JA: Factors around the segregation [at M-A] come from residence and socioeconomic class, making the solutions too complicated. It comes from the fact that Menlo Park and Atherton have better education from the start, meaning that they’re more prepared for the Advanced and AP courses than kids from East Palo Alto. Th e solution would be then to give them more comparable education, but they do not have the taxes to do so. JED ALVAREZ junior Class Pathways “Every time I hear my friends talk about AP classes, they say there is not enough diversity and that they would rather not take them.” VALENTINA RIVERA senior VR: When I fi rst tried to take an AP class, my counselor said it would be too challenging for me and didn’t trust that I was capable of taking it, but it was AP Spanish and I am a native speaker. Th e second time I tried to take an advanced class, she said the same thing. But regardless of her opinion I still took the classes. When I took AS English, I was really surprised to notice that there were mostly white people in my class and not much diversity in the classroom. I felt really uncomfortable most of the time, and oftentimes too shy to participate. Every time I hear my friends 40 talk about AP classes, they say there is not enough diversity and that they would rather not take them. Th ey would rather be in a regular class than an AP class because it is not a good environment to be in. It is not even because they are not capable, but because they don’t like how segregated the classes are.
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