About us

The Valley Ventana newspaper was founded in 1976 at Smithson Valley High School. It has gone under various name changes; however, when Margaret Edmonson became the adviser in 2006, the staff changed the title back to its original name. In 2013, the publication moved online to WordPress using the Comal Independent School District server, under editor Robert Evans. In 2016, the Valley Ventana made a transition to School Newspapers Online.

In 2021, the Valley Ventana earned its first Distinguished Sites recognition under the leadership of editor-in-chief Daniel Lackey and managing editor Rebekah Mann. The Valley Ventana received its second Distinguished Sites recognition in 2022 under the leadership of Rebekah Mann, Emma Siebold, Joey Clark, Jackson Posey and Parker Maroney.

Contact:

Advisor: Margaret Edmonson | Phone: 830-885-1048 | Fax: 830-885-1001 | Email: [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief: Bethany Mann |Email: [email protected]

Managing Editor: Alex Whelchel| Email: [email protected]

Design and Production Editor: Solily San Miguel| Email: [email protected]

Smithson Valley High School | 14001 Hwy. 46 West | Spring Branch, TX 78070

Principal: Stacia Snyder

Policies:

QUERIES

• Questions or complaints concerning material published in the media should be made in writing to the editor(s) who will present the concern at the next scheduled editorial board meeting.
• Complaints and suggestions may be emailed to [email protected] or dropped off in room C105.

REGARDING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AND ONLINE COMMENTS

• Letters to editor will be printed in the opinion section of the newspaper or on the website.
• Guidelines to write letters to the editor will be printed every issue in the opinion section of the paper and available online
• Letters to the editor may be submitted to the adviser’s mailbox, room C105 or emailed at this address: [email protected]
• Letters to editor should not exceed 300 words, must be signed and must include writer’s address and phone number for verification.
• Letters to the editor will be verified by a member of the editorial board to determine the authenticity of the writer.
• No material will be printed where content is obscene, invasive of another’s privacy, encouraging physical disruption of school activities, and/or implies libel.
• The SVHS Media editorial board reserves the right to withhold a letter or column or other submission  and/OR  return  it for revision  if  it  contains unprotected speech or grammatical errors that could hamper its meaning. Deadlines for letters and columns will  be determined by each year’s student  staff, allowing sufficient time for verification of  authorship prior to publication.
• The Valley Ventana will only publish one letter, per author, per issue.
• All letters to the editor become the property of the school newspaper upon receipt and will not be returned to the author.
• Online comments will require a name and email address submitted that are verifiable.
• Online comments will automatically post.
• Alerts will be sent to staff editors each time a comment is posted to the site.
• Online comments that are found in violation of the editorial policy will be removed as quickly as possible.
• Personal attacks are not allowed.

REGARDING ADVERTISING

• The publications will not accept advertising for products that are illegal for minors to purchase and/or use.
• Students not of legal age whose photographs appear in an advertisement of the publications are required to sign a model release form, as well as their legal guardian.
• The publications will not run advertising without a proper signature on the advertising contract which explains terms of payment, content, size, publishing dates, includes attached layout which explains the terms of payment, content, size.
• The publications will not accept personal or classified advertising.
• All ads need to be approved by editorial board, any ad not deemed appropriate by board will not run.
• The publications will cease to publish advertising of any advertiser that does not meet payment obligations specified in school contact.
• All advertisers will receive a complimentary subscription of the Valley Ventana in which their ad has run, or The Ranger  if advertisers purchase the price designated by the contract and opted to receive a yearbook.
• If a published advertisement is incorrect in substantive content, a reduced price or  corrected run will be negotiated.
• If $200 is spent on print advertising, a complementary online ad is given to the advertiser.
• Web ads appear in a specified section of the website and randomly rotate through the area each time the page is refreshed.
• Advertisers who specifically purchase web ads, as opposed to being given the complementary one, will have their ad appear more frequently in the designated area.
• Advertising that appears in the media is not necessarily endorsed by the media or its staff members, editorial board or adviser.
• All ads are billed on Oct. 1 unless alternative arrangements are made with the adviser.
• Bills which are not settled by Nov 1. will incur an additional fee of 30% of original balance. An additional fee or 30% the original balance will be added the first of each month until the bill is paid.

REGARDING BYLINES

• All articles, graphics, photos, art, columns, pages, reviews, and other material creatively conceived, with exception to staff editorials, mug shots and cut-outs will be bylined with the producer’s name.
• All bylined writers will be held accountable for their work.
• When more than one person has contributed creatively to a piece of work, any person who has contributed to the work must be bylined as a producer.

REGARDING ERRORS

• Concerns about errors in the school media may be submitted through the adviser, the phone number to the publication room is 830-885-1048, email is [email protected].
• The editorial board retains the right to determine whether, in fact, an error has been made.
• Known and or found errors that are brought to the attention of the school media will be addressed regardless if realized by author, audience, or staff member.
• Staff  members will strive to correct errors prior to publication; however, if  the editorial board determines a significant  error is printed, the  editorial board will determine the manner and timeliness of  a correction.
• Major corrections are determined by the editors and adviser.
• If changes are made to a web story once a story has been posted, the change will be noted along with the date and time the change was made.