The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Board of Education recently revised the permit policy to increase the number of available permits. Though more permitted students will slightly increase District revenue, it will not cause crowding problems in schools according to Vice President of the board Laurie Lieberman.

Samo’s Academic Decathlon (Aca Deca) Oceans Bowl Competition Team and Quiz Bowl Competition Team are both headed to the east coast for nationals this year.

Samo administration is in the process of creating an official policy to regulate the ordering of rooter buses to transport students to away sports games after fans were confused by the ordering of rooter buses for boys’ and girls’ basketball playoff games.

In an attempt to eliminate a $4.6 million budget deficit, Samo has given pink slips to multiple teachers at Samo signifying that their job is not secure for the coming year.

Recurring incidents of trespassing on the Samo campus by non-Samo students have left the student population worried about school safety.

After Samo’s annual audit, the school was forced to rethink the way clubs fundraise. Now, they will not be able to fundraise the way they have in previous years because the way the Associated Student Body (ASB) has been handling money from club fundraisers is inconsistent with laws governing how fundraising money should be handled, according to ASB Financial Assistant Jenny Nicolas.

Next year, Samo administrators hope to offer Advanced Placement European History (AP Euro) to incoming sophomores. The course, which has not been offered at Samo before, will become an alternative to World History.

The concert planned by the Associated Student Body (ASB) for Feb. 24th was postponed, effectively cancelling it.

Due to incorrect grade calculations, Samo had to postpone sending out senior midyear transcripts to colleges. However, the transcripts were sent out on the Feb. 15 due date, along with a letter explaining the situation.

Samo’s marching band and soccer, baseball and football teams were asked unexpectedly to contribute $2,000 each towards the cost of re-sodding the baseball field.

The seventh annual “State of Our Schools” presentation was held in the Thelma Terry building in Virginia Park on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

John Green's The Fault In Our Stars book signing tour arrived at Lincoln Middle School on Thursday, Jan. 26.

The city of Santa Monica recently created a program called Active Santa Monica to encourage residents to engage in a healthier lifestyle. The program focuses on different types of exercise each month.

Student organizations the African American Mentor Society and La Sociedad have begun community building activities in the wake of recent race-related violence on campus.

A fire at Samo, suspected by police and fire officials to be arson has left the South Gym and the South Gym’s boys’ locker room quarantined and many students without cell phones, house keys and text books since last Tuesday.

SMMUSD Board of Education has made changes to the Controlled Substance Policy, according to admin, it is now a more lenient policy.

The initial investigation into the fire that started in the South Gym boys' locker room during fifth period on Tuesday, Jan. 31 suggests that the cause of the fire may have been arson, Samo Principal Laurel Fretz said in an email to Samo parents.

Construction called for by Measure BB has started at Samo.

Sections of the ceramics and photo rooms were closed off due to toxic mold growing in the classrooms, however, they have now been reopened.

Due to construction and security officers' posts being moved around, the 6th Street and Pico Boulevard gate has been closed for the remainder of the 2011-2012 school year. The gate at 7th Street and Michigan Avenue is now the main gate.

Seventeen Samo students were accepted into the all-state band for the third consecutive year.

In response to programs on campus requiring fees for participation, Samo Principal Laurel Fretz sent a memo to sports coaches at the beginning of the month, asking them to to be in compliance with the law from now on.

Students on campus have created a petition to try to ban peanuts at Samo to make the school a safe place for all students.

The SMMUSD Board of Education has changed the district fundraising policy to centralized fundraising meaning all the money that is donated is pooled and redistributed to schools.

California has made budget cuts to education and this may cause schools in California to have a furlough week. However, SMMUSD has enough money to avoid this furlough week.

Malibu is attempting to leave the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District due most likely to the newly passed centralized fundraising policy and their lack of representation on the SMMUSD Board of Education.

Anti-sexism activist Dr. Jackson Katz attends a teacher meeting and shows Samo staff the meaning of domestic violence and provides tools to help avoid it.

La Sociedad and the BSU team up to work on the annual toy drive that provides holiday gifts and toys for underprivileged elementary school students in the the district.

In response to an alleged hate crime at Samo last year, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District decided to start holding community dialogues on race, the first of which was on Oct. 29.

Samo choir director Jeffe Huls is one of 85 finalists in the Bravo Awards competition which honors “creativeness and brilliance” in teachers.

In an effort to increase student participation in the creation of the yearbook, the Samohi Nautilus has created a new section in which they will include pictures submitted from students, primarily via Facebook.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education met Thursday in Malibu to discuss a potential change from the current district fundraising policy to a new system that would make it so all donations go through the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation (SMMEF) and are later redistributed as needed.

The Human Rights Watch Student Task Force (HRWSTF), a student-run club on campus, is currently in the middle of their 2011 campaign: Protecting the Right to Education.

The sixth annual Santa Monica 5000 brought athletes, students, parents, teachers and citizens across the Santa Monica-Malibu area together to raise money for their favorite Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) sport or athletic program.

When Laurel Fretz was a teenager, she would come to Santa Monica Beach with her friends, occasionally passing by Samo on her way home. She never dreamed that one day she would be Samo’s principal. Years later, she sits in the principal’s office at her new job.

Because the construction that will be going on at Samo throughout this year will take up space in the north parking lot, staff parking spaces have been moved and reassigned, causing much confusion on campus.

Illuminate. It’s the new, web-based system implemented this year by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) that will replace the systems previously in place.

After the Oct. 1 extended deadline, students who haven’t turned in their Tdap vaccine record will be prevented from returning to school until it is turned in.

In keeping with their tradition of “ideas worth spreading,” Technology Entertainment Design (TED) reached Santa Monica by way of the TEDxYouth event held in Barnum Hall on Sept. 24.

Restrictions on the types of foods students can purchase are designed by administration to create a “healthier” Samo. However, the consumption of sugary foods helps support on-campus organizations such as the Vikes’ Inn, where students gather money for their business through selling such foods.

In the process of transforming a gas-guzzler into an “eco-mobile,” Samo’s Team Marine has transformed students into research scientists...

Last year Samo surpassed the goal set by school administrators and the State of California to achieve over an 800 Academic Performance Index (API) score.

Samo clubs came together in the Science Quad Thursday for Samo's first ever "Club Rush," hosted by ASB. Many student-run clubs and organizations set up booths during lunch in order to promote themselves to the student body, and to expose the students of the 2011-2012 school year to both old and new clubs on campus.

After much deliberation, Samo's Summer reading committee has chosen "Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, for the school-wide 2011 Summer reading book.

Dave Eggers, author of Samo’s 2011 summer reading book “Zeitoun,” is reaching out to schools through more than just his writing.

Samo’s AP Art show, held in the Roberts Art Gallery on April 1, allowed the AP Art students to show off their exquisite talents and abilities.

In an effort to get students more involved, ASB has implemented a new requirement for its members: every student enrolled in the class will now have to lead a fundraiser or event to support the school.

In an ultimate three-day tournament to test one's strength, throwing speed and ability to duck and cover, players and fans alike gathered together last week to cheer on their fellow Vikings in the 2nd annual Samohi Viking Dodgeball Tournament.