Save TEAM Academy: Stop the Unilateral Elimination of a 35-Year Outdoor Learning Program at TUHSD

For 35 years, the TEAM Academy has been one of the most beloved programs in the Tamalpais Union High School District. Founded in 1990 by the late, great Chuck Ford, TEAM combines outdoor expeditions, field science, and classroom learning into a transformative two-year experience for juniors and seniors at Archie Williams High School. Students backpack through Joshua Tree, study watersheds in the Eastern Sierra, and learn leadership in the backcountry. All gear and trips are provided free to families. No student is excluded by cost.

On March 5, 2026, Principal Jacob Gran sent a ParentSquare message announcing that TEAM would be cut from a two-year program to one year, effectively gutting it. There was no board vote. No stakeholder input. No parent notification beforehand. No data presented. The lead teacher was given ten minutes' notice at a meeting she had scheduled to discuss her maternity leave.

The program currently serves 52 students across two grades. Under the proposed change, it would serve 26 and lose the continuity that makes it work.  This is the same way other small learning communities have been cancelled at Archie Williams. ComAcad was shortened from two years to one and then was cancelled fully after that.  The change to one year often makes the program unsustainable and then it quickly dies off.

This decision was made unilaterally by a principal who has been at the school for less than two years.

What We're Asking For:

We, the undersigned, call on the TUHSD Board of Trustees to:

Affirm that program-level decisions of this magnitude require board approval, consistent with California Education Code and the board's own 12-year precedent with TEAM.

Place the future of TEAM Academy on the board agenda as a formal action item, with a transparent process that includes stakeholder input, actual data, and the participation of TEAM staff.

Maintain the two-year TEAM Academy model until the board has properly evaluated the program through that transparent process.
Commit to never again allowing a single administrator to unilaterally eliminate a board-created program without board review, public input, or data.

How You Can Help
Sign this petition and share it widely.

Email the board directly: croenisch@tamdistrict.org, ksaavedra@tamdistrict.org, euhlhorn@tamdistrict.org, jholden@tamdistrict.org, igreen@tamdistrict.org, cc: publiccomment@tamdistrict.org

Attend the April 14 board meeting and speak during public comment.

For more info visithttps://www.team-program.org/save-team

This is not just about one program. It is about whether families in this district have a voice when decisions are made about their children's education. A principal who has been at the school for less than two years should not have unchecked authority to dismantle what the board, teachers, students, and families built together over 35 years.

Please sign now to preserve TEAM as a 2 Year Program at Archie Williams.