Since its opening in 1968, San Marin has seen many changes of students, faculty, and the campus culture. Generations of students have come and gone through the school, and family members can compare and contrast their high school experiences.
Current students like junior Natalia Green, whose parents attended San Marin, think they have had very different school experiences.
“Teachers are always trying to make sure you are getting your homework done. There are 504 plans issued if you need them, which is awesome,” Green said. “My parents told me there wasn’t really that support for students and that they are glad that my generation has access to that support now.”
With the lack of technology in the 80s and 90s, many high school students resorted to sports games as a source of entertainment, with crowds being bigger than they are today.
“The support for different activities was way better and more exciting from what I’ve heard,” junior Luke Saysette said. “Student sections used to be a lot crazier.”
A popular tradition at San Marin was senior legacies, which many referred to as wills. These were written in yearbooks and included senior advice, jokes, important numbers, or snotty remarks.
“[I would] have to look in my yearbook, but Billy Bower used to steal my pizza all the time, so I think I willed him all the pizza in the world,” Seghieri said.
Despite many years passing between students’ parents attending San Marin, some things have not changed, such as the San Marin and Novato High rivalry.
“The Novato High rivalry was pretty big and the [Marin Catholic] rivalry was just starting to grow,” alum Joe Label, who graduated in 1990, said. “It was a good rivalry because you knew a lot of guys on the other side of the field and you could talk up a lot of trash because they were your buddies.”
Another thing that is similar today as it was in the past is the rally chants and cheers.
“Many cheers that [students] do [during] games are ones that I did when I was cheering in high school,” 1990 graduate Daniella Seghieri said.
Past students who are now parents, such as 1991 graduate Brook Stahley, think that their children are very fortunate to go to school in the era they do because of all the opportunities they have.
“[School society] is a lot more proactive about important issues, like mental health, than we were even 10 years ago,” Stahley said. “[And of course] there are perks like DoorDash.”
Communication between teachers and parents has improved as well. Alumni Suzie Weir, who graduated class of 1990, has a son enrolled in the STEM program and thinks that this aspect of the school has improved.
“I think now at San Marin there’s so much more communication with the parents so that we now know what they’re studying,” Weir said.
Some students wish they went to school in their parents’ time because of the emphasis on spending time with friends.
“Because of technology, I wish I had experienced high school back then,” Green said. “From what my parents told me, they were out with their friends every night and they were more in the present… I wish it was more like that [today].”
Many past students miss the old San Marin and reminisce on old memories.
“I miss how much fun [San Marin] was,” 1972 graduate and teacher Mark Whitburn said. “I got a great education and for the first time in my life, I enjoyed coming to school. It seemed that the school had something for everyone at that time… people took pride in the school.”
