• Black History Month at Pinole Valley for February

    Every day we will tell one person's story during our daily announcements, but rather than put together an all too brief star of the day, we are committed to bringing a single life to richer detail by spending a week (or more!) on one story. We begin our adventure with Thurgood Marshall. We are working toward a big show on February 24 where we will feature the speeches, the music and the art of Pinole Valley as we honor and celebrate Black culture and invite our community to take part on zoom.

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  • National Counselor's Month

    Every day and every way we want to highlight the works that our school counselors do. It’s more than one week, that’s for sure. If you ever are going to graduate, or on track, thank a counselor. They are the ones who look over your schedule and figure out do you need another elective? How can you take your academy class and still be on path? Is CCC right for you? Do you need summer school? And since the stakes are high, it is especially useful that they get it right

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  • Artist of the Day: Abraham Jerge

    Motion and Frozen art this week we studied the basics of exposure. Students learned about the relationship between shutter speed and aperture and the concept of exposure. This was an assignment which would have benefited from being in-house with cameras but we did our best. Abraham Jerge captured this snowboarding image on the weekend in Lake Tahoe. get away and hit the slopes.

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  • Class Visits Coming Soon

    We have really been liking the Homeroom option. By putting all of one grade level in a classroom, it means we can really target information and interests. When we need to speak to an entire class of students, we can go to the ten teachers who have Seniors or Freshmen, you can zoom in on them and then really offer specific and relevant information. We are doing these visits on an every quarter basis as both a check in and listening moment. It allows us to speak to select groups without interrupting class time. We are looking forward to going "class" by class over the next two weeks talking about what is ahead for Quarter Three/Semester Two. The Counselors will be visiting classes too and talking about sign ups for next year. Look for announcements and bring your questions.

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  • Last Chance to.....

    So many awesome opportunities over these last few days, signing up for EAOP for our underclassmen, a Historically Black college and university college fair, the deadline to get yearbooks quotes in, and a slew of scholarships including eQuality, an LGBTQ honorarium that we have capture in year's past. Don't let January end without finishing up strong!

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  • Artist of the Day: Jessica Tran

    Jessica Tran who did a portrait of Rosa Parks juxtaposed (fancy art word meaning: mixed) with an otherworldly/futuristic environment. Jessica has outstanding attention to detail and craftsmanship.She did a meticulous job on Rosa's striped shirt. The stripes framing Rosa and sunbursting out remind me of some of the religious/spiritual works of art sometimes seen. Ms. Tremor's class will have a virtual gallery available for all to see later in February as we celebrate the art and accomplishments of Black heroes. The art will also come with stories, though as you can see from Jennifer, sometimes the art speaks for itself!

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  • EAOP Deadline is Friday!

    The Early Academic Outreach Program is looking to add freshmen and sophomores to its cadre of students getting a head start toward college. We are asking you to reach out to Ms. Stephanie before Friday to let her know your interest in everything about what school would be right for you, how to write a great letter, put together the most appealing resume and then how to pay for school. It's a great way to get started on the next step in your educational journey. The door is open for a few more days, come on in!

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  • Artist of the Day: Gabriella Cuadra

    We welcome for the first time to our gallery of art, a contribution from our Computer science department. What a great start, here is Gabriella, who designed everything from the picture to the font and to the pose. She is one of a number of students who are finding that technology and art go hand in hand in making something both practical and poised. We will be seeing more.

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  • Congress Visits Pinole Valley

    Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA 5) is our local representative and what could be more local than a visit to our high school social science class. Today, the Pinole representative is making a virtual visit to our school during Mr. Frattini's second period class. Questions have been submitted from the school through homeroom and we will record it so everyone can see democracy in action.

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  • Chinese Club Meets Tuesday to make Culture taste Great

    It's more than Mandarin with Ms. Li on Tuesdays after school. She invites any student of staff to join her and the team for Green Onion pancakes. The recipe and the invite are available before 3:30 p.m. and proves once again why adding Chinese as a language was a delicious decision.

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  • Spartans win honor for Females in Computer Science

    Pinole Valley is proud of computer science teacher, Mr. Doug Frew and his recognition for getting a Diversity in Education award from College Board for "expanding young women's access to Computer Science principles". The award is the only one for West Contra Costa and makes us one of fewer than 850 schools nationwide to offer so much tech access and success to our female coders, programmers and gamers

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  • Artist of the Day: Christian Acosta

    Christian Acosta has really grown as an artist exponentially. He has grown to have his own vision/style and it works. He demonstrates space by placing the futuristic Bay Bridge in the background and rapper Lil Baby in the foreground. Lil Baby has a song out for the BLM movement that worked as an inspiration.

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  • Spirit Days--Be a Squad

    OK, not everyone is going to be as good looking as this crew. And of course, have the chance to be togther, like they were here pre-pandemic, but let's finish spirit week off strong by sending in a picture of you and your crew to our Pinole Spartans instagram page. We are so happy you sent us your best look in Crocs, College gear and team jerseys, that seeing you all together (though at a distance) will be a great boost. February ahead will bring more spirit. That gives you a month to gear up.

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  • Artist of the Day: Jefferey Igtanloc

    Jefferey Igtanloc .We are studying the Element of art: Space. We studied the work of artist Kara Walker and her use of silhouettes. The illusion of depth is created on a 2D surface by overlapping, size, and placement of the subject on the picture plane.He uses 1 pt. perspective to achieve space. He captured a lot of detail in his silhouette, including his gait or the way he walks. Jeffrey is just one of the many impressive silhouette images we have from Ms. Tremor's art class. We will put together a gallery of our best work this quarter and then enter our works in the District Art Show, the County Fair and other places so it can be celebrated and enjoyed by many. Thanks for the creativity and cleverness all quarantine long.

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  • Artist of the Day: Alyssa Keller

    Mr. Pinto's photography class is working on Reflections. But you can see that it is something beyond just following instructions that gets at the art of the photo. Here Alyssa Keller took this amazing shot of a skateboarder by getting the camera low and focusing on the reflection.. There are additional Alyssa photos in our daily announcements and more great images from our class that you will see (twice in some cases) later this week

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  • Spirited College Wear--today Jerseys!

    Every day this week, is a Spirit Day. Wednesday was College Day and our Leadership team has put out a map showing who we represent. Of course, we cheer every student who makes the decision to continue their learning after high school, which is saying there is no bad shirt of hoodie on display across Spartan Nation. We are hoping for an even better turnout today, Thursday to honor Jersey Day. You can wear something from the home team or an away gamer if you like. Then take your picture and send it to us via email katherine.marroquin@wccusd.net or to our Pinole Spartan Instagram page. No matter who you root for, when we see your face these days, that is a win. We will distribute a gift card to our most spirited later this month. That gives you incentive as well as time to finish this week strong.

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  • Parent Night Thursday (virtual check in)

    Click the title above for our live link. Looking forward to doing a quick check in with our Spartan families Thursday night.  We will be checking in with Senior families from 6:00-6:30 p.m., then we will zoom in with our Juniors from 6:30-7:00 p.m.  After that it is the Sophomore families, and we invite you to use the link above for our half hour session from 7:00-7:30.  Then it is for sure last but not least as we greet the Freshmen families from 7:30-8:00 p.m.   Expect time to ask questions as well, and we will record and have the videos available for any who cannot attend,  Thanks for being such patient families and sharing your students with us, here is the link if you can't find it https://us02web.zoom.us/s/87672113175?pwd=SU9jVEN1aTNhRDR6Q05tcHNtMmN3QT09#success

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  • Write On!

    Starting Thursday the District hopes that you and your classmates will be a part of our Writing cadre. It will be a weekly event from 4:00-5:00 and we can't wait to hear what you say. While you wait, we would love to have you help us on the school newspaper, Spartan Ink or the school literary magazine. There are so many forums, not to mention our Poetry contests that we have been promoting on the daily announcements. If you are a creative writer, considering the world around you, this is the time to create!

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  • Spirit Days: Crocs Tuesday, College Today

    We love dressing up in Spartan Spirit. Yesterday was the perfect weather to break out the Crocs, and any day is a good one for college spirit. Our school is showing off our sis boom bah by wearing what we represent or where we are going. The college day gear should be sent to our PinoleSpartans instagram page or by emailing our Leadership teacher so that you can be featured on our daily announcements in time for Thursday and Jersey Day. Ok, time to dig deeper in the closet for that.

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  • Artist of the Day: Monte Pare

    Monte is an Advanced Placement level artist and here is his work, Iron Lung wanted to convey the darker and less enjoyable side of living a 21st century life, focusing on several of the negative aspects, such as issues of a loss of individuality, the dark underbelly of our government, and the heavy reliance of technology. Although some issues may not be unique to the 21st century, it still very much effects it and the culmination of everything creates an medley characterized by paranoia, anger, discontent, and corruption. There is a sense of narrative progression through each piece, from part 1 to part 3. “Iron Lung (part 1)” depicts a figure with a disfigured appearance inside an “iron lung.” This is the start of a process. You can see the figure’s jaw is beginning to turn a greyish color.. Powerful stuff.

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