The arrival of summer marks the end of another school year, one that was filled with noteworthy developments both inside and outside Palo Alto High School. From a student-led walkout protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement to longtime Superintendent Don Austin’s departure, it’s clear that the world we live in is becoming increasingly volatile.

This year, a recurring theme of our Palo Alto community seems to be leaving longstanding institutions and practices for the new.

As the Class of 2026 prepares to say goodbye to Paly, graduates turn to a future that is both exciting and intimidating. In our culture story “The great divide,” staff writer Chloe Huang and Managing Editor Chris Jeon review Noah Kahan’s album “The Great Divide” and how its message of growing up resonates with this year’s graduating class in a time of significant change in their lives.

Launch Editor Yardenne Sternheim shows us how we can learn to deal with such change in her perspective “One more restart,” where she reflects on attending five different schools and how they influenced her post-high school decisions.

But it isn’t just students who are making major changes at the end of this year; beloved Economics and Macroeconomics teacher Eric Bloom is retiring after 28 years. Writers Stefan Eriksson and Chloe Huang go into further detail in the profile story “A full bloom,” describing the impact of Bloom’s lengthy tenure and mentorship of countless students on the Paly community.

Staff writer Kensie Pao unpacks the many intricacies of our academic environment in her perspective “The pressure cooker,” retelling her fondest high school memories and shedding light on a side of Paly that challenges its cut-throat perception. Seniors such as Pao aren’t just saying goodbye to a school with fantastic resources and faculty, but traditions, friends and experiences that will stay with them forever.

But forever is a long time. And over time, our perceptions of others — even the most respected figures — can change. In the feature story “A troubled history,” Culture Editor Ethan Bradley and Editorials Editor Shaurya Thummalapalli explore the implications of political activist Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse on his legacy. Stemming from these controversies are attempts to cut ties with Chavez, renaming locations and holidays originally meant for the civil rights icon. And so we ask: when faced with such division, should we continue to commemorate these individuals who have achieved so much, or is it better to move on?

We urge you to reflect deeply on how to strike a balance between remembering the past and moving towards the future. As our seniors embark on the next chapter, we, as Verde’s next editing team, give thanks for everything the previous team has done and promise to uphold the standards set by our predecessors with accuracy, honesty and integrity.