New students are ready to take on the school year after orientation on the Quad on Wednesday and the first day of classes today at Palo Alto High School.
According to Principal Brent Kline, he wants the freshmen to embrace Paly’s core values — learn, connect and respect — encouraging students to build relationships, pursue their passions and foster a respectful community.
“Not only do we value the learning that you [students] and us as adults go through every day at Palo Alto High School,” Kline said. “But we want you to also connect with your peers, connect with your teachers, and connect with your passion of what it is you want to get out of high school.”
According to freshman Chloe Wu, she sees her first year at Paly as an opportunity to expand her social circle, adjust to a new school setting and participate in campus life.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people, [to] be in a different environment than private school and [to] be more involved in my community,” Wu said.
Link Crew, students who volunteer to show new students around campus, and Associated Student Body members gave tours to groups of freshmen and new students around campus.
Freshman Tyler Yue said he is looking forward to an exciting year, with goals to strengthen his time management and explore new activities.
“I’m looking forward to being able to meet new people and have fun,” Yue said. “I want to be able to organize better and I’ll maybe join swimming, chess and a few other things, but I’m not sure if I’ll have the time.”
According to freshman Ivy Gu, she hopes to have a good GPA and expects the move from middle to high school to be similar despite the larger student body.
“I want to get a perfect GPA,” Gu said. “There’s a lot more people because I came from a private school. I don’t think it [transition from middle school to high school] should be that much different.”
