The M-A Chronicle is a student-managed public forum, dedicated to objective and comprehensive reporting. As the online newspaper of Menlo-Atherton High School, we seek to celebrate the successes of our high-performing school as well as highlight the voices of those living on the margins. Written, produced, and edited entirely by students, we present a variety of stories about our diverse school community in a factual and unbiased manner.

Merged in 2018, The Mark is the print accompaniment to the Chronicle, thoughtfully designed and compiled by a joint staff. In The Mark, we seek to amplify the voices expressed in the Chronicle and expand to new audiences by distributing to over 1200 school and community members. The Mark also serves as a platform for students to share their artistic pursuits in the form of art, poetry, literature, and photography submissions.

Material published in the M-A Chronicle and The Mark reflects the judgement of the editorial board, made up of the editors of both publications. Opinions expressed in individual articles are not necessarily representative of the opinions of the M-A Chronicle’s editorial staff, unless indicated. All opinions published—whether in bylined stories or in editorials—are not reflective of the opinions of the Menlo-Atherton High School and Sequoia Union High School District administrations.

Committed to expanding our coverage to a wide variety of groups, The Mark is distributed free of charge and the Chronicle is accessible anywhere. To ensure maximal objectivity, neither publication accepts advertisements.

Please explore the other tabs to discover our legal, submissions, editorial, comments, and corrections policies.

The M-A Chronicle and The Mark are public forums for student expression. The editorial staff welcomes submissions of opinions in the form of letters to the editors and guest stories, as outlined in our submission policy.

The publication falls under California Education Code 48907. Predating the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case, the law authorizes expanded student exercise of free expression, prohibiting prior restraint except in cases of “libelous, obscene, or slanderous” expressions and advocacy for “unlawful acts.”

This means that—apart from the aforementioned exceptions—the publication can freely publish as its editors see fit, regardless of the opinions of Menlo-Atherton High School and Sequoia Union High School administrators. Such a policy allows Menlo-Atherton students to express their views freely without fear of reprimand.

The editors-in-chief have the ultimate say in whether a piece is published. However, as outlined in the editorial policy, opinion pieces with a byline are indicative only of the author’s views; staff editorials will be indicated as such, and represent the views of a majority of the publication’s editorial board.

The M-A Chronicle adviser manages logistical production and aids the staff in delivering objective material, without interfering in the editorial decision-making process.

If you believe a story contains reporting that is unfactual or misleading, please contact us below through the tab on the “About | Contact” page. Please follow the same procedure if you would like to respond to a story in the form of a letter to the editor.

The M-A Chronicle and The Mark welcome submissions, with the mission of highlighting the many diverse views of Menlo-Atherton students and community members.

If you would like to respond to a story in the form of a letter to the editors, please fill out the contact form below on the “About | Contact” page. We welcome anonymous tips and story pitches, also via the contact form.

In the case of letters to the editors, the editorial board reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy, and obscenity. Regarding tips, we require your name and contact information for purposes of pursuing leads; your name will not be published if you request anonymity.

The Mark encourages submissions as well, especially in the form of student artwork, literature, poetry, and photography. To ensure proper delivery of files, please email any potential submissions to the following email: [email protected]. Like in the Chronicle, the staff reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy, and obscenity.

In all cases, we cannot guarantee that a submission will ultimately be published. Such a decision rests in the hands of the editorial board.

If you believe a story is factually incorrect, please also fill out the aforementioned form and select “corrections”; if you would like to express your opinions in a more informal and rapid fashion, you are welcome to fill out the comment box on a story (with publication contingent upon compliance with the comment policy).

As stated in our mission statement, material published in the M-A Chronicle and The Mark reflects the judgement of the editorial staff.

Opinion pieces with a byline are indicative of the views of only the other. Staff editorials will not have a byline.

The opinions stated in staff editorials are representative of the views of a majority of the publication’s editorial board, with the advice of staff reporters also considered.

Authors of news stories will be indicated in bylines, regardless of the amount of oversight editors had in the writing process.
Except for in cases of explicitly requested anonymity, submissions—letters to the editors, artwork, poetry, etc.—will include the name of the author.

When stories contain photos from a non-M-A Chronicle source, credit will be noted either on individual images or at the top of the article.

All opinions published—whether in bylined stories or in editorials—are not reflective of the opinions of the Menlo-Atherton High School and Sequoia Union High School District administrations.

We encourage readers to voice their opinions respectfully in regards to both the readers and writers of the publication. Comments will be pre-screened, and may be removed if deemed to be in violation of this policy. Comments should remain on topic, concerning the article they are about. Brevity is encouraged.

A comment will be not be published if:

1) The comment attacks a named or identified person or group unreasonably;
2) The comment makes readers unreasonably uncomfortable on the basis of one’s race, gender, religion, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation or otherwise;
3) The comment attacks personally any school employee or student;
4) The comment contains excessive obscenities or sexual explicitness;
5) It is determined that the comment is made under a false name or uses another person’s name or email address;
6) The comment threatens or encourages violence;
7) The comment encourages illegal behavior;
8) The comment violates copyright or privacy protections.

We strive to be factual and objective in our reporting. If you believe a piece contains incorrect facts or potentially obscene information, please fill out the contact form on the “About | Contact” page.

If we deem the proposed correction to be applicable, we will edit the story and place an editor’s note at the top of the page. The story will also be designated with a special corrections tag such that it will appear on a corrections category page and come up if a search is made for corrections.