In honor of Alisal’s 60th Anniversary, this is the 17th in an ongoing series of staff/alumni profiles.

Alisal has been open since 1965, and only one teacher was here, but she wasn’t teaching, she was attending.

When Alisal opened, freshman English teacher Jane Albano was a sophomore in the class of 1968. In her time here at Alisal, she participated in a variety of clubs and sports, some being newspaper, yearbook and track. “It just made school feel more complete instead of just going to class and doing homework, ” she said. “You had to be involved in a lot of activities and it just made me feel more connected to the school, and I got to work with different people.” 

 The school was very different when it opened from what it is today; it was much smaller and did not hold a great reputation because of the area. It was also really nerve wracking for the new students. “We were responsible for taking care of the new building and setting the new traditions,” she said. 

When the school opened, the students and teachers had a main goal in mind which was to make Alisal known, not for the assumed bad reputation, but to be known for having the best academic excellence, student success, as well as some positive school traditions and keep it that way for years.

After graduating in 1968, she attended San Jose State and at first she thought about majoring in journalism, since she was on the newspaper during her high school years. She decided to switch to an English major because at that time she wasn’t able to major in journalism. “At the time I thought I was going to be a journalist, since I did the newspaper in high school,” she said. “But later on I found out that you couldn’t get a teacher credential with a major in journalism, so I switched to English and later on got my teaching credential.”

Once she graduated from San Jose State University and got her teaching credential, she came back to visit Alisal in 1973. She visited her old principal Mr. Kearney and found out they were looking for an English teacher. “There was an opening since the teacher (Mr. Rowland) who was leaving … due to family issues he had moved back to Texas,” she said. 

She said once she started working here as a teacher alongside the teachers who had taught her, it was really pleasant. “They were all supportive and all, but there weren’t any of my English teachers who were the first English teachers the school had,” she said. “But I do remember when some teachers were surprised saying, ‘What, Jane’s back as a teacher?’, which was kind of cool.”

Albano has seen Alisal grow, not just physically, but she has also seen its pride grow over the years. The school was much smaller. It was just the main building, there were no 1000s, 700s, or portables. As for the school’s pride, she has seen both the staff and the students grow their pride.

No other teacher in the district has as much service time as Albano. She has been teaching for over 50 years at Alisal.  

As for when she might retire, she wants to work here as long as she’s able. “I just need to make sure each year that I’m still being effective teaching,” she said.

What makes Alisal so special to her is both the students and the school. She has seen the school transform from being one of the worst schools (by reputation) into one of the best schools in the district. “For me, since I’ve been here since the beginning, something special to me is watching how it’s grown and how it’s excelled and how its problems have been dealt with, and just watching it grow and develop,” she said. 

Updated 4/27 @ 2:16 pm