Talk:Gunn High School

Westboro Baptist Church Visit
Gunn got some good press recently for its response to the Westboro Baptist Church, which visited this year. I think it's one of the things Gunn is known for now; Ellen DeGeneres even mentioned it in her Twitter feed. I think we should mention it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.180.80.147 (talk) 15:35, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for bringing that up. I've now included this on the page.(Madaldal (talk) 22:08, 29 January 2016 (UTC))

Previous Editions (Pranks, Issues, Trivia)
I came here about a year ago and there were several other sections, I think called Pranks, Issues, and Trivia, respectively. The article now seems substantially shorter. Was the other material not noteworthy, or unnecessary in a high school article? Some off the information seems to have been consolidated into the other sections, and some of it has been removed. 134.69.36.173 (talk) 09:38, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Should the section below be added?

 * --UCOT (talk) 17:48, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Suicides
In recent months, a number of Gunn High School students have committed suicide (or attempted to commit suicide) by stepping in front of a moving train.
 * Palo Alto Weekly Article
 * SF Gate Article
 * NBC Bay Area Article
 * LA Times Article

This sad news has united the community, but so far all attempts to find the cause or change the situation seem to have failed.

Apparently there is a new Facebook support group Gunn High School – Life’s A Good Thing, but a Facebook search does not find the group.

- Hey previous poster, I found the group here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=164025517102 134.69.180.207 (talk) 11:33, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

-I went to Gunn High School and was shocked there was no mention of suicide on the page, Gunn is really widely known for this unfortunate legacy. I wouldn't call the section "Recent Sad News", as there was a suicide cluster some 6 years ago as well("And this string of tragedy is not unprecedented in Palo Alto: Over a seven-month period just five years earlier, four Gunn students and a recent graduate killed themselves. " ) Maybe call it "Gunn's history with Suicide", or if you want something less graphic "Tragedies at Gunn". Thomas Razz (talk) 13:34, 25 September 2015 (UTC)
 * The news has reached International outlets at this point. I have made an effort over the years to keep this important part of Gunn's history in the article. There seems to be a concerted effort by some in the community to rewrite this history of the school. There's no room for that sort of bias on Wikipedia; removal of reference to the suicides is the same as asking for a "reads like an advert" template. It's tragic, but these days when news of Gunn makes it past the local rags into national/international outlets, it's typically because there's another suicide; not because of its wonderful robotics, theatre, etc programs. I ask that others please help me in monitoring the page for any who attempt to remove it again (it's currently a paragraph in the "history" section).  Whatwillhappen (talk) 10:06, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

You do realize that this is an encyclopedia article and not the school's webpage? Your statement above screams OWNership. It is not up to people connected to the school what goes on this page. That will be decided by a consensus of all the interested editors in discussions on this page based in policy and reliable sources.

I've removed the gratuitous listing of a suicide Hotline number from this page. I'll be hatting the discussion of suicide and it's prevention also. This page is for discussion as described above on the content of this article. Nothing else.

I've removed the stuff on Westboro again. According to the sources and the removed copy this didn't occur at the school. It added to the adequately sourced stuff on the suicide cluster discussed in the Atlantic article gave far too much weight to the suicide story. Best practice here would be to fill in the history. This is a 50 year old school. It's inconceivable there is nothing else to add to the history. John from Idegon (talk) 13:13, 14 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Unless sources like the Atlantic article can be found, I see nothing to tie these deaths to the school. It's a public school. There are certainly many other commonalities shared by the kids that killed themselves beside the school. As the copy mentions that this is not the only school in the district that has had this issue, why is it about the school at all? Perhaps it is about the community? If they didn't do it at the school, if there is nothing written about any investigation of the school's role in the causes, how is it about the school at all? John from Idegon (talk) 13:34, 14 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Hanna Rosin addressed that in her article: she stated that Gunn is known for its competitive academic environment and parents wondered whether that was the cause. I'm not sure there will ever be a report saying that with certainty, but Wikipedia should base these things on the sources (like Rosin's article). WhisperToMe (talk) 01:07, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

I know this is an old discussion, but I do think that for students in Palo Alto, the suicides are definitely relevant. I think they should be included in the page. Slauhale (talk) 15:36, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Gunn High School. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080705114031/http://gunn.pausd.org/home/web/files/profile07.pdf to http://gunn.pausd.org/home/web/files/profile07.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090612035135/http://www.newsweek.com:80/id/201160/?q=2009/rank/1 to http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160/?q=2009/rank/1

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 16:13, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Subject of more national media coverage
I heard in a news report that the CDC was investigating suicides at Gunn. I went to Wikipedia to learn what it was about, but found very little information. I propose adding some information and links as follows:

Gunn High School received national attention in 2009 after five of its students committed suicide over a span of nine months, mainly by walking in front of trains at a nearby crossing. As a result, steps have been taken to limit access to the tracks. Attempts have since been made to try to improve the emotional health of students attending the school. , cluster suicide has remained a problem in the district's high schools.

In February 2016, a team of suicide prevention specialists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) paid a two week visit to the area to determine risk factors.

Comfr (talk) 01:13, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 28 April 2020

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

Gunn High School → Henry M. Gunn High School – This is the full name of the school minus the Senior, and "Gunn High School" seems a tad informal to be. I don't think doing this is overly precise though. Also comparing to similar articles, such as Booker T. Washington Public Charter School or Robert G. Cole Junior-Senior High School, they have the full name of the school's founder in their article titles. In general I think there should be some sort of standard on how high school titles are decided. Some, like this one, just contain the last name and "High School". Others include "Senior High School" or similar. Ovinus Real (talk) 08:30, 28 April 2020 (UTC)


 * The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Update Statistics Section
The Statistics section is outdated, should new data be added in place, or added below?

2023-2024 statistics: https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1698704132/pausdorg/n2npnfejvueyjdj1evjc/SchoolProfile2023-2024.pdf Eason Y. Lu (talk) 07:08, 16 May 2024 (UTC)