Menlo School

Menlo School, also referred to as Menlo, is a private college preparatory school in Atherton, California, United States, across the street from Menlo Park. Menlo comprises a middle school, grades 6–8, with approximately 230 students, and a high school, grades 9–12, with about 570 students. The two schools share a campus but operate as semi-autonomous units with select overlapping administration, such as the Head of School. Menlo was established in 1915, and in 1927 added a junior college that became Menlo College. The college was formally separated from Menlo School in 1994, but they continued to share a single dining hall until 2017, when Menlo built a cafeteria.

Menlo School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and is a member of the National and California Associations of Independent Schools.

History

Menlo School was founded in 1915 as the William Warren School, an all-male military school with an inaugural enrollment of 13 boys. Warren, the founder and headmaster, sold the school in 1924 to a group of parents, who dropped the military focus and formed a new corporation under the name Menlo School for Boys.

In 1927, Menlo became a non-profit governed by a newly created board of trustees. A two-year junior college, Menlo College, was created that year as an expansion of the school. During the college's early years, Menlo offered a hybrid prep school and junior college education. Students would attend the school for the latter two years of high school, then the college for two years, and then transferred directly into four-year universities as upper-division students.

In the fall of 1979, Menlo School began transitioning from a boys-only school with a small boarding program to a coeducational day school. In the 1993–1994 academic year, Menlo further moved to increase the upper school's enrollment, added grade 6 to the middle school, and further expanded its female enrollment.

The college and school were split on June 30, 1994, with further, more specific separations following. Menlo School and Menlo College became formally independent entities with separate boards, administrations, and faculties. In 2008, they further agreed to the formal legal subdivision of their hitherto shared land into two separate parcels. The only area of the campus that continues to be jointly owned and managed is the Menlo Athletic Quad, consisting of the athletic fields and track.

Following a fundraising effort that began in the late 1990s, both the middle and upper school campuses have been mostly rebuilt. The projects were completed in 1999 and 2004, respectively.

Student life

Menlo offers more than 50 student clubs in the upper school and 25 in middle school. These include a chapter of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), Model United Nations organization, Junior Classical League, Mock Trial, beekeeping club, chess club, and environmental club. Both the upper and middle schools have active student councils.

Student publications

The Upper School's student-run newspaper, ''The Coat of Arms'', has won awards, including Top Honors – First Place with Special Merit from the American Scholastic Press Association. ''The Coat of Arms'' releases roughly six issues a year. It produces content for its online site and Instagram every few days.

''The Menlo Bard'' is a student-produced digital news magazine about arts and lifestyles. It has been published about five times a year since 2012.

Mock Trial

, Menlo's Mock Trial team has won San Mateo County competitions in 14 out of the past 15 years and has been in the top 8 at the California State Championships in 9 of the last 11 years. From 2011 to 2018, it had a perfect 80-0 record in the county. The team won the California State Championship in 2014, defeating the three-time defending champion La Reina High School of Ventura County. In 2019, they won against Shasta High School of Shasta County. Outside California, the team won the Providence Cup, a pre-season national mock trial tournament held in Denver, Colorado, in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Menlo won the American Championship Invitational, a tournament for states' second and third place squads, in 2009. Team members Andy Parker and Tiffany Tam won the Gladiator Individual World Championships in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

With Stanford Mock Trial, Menlo also hosts the annual NorCal Mock Trial Invitational, the first tournament in California outside the normal CRF competition to be scored; they have won the tournament in 7 of the past 11 years.

Other activities

The school puts on musicals and plays. Artistic groups include the Knight Dancers, who produce an annual dance show, a chamber orchestra, and three choruses.

Athletics teams include baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, water polo, and volleyball. The Knights previously competed in the Peninsula Athletic League, and now compete in the West Bay Athletic League. During the 2009–2010 school year, every varsity team participated in postseason competition, and some went on to state competitions. The boys' tennis team claimed the national tennis title at the National High School All-American Foundation in 2010, placed second in 2011, and won again in 2012.

MTerm

MTerm is an end of year enrichment opportunity for the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes; in the 2017-2018 school year it replaced Knight School, a one-week period substituting alternative intellectual explorations including volunteer trips to work with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, cooking classes, and video game design seminars for conventional classes.

MTerm is around two weeks long. Each grade focuses on a different topic in these two weeks. Freshmen learn about the environment and spend half of MTerm on campus and half on day trips. Sophomores will focus on social issues such as equity and justice. Juniors do a Junior Project where they take a deep dive into an issue they are interested in and present their findings to their grade. Seniors focus on life past high school and making connections to their class before they leave for college. Any student in grades 9-11 can choose to go on a travel program.

In 2022, since global travel is too complicated because of COVID, Menlo's MTerm travel program is the ''Borderlands'' program. This program features trips to Arizona and Texas to teach students about the Navajo Nation, sustainability, and the US-Mexico border.

Buildings at Menlo

Menlo's athletic center contains two basketball courts, one full-sized, with drop-down volleyball nets. The gym also has athletic training rooms, a dance room, conference rooms, offices, workout facilities, and locker rooms.

The Creative Arts and Design Center contains spaces for artists in the upper school, and has band and dance rooms. The upper floor includes drama, photography, journalism and computer science spaces.

Recently completed buildings include a new dining hall, student center and library that were added on to Stent Hall in 2017, and The Spieker Center for the Arts, which was finished and unveiled in 2021.

Stent Hall, once a mansion called Douglass Hall, was badly damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was closed for several years. At first Menlo wanted to demolish it, but protests convinced the school to restore it. It was stabilized by the addition of a new library beside it and of steel supports.

Academic programs

In order to graduate, upper school students are required to complete 10 community engagement credits each year, which involve participating in community service events put on by Menlo or another organization. Peer leadership and advocacy programs give freshmen the opportunity to make connections with upperclassmen and faculty members as they begin their time at the school. Students stay with their advocacy group and advocate for all four years of high school. The faculty includes academic trainers who support students both academically and mentally.

Menlo has implemented programs designed to encourage lifelong learning.

Faculty

The majority of the faculty hold advanced degrees. The full-time faculty includes more than 60 holders of master's degrees, 10 Ph.Ds, and two J.D.s.

Than Healy has been the head of school since 2013. And since 1999, the Upper School Director has been John Schafer. La Vina Lowery joined Menlo in 2015 as the Middle School Director. The Director of Athletics is Earl Koberlein.

Traditions

Valpo Bowl

The Valpo Bowl is an annual football game between Menlo School and the neighboring Sacred Heart that raises money for a local educational charity. The first game was held in 2003. The Valpo Bowl name stems from both schools having a main entrance on Valparaiso Avenue, although the contest itself is usually held at a neutral venue.

The schools have won the following years:

* Sacred Heart: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
* Menlo: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2016,2021

Notable alumni

* Kevin Bass - All-Star outfielder for the Houston Astros who also played for the Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles
* Bob Lurie - real estate magnate, philanthropist, and former San Francisco Giants owner
* Jon Beekhuis - former race car driver, television commentator
* Mike Bordin - professional drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and co-founder of Faith No More
* Allison Brennan - ''New York Times'' bestselling author of thrillers
* Nicholas Casey - Journalist, ''The New York Times''
* Maria Fadiman - ethnobotanist; named a 2006 National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer
* Dave Finocchio, Bryan Goldberg and Dave Nemetz - founders of Bleacher Report
* Jon Fogarty - professional race car driver
*Daniel Goldstein - Musician, electronic music producer, and DJ better known by his stage name Lane 8.
* Andrew Grauer - internet entrepreneur, co-founder of Course Hero
* Brad Greenspan - internet entrepreneur and co-founder of Myspace
* Scott Harris - President of Baseball Operations for the Detroit Tigers
* Gary Johnson - baseball player, played five games with the Anaheim Angels
* Robby Krieger - guitarist, member of The Doors
* Glenn Layendecker - former professional tennis player
* John Matteson - biographer, 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner for '' Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father''
* Ahna O'Reilly - actress
* Chris Paine - filmmaker; writer and director of ''Who Killed the Electric Car?''
* John Paye - former Stanford starting quarterback and basketball point guard; later drafted by the San Francisco 49ers
* Quadeca - YouTuber, hip hop artist, producer, and former video game commentator
* Eric Reveno - former Stanford basketball player; current Head Basketball Coach of the University of Portland
* Bob Weir - founding member Grateful Dead. Attended 1962
* Nick Woodman

See also

* San Mateo County high schools
*National Association of Independent Schools

References

External links

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Educational institutions established in 1915
Private middle schools in California
Private high schools in California
High schools in San Mateo County, California
Private preparatory schools in California
1915 establishments in California