witnessed. We fell short of our tier 2 goal that would have secured a 12th teacher at Loma. Dr. Grier, the superintendent, informed us that Loma has come up with a creative solution to keep teacher-student ratios low for core subjects without having any combo classes. School leaders and educators have learned to be scrappy and resourceful out of necessity.

You may be wondering, like I was, what LPEF does with funds raised above tier 1 since we didn’t reach tier 2. LPEF can reserve those funds for subsequent school years or opt to grant those funds in the upcoming school year for things like math intervention, additional counseling hours, or other priorities that arise mid-year.

As my first year with LPEF wraps up, I’m feeling grateful for this enthusiastic school community and so delighted for my son and his classmates to have such an enriched environment in which to grow up. The end-of-the-year classroom parties alone are something to marvel at—families and teachers going above and beyond to celebrate learning. My public school education in Sunnyvale was not like this!

I’m also thankful for everything I’ve learned, especially from Shannon Harrell and Zoila Mauseth. There’s still plenty more to absorb from the folks who’ve been building and sustaining this community year after year. I also finally figured out the difference between LPEF, LPCF, LPC, HSC, and SSC—but don’t quote me on any of it. (Stay tuned: I may attempt an explainer in a future newsletter, leaning heavily on my sources.)