Elementary Physical Education
The elementary PE program works to provide age appropriate gross motor skills, teamwork and healthy living. The goal of the Los Altos School District PE program is to inspire the students to build a joy and life-long love for physical education.

Elementary PE Teachers

Mary Alber

Mary has been a physical education specialist for twenty-five years. This is her fifteenth year in the Los Altos School District. In addition to teaching, she also works in aquatics, teaching swimming, water exercise classes and life guarding.  Mary enjoys staying active, traveling to scuba diving destinations, and  spending time with her husband Scott and their black Lab Kona. Mary teaches at Almond School.

David Cerdedes

David  grew up in San Bruno, California.  He attended San Francisco State University graduating with a major in Recreation, Tourism and Parks. After a few years of teaching elementary physical education and substituting at the secondary level, he went and attended Concordia University Irvine where he received his master’s degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration.  David has been active in the field of education and recreation  for 10 years, focusing on teaching physical education, early childhood development, coaching  and non- profit organizations in the San Francisco/Bay Area, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Maine.   David and his wife, Alicia, live in Burlingame and enjoy exploring the world. They are currently training for the tough mudder which is 10-12 mile run with 25 military style obstacles.  David is very excited to work for the Los Altos School District and hopes to inspire the students to build a joy and life- long love for physical education.

Pearl Gavin
Pearl grew up in South San Francisco and has been a huge Giants fan since childhood.  Moved to this area in 6th grade and attended Oak, Blach, and Awalt  (now Mountain View High). She participated in the District's Jr. Olympics back in the day!  Pearl taught in a 4th grade classroom in Davis before moving back and "lucking out" with a P.E. teaching job in the Los Altos School District.  She has been teaching with the District for 10 years and particularly enjoys the fact that she can watch the children grow and mature over the years..."Best job I ever had!" Presently, she teaches P.E. to 1st through 6th grade students at Santa Rita School. Pearl is married and has 3 children- a recent graduate of NYU, a junior at Notre Dame, and a freshman at UC Merced.  In her off time, she enjoys coaching softball, watching Giants games, and playing on softball teams.

John Harney
John has worked in Los Altos for the past ten years.  Prior to being a PE teacher, he worked as a R.N. at Stanford.  In addition to teaching PE in Los Altos, he also coaches baseball at Gunn High School.  He loves kids, his dog and his wife… not necessarily in that order. John teaches at Oak and Santa Rita. 

Jay Heeb
Jay grew up by Heeb Avenue in front of Heeb Creek (Missouri).  They paved the road behind his house his junior year in high school.  His senior year of high school his town got a Wendy’s.  And in case you didn’t notice, he has a very good sense of humor! Jay teaches at Covington, Springer, Oak and Santa Rita. 

The Los Altos Educational Foundation is a proud sponsor of this program.

Junior High Physical Education
At the junior high level, all student participate in a coed PE/health class daily. The PE classes are consist of a rotation of 1-4 week units, which include archery, dance, self defense, table tennis in addition to more traditional sports like basketball and soccer.
For a complete list of activities, check out the Blach and Egan websites.

Junior High after school sports
Blach and Egan belong to the Valley Junior High School Athletic League. This  after school sports league allows the participants to experience inter-school competition, team play and practice good sportsmanship.
It is the goal of this league to provide an inter-school athletic program to as many students as possible. The program offers sport-specific instruction and reinforces the principles of self-esteem building, self-discipline and conscientious sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches, referees, parents and administrators.
Currently there are 10 schools participating in the VJSHAL. This includes schools in Los Altos, Mountain View, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and San Jose.

Junior High PE Teachers

Christine Eustice

Steve Kane

Pat Koren

Dena Zacanti