The charming ladies that are pictured above were the secretarial staff at Cupertino in the school year 1978 to 1979. Periodically we will be featuring photos of other secretaries from other time periods too. No high school can operate without the expertise of such a staff. In the days before computers these secretaries did practically all typing and duplication for teachers on manual typewriters using ditto and mimeograph masters. It wasn’t until the 1970s that they even had the miracle of IBM electric ball typewriters to lighten their work load.
At this time each department had a secretary and they handled all typing and the running off of mimeograph duplication. In addition, most of the ditto copies, used by teachers on more spur of the moment projects, were also generated by these angels of efficiency. Teachers will always be grateful for their invaluable support..
The gentlemen pictured above composed the custodial staff of Cupertino High School during the 1978-1979 school year. Like all of their fellow custodians through the years a great deal of their work took place after teachers and students had called it a day. Cleaning the classrooms, moving furniture, replacing light bulbs, painting over graffiti and many other maintenance matters were usually handled at this time.
During the daylight hours the swimming pool was cleaned, the gardener did his job and emergency matters were handled like the fire alarm going off "accidentally", plumbing disorders, not to mention cleaning up after the students following brunch and lunch. You never really appreciated their efficiency until you visited other high school campuses and realized how clean and maintained ours was in comparison.
Teachers got to know their janitor when they stayed late. It was then you realized the pride they took in doing their job well.
When Cupertino High first opened it was a closed campus. As the student body grew, the cafateria became smaller and smaller. The initial solution was to have more lunch periods The high water mark was three 1/2 hour lunch periods built into a fourth period that lasted 60 minutes. In 1966-1967 another solution was to bring in vending machines for students to buy their lunches from. This experiment lasted only two years.
Throughout all this the cafeteria workers continued to do their job...often taking pride in home made soups, clam chowders, cookies and other specialty items. The team you see here is from 1978-1979. Their crisp, white uniforms, and their proud smiles tell you they were good at their job and enjoyed doing it.
Their warm friendly demeanor made going to eat lunch or to take a break at brunch a welcome respite during the school day.
They too played a vital role in creating the "family feeling" that was so much a part of our days at Cupertino High school.
If you are a classified alumnus of CHS and would like to get involved in establishing a database for other classified alumni, contact us and we'll work with you.
For a complete listing of all classified employees click on to the ten year period of your choice: