A few days after the murder of Jose Merales, Alta Vista students and Principal Bill Pierce walked from classroom to classroom to collect donations for funeral costs for the former student.

Three girls carried a jar decorated with Merales' picture, while Pierce spoke to students about the 17-year-old, who had stopped attending the continuation high school before his death.

"He was a very sweet kid, very soft spoken, which is why it makes it so hard," Pierce told the Voice on Monday.

That day, Merales' family came by to pick up the donations -- about $75, mostly in pocket change -- and Pierce, a powerfully built man with a kind face, looked pale and distraught after handing the money over to Merales' mother.

"Boy, that was hard," he said.

Given Alta Vista's small student body, most of its students and teachers knew Merales. Though Pierce would not give details about when Merales stopped attending or where he was headed, he said the former student had been involved in extracurricular activities there, and that at the time of the murder, Merales was "in transition" but had not dropped out.

"It is very frustrating since we don't know who or why," Pierce said about the shooting.

On Tuesday evening, Feb. 26, after neighbors heard several shots fired, Merales' body was found on the sidewalk near his Higdon Avenue home. Police have no leads in the case, and are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of his killers.

His shooting rocked Alta Vista, which was already dealing with bad news of a different sort: Another former student, 19-year-old Nathan Talarico, had been arrested the previous Friday as a suspect in the Feb. 7 shooting death of Jeffrey Johnson. (A second suspect, 19-year-old Jose Alfredo Romero, was arrested Feb. 27 in connection with Johnson's murder. School administrators would neither confirm nor deny that Romero also was a former Alta Vista student.)

Despite these upheavals, the campus is normally a quiet place where students can receive help in and out of the classroom, said Pierce, who has been with the school for 21 years. He noted that while gang activity was particularly heavy a decade ago, there has been very little violence on campus in the last 10 years.

He said he debriefed both staff and students the day after Merales was killed, and additional counseling has been made available.

High graduation rate

Merales was one of 300 students a year who attend the alternative high school, located next to the Mountain-View-Los Altos Union District Office on Bryant Avenue. Students from high schools in Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto are referred to Alta Vista because of problems with attendance or credit deficiency, and some students choose to come for the smaller classes and more flexible schedule.

Alta Vista classes end before 1 p.m., and although teachers offer unstructured tutoring in the afternoon, many students attend community college classes or go to work. With no quarter or semester system, students graduate throughout the year, and Alta Vista boasts a 95 percent graduation rate. To pass, students must show competency, and the high school does not accept any grades lower than a C.

Students also receive counseling, and the school offers non-academic resources and services.

"Some of the students are troubled. Some come here because they function better in a smaller environment," explained district director of case management Hinda Weber, who meets all new students and families. "The goal is to find out why they are here."

Weber provides resources for non-academic problems, such as health and immigration concerns, and is currently working to help the mother of an Alta Vista student who lost her job and cannot afford housing.

Weber said she often refers students to the on-site "HealthVan," operated by Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, where they can receive nutritional, psychiatric and social services as well as vision and dental care.

'A safe place to be'

Pierce, who also has a background in psychology and counseling, is equally focused on school security. As a result of the school's efforts, he said, "This is a place where you don't have to worry about watching your back."

From his office in the corner of the campus, he has a full view of the quad and surrounding portables, and personally questions any young people who don't seem to belong there.

He also works closely with the local police and gang prevention programs to keep tabs on the students, resulting in "a very limited gang presence" at the school, he said.

The recent killings, Pierce said, have sparked discussion at Alta Vista, but "I don't see policies changing." Those policies include, among other things, a dress code forbidding gang colors, symbols and other attire.

"We know bad things happen on Friday and Saturday night," Pierce said. "Our job is to create a safe place to be and then work with students on how to be safe when not here."