By Lora Oehlberg

Town Crier Editorial Intern

Regardless of the undertone of recent violence, life went on at Los Altos High School as it hosted its Back-to-School Night for parents on Sept. 13.

The informational meeting is an opportunity for parents to meet administrators, teachers and groups that help their children on a day-to-day basis.

“We’re pleased at the great turnout, even with all the other events of the week,” said Judy Hannemann, Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School Board member, referring to Tuesday’s tragedy.

Principal George Perez hosted the traditional general assembly before sending the parents to class. This year’s assembly began with a moment of silence for the victims and their families, in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

After introducing the president of the Mountain View-Los Altos High School Foundation and the co-presidents of the PTA, Perez urged parents to be involved with their children.

“Especially with this recent tragedy, your children are taking cues on how to deal with it from you,” Perez said.

Karen Blasing, a parent at Los Altos High School, decided that in light of the violence the PTA should be able to accept donations to help out. After contacting the Red Cross, a PTA booth was set up to collect funds for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

“Those of us on the West Coast feel pretty helpless, so I thought we could raise some funds to help out,” said Blasing.

Besides the PTA table, several parent and student organizations were fund raising that evening or distributing information. The Robotics Club’s informational booth attracted attention as it demonstrated robots from past years.

“It’s something my son is interested in. It looks like they’re having fun,” said Alan Moll, a parent who was inquiring at the Robotics Club’s informational booth.

The athletic department held a “Meet the Coaches,” at the beginning of the evening, where coaches from the various sports introduced themselves.

“It’s good for communication and public relations. It helps put a face to the coach and it’s good for freshmen parents,” said Monica Lodge, athletic director at Los Altos High School.

At the beginning of the evening, the school held a general information session in Spanish.

Afterwards, the families were provided with either bilingual students or advanced Spanish student translators to follow them through classrooms.

Throughout the evening, parents attended their child’s regular class schedule, listening to each teacher in 10-minute sessions.

“I’m impressed with the teacher’s organization,” Helen Mann said after exiting her student’s chemistry classroom.

“He’s really on top of keeping parents involved and knowing about their children’s progress.”

Mountain View High School’s Back-to-School Night was also on Sept. 13, with a social session preceding the assembly and classes.

For more information, contact the Palo Alto Area Chapter of the American Red Cross at 688-0424.