Working-Class Kids and Visionary Educators in a Multiracial High School

Winner: Independent Press Award 2026



In the 1960s and 1970s-when many communities resisted school integration and schools held low expectations for working-class kids and constricted teachers' autonomy-educators and students at a multiracial public high school in California collaborated to achieve something remarkable: they created a cohesive community that gave students a powerful sense of belonging.

Over its 25-year life, the student leaders of Sunnyvale High School worked with visionary staff to reduce violence, broaden and enrich the curriculum to include US Black history and Mexican American literature, and increase girls' access to sports. Working together, they fostered a collective sense of pride, persistence, and possibility that fed the success of students and graduates in careers and in communities.

How did adults and youth forge such a powerful ethos of engagement and mutual responsibility, enabling so many to thrive? At a time when issues of racial and gender inequality are arguably as heated as they were half a century ago, what lessons does the school offer? In this book, the story of Sunnyvale High School is told by the students and educators who shaped it and made it meaningful. They attest to the lifelong impact of their shared experience.