The top of the elementary school list is dominated by the Palo Alto school district with a couple of schools from Woodside and Los Altos breaking into the list.
When it comes to the East Bay, the story is entirely about Pleasanton elementary schools. Earlier this month, we reported that both Pleasanton comprehensive high schools also made the top 25 list.
On the elementary list, Hearst was ranked 14th followed by Mohr, Fairlands and Vintage Hills in the next three spots.
Alisal was listed at No. 22, while Lydiksen was No. 25.
The top best elementary schools in the entire state are all located in the Bay Area. Given the demographics of Palo Alto, it is no surprise that its elementary schools ranked so well. Palo Alto schools are also exceptionally well-funded so the student/teacher ratios for the elementary schools are 20 to 1.
Pleasanton schools, by contrast, have a 26-1 student/teacher ratio.
Friends and colleagues will celebrate the life of Dublin City Councilman Don Biddle today after he died earlier this month from pancreatic cancer (the same nasty cancer that killed former Pleasanton Mayor Ken Mercer a few years ago).
Don spent many of his 80 years serving the Dublin community in addition to a 31-year career at Bechtel. He was a councilman for 10 years and would have been termed out in November.
Before his council appointment, Don served four years on the Planning Commission. Earlier, he was a school trustee on the Murray School Board for eight years and on the Amador Valley High School board for three years.
When voters decided to unify the school districts along city limits, he was elected to the new Dublin United board and served from 1987-1990.
That’s an amazing record of public service—23 years in elected office and four as an appointed commissioner.
In addition, he was volunteered with the School of Imagination, the Tri-Valley YMCA, Hope Hospice, Dublin Partners in Education, the Dublin Sister City Association, the Dublin Historical Preservation Society, the Dublin Rotary and the Tri-Valley chapter of the American Cancer Society.
Don was a man who lived to serve others and did so with wisdom and good humor. His passing leaves a void that will not be easily filled in Dublin and the valley.
