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Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California)
Encyclopedia
Los Altos High School, established in 1954, is a public school located in the affluent Silicon Valley
suburb
of Los Altos
, California
. It has generally demonstrated a high level of academic achievement. The student-teacher ratios at Los Altos High School are considerably lower than the state average.
Los Altos High School is one of the three MVLA School District
public high school
s, the other schools being Mountain View High School and Alta Vista High School. The main feeder schools are Egan Junior High School
and Crittenden Middle School. Since 2005, the school principal has been Wynne Satterwhite. The previous principal, George Perez, left in 2004.
. Initially, Los Altos High School served the mostly white, middle to upper class populations of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. During 1982 redistricting efforts, the district closed its oldest high school, Mountain View High School, which was located on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View. Awalt High School was then renamed Mountain View High School, while Los Altos High School replaced its Knight mascot with the Eagle mascot from the old Mountain View High School. The district reaches from Los Altos through Mountain View to San Francisco Bay in the north.
The two remaining district high schools now draw equally from wealthy and working-class families and have a similar demographic population. Both schools are located near the city border of Los Altos and Mountain View and each has a considerable amount of the "other" city in its attendance area.
In more recent history, Los Altos High underwent a major renovation over the past few years, which has significantly enhanced the campus environment, including a new science and art building and a FieldTurf
athletic field.
During the El Niño storms of 1998, a tornado
ripped through the quad area of the school. The tornado touched down at 5:05PM on May 4, 1998, near the intersection of El Monte Road and Almond Avenue. It was rated F1 on the Fujita Scale
, and was one of two that touched down in the area. The tornado uprooted trees, picked up dumpsters, damaged the tennis court fences, and destroyed the baseball diamond dugout. Damages were estimated at $25,000.
In 2006, 83% of students participate in academic, extracurricular and community service clubs.
Over 50% of the students participate in an athletic team.
As of 2007, European American
students comprise 51.6% of the population at Los Altos High School. Hispanic and Latino American
students comprise 23.2% of the school's population. Asian American
students comprise 18.7% and African American
students comprise 3.1% of the school's total population. In 2009, a film was presented advocating social tolerance.
score of 786, considerably lower than that of the local Intermediate School
and Elementary School
s.
2006 marked the year in which Los Altos High School was ranked 229th nationally by Newsweek
on High-Achievement High Schools (for public schools only), while that score fell to number 456 nationally in 2008, rising the following year to 372. In 2006, City-data deemed Los Altos High School to be the 9th best High School
in California
, with an API of 797. However, Newsweek grades schools on weighted data and teacher:student ratios, while City-Data merely uses API as a standard.
In 2007, Los Altos High met both its 2007 schoolwide growth target and all subgroup growth targets, both set by the state of California. They were among the 50% of schools who did. In addition, its API growth rate significantly increased by a margin of 5 points between the years 2006 and 2007.
2008 was a low point for the school, as it failed the state's growth target in all aspects, falling seven points in the API from the previous year, with a final score of 795. Asians lost their score slightly by five points and while students with disabilities lost 25 points from the previous year, while Hispanics and the economically disadvantaged scored higher than the previous year. However, they passed the Federal "Adequate Yearly Progress" standards.
2009 saw an increase of 30 points in the API for the school, with a 34 point increase for Latino students and 64 for English-Language learners. 825 points is the highest in school history.
claims that in 2007, teacher credentials were lower and had slightly less experience than the state average, despite higher pupil spending and more Advanced Placement selections. Despite the lack of proper teaching credentials, Los Altos has seven teachers who have certified emergency credentials. In 2009, Michelle Bissonnette, who taught at Los Altos for 10 years, was selected as one of three "Teaching Ambassador Fellows" to work as a full-time employee of the United States Department of Education
for one school year.
In 2008, Newsweek reported that only 16 of the 1,600 students attending Los Altos High received federally subsidized meals and 49.8% of the graduating senior class had at least one passing grade on an AP test or IB Test.
credits
in order to graduate. After-school sports each provide one quarter or one semester of credits. Its sports teams participate in the regional SCVAL League. The Track and Field
team, especially, has made it to State championships numerous times, most notably first place 40 years ago. The team is coached by Olympic runner PattiSue Plumer
.
Los Altos High boasts a large music department, with a state of the art music room equipped with reverb devices. The musical ensembles included are Auxiliary Units
(also known as Color Guard
), Marching Band
, Jazz Band
, Chamber Ensemble, StringOrchestra
, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band. Los Altos High School also includes Concert Choir and the world renowned Main Street Singers. The school also hosts a Drama
department, the advanced course of which is called Broken Box Theatre Company and performs in the school's Eagle Theater.
The school's world-traveling vocal ensemble, known as the "Main Street Singers", travel around the world on tour every year. They gained international reputation through completing concert travel to 45 countries from six different continents and performing works in twenty languages ranging from Renaissance
to Contemporary in over 100 concerts yearly. In 2009, they became the first international organization to travel from Taiwan
to Mainland China
via the newly implemented Three Links
system. Pop singer Aaron Fresh took part of the school's glee
and choir
program while he attended Los Altos High School.
The High School's Marching Band
is part of the Western Band Association
, which is based in California
. In 1997, the LAHS Marching Band received six awards at the state festival. Since then, the band's reputation deteriorated somewhat, and in the 2007 season, they scored last place out of 11 participating bands. 2008 saw a rejuvenation of the school's marching band program, as it won its first sweepstakes award in four years, and placing 7th out of 48 participating bands at Western Band's state preliminaries.
The year 1998 was the "Golden Year" for the Los Altos Instrumental Music Department. Three students were selected for the Santa Clara County Honor Band, while the Jazz Band and Orchestra received a unanimous "Superior" rating at the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival and CMEA Orchestra Festival respectively. In addition, one band and two orchestra students were accepted into the California Music Educator's Association All-State Honor Band and Orchestra, respectively.
Students at Los Altos High School have independently started a club list of over 50 different clubs, including One Dollar For Life
, a non-profit organization
founded by history
and economics
teacher Robert Freeman. It also hosts club extensions of many nationally recognized organizations, such as American Civil Liberties Union
, Amnesty International
, AVID Council
, Club Darfur, Future Business Leaders of America, Gay-Straight Alliance
, Key Club
, Model United Nations
, Safe Ride
, and Mock Trial
. They also have "student unions" of most ethnic and racial groups present in the school. These clubs impact the entire Los Altos community
, and in the case of One Dollar For Life and Amnesty International, they impact regions in rural Africa and Haiti, respectively.
The Los Altos Green Team, with the help of Sierra Club
officials, urged citizens to sign petitions and presented them to the City Council. This helped create the grassroots for a Los Altos "Cool Cities" campaign to aide the city in becoming more Green
; resulting in the city to be included in the Kyoto Protocol
through the Mayor's Climate Protection Center. They have also invited an Emmy Award
-winning Al Gore
-trained speaker to deliver an "update" on An Inconvenient Truth
as well as provide tips on making the student's lives more environmental. They have since started a local sustainable
and organic garden
and plan to sell subscriptions to local residents.
In addition, class of 2008 and previous president of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, received an award for his efforts in promoting gay rights at a local level; while joining San Jose
city's annual gay-pride parade. In 2004, the Alliance petitioned the Los Altos
city council to proclaim a Gay Pride Parade in the city's downtown, which resulted in the passage of language which specifically prohibited religious, racial, ethnic or sexual discrimination-related proclamations. The group, along with the support of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom
and then-Supervisor Tom Ammiano
, then petitioned the city council to reverse the law, a move which was unanimously approved in 2006. They then organized a Gay Pride
parade in downtown Los Altos
, with over 300 in attendance. Due to this event, the County of Santa Clara and multiple local cities
declared a gay pride
day in honor of the club. In addition, the school sponsors a Day of Silence
event annually to combat discrimination against LGBT
students.
Los Altos High School shares a Speech and Debate team with Mountain View High School. The team was founded by Charles Dahan in 1999, with Dahan earning nine Tournament of Champions
bids during his debate career. In 2008, Daniel Moerner, class of 2009, won the Walter Alan Ulrich Award for Top Speaker in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the Tournament of Champions
. In 2009, he also became the first debater to ever win the Stanford Invitational and Berkeley National Invitational back-to-back in their 20-year history.
The Talon is the school's student-run newspaper which has been nationally recognized by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association
. In 1997, it was honored as one of the NSPA's newspaper pacemakers. In 2009, it placed 10th for the NSPA's national Best in Show award in the Newspaper 17+ pages category. They also won several awards for Features writing, Entertainment Review writing, Photography, and Editorial Cartooning. In 2010, The Talon's website, www.lahstalon.org, placed 8th for the NSPA's Best in Show award for publication websites. In 2011, The Talon's website qualified for the Pacemaker online finalists. The website was designed by Seena Burns. The current Editor-in-Chief is Anny Dow.
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Los Altos
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It has generally demonstrated a high level of academic achievement. The student-teacher ratios at Los Altos High School are considerably lower than the state average.
Los Altos High School is one of the three MVLA School District
Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District
The Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District is a school district serving Mountain View, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills, California...
public high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s, the other schools being Mountain View High School and Alta Vista High School. The main feeder schools are Egan Junior High School
Egan Junior High School
Ardis G. Egan Junior High School is a middle school for seventh and eighth graders in Los Altos, California. A lot of people go here. It is part of the Los Altos School District. Most of Egan's five hundred students live in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, though a few live in Mountain View. Egan is...
and Crittenden Middle School. Since 2005, the school principal has been Wynne Satterwhite. The previous principal, George Perez, left in 2004.
History
Los Altos High School was established in 1954 on the site of an orchardOrchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
. Initially, Los Altos High School served the mostly white, middle to upper class populations of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. During 1982 redistricting efforts, the district closed its oldest high school, Mountain View High School, which was located on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View. Awalt High School was then renamed Mountain View High School, while Los Altos High School replaced its Knight mascot with the Eagle mascot from the old Mountain View High School. The district reaches from Los Altos through Mountain View to San Francisco Bay in the north.
The two remaining district high schools now draw equally from wealthy and working-class families and have a similar demographic population. Both schools are located near the city border of Los Altos and Mountain View and each has a considerable amount of the "other" city in its attendance area.
In more recent history, Los Altos High underwent a major renovation over the past few years, which has significantly enhanced the campus environment, including a new science and art building and a FieldTurf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
athletic field.
During the El Niño storms of 1998, a tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
ripped through the quad area of the school. The tornado touched down at 5:05PM on May 4, 1998, near the intersection of El Monte Road and Almond Avenue. It was rated F1 on the Fujita Scale
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
, and was one of two that touched down in the area. The tornado uprooted trees, picked up dumpsters, damaged the tennis court fences, and destroyed the baseball diamond dugout. Damages were estimated at $25,000.
Statistics and demographics
As of the 2003-2004 school year, the enrollment was approximately 1600 students; in the last few years each incoming class has been significantly larger than the outgoing class.In 2006, 83% of students participate in academic, extracurricular and community service clubs.
Over 50% of the students participate in an athletic team.
As of 2007, European American
European American
A European American is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe...
students comprise 51.6% of the population at Los Altos High School. Hispanic and Latino American
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
students comprise 23.2% of the school's population. Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
students comprise 18.7% and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students comprise 3.1% of the school's total population. In 2009, a film was presented advocating social tolerance.
Education
Before 1982, Los Altos HIgh had one of the highest scores in the nation. Starting from 1982, Los Altos High's scores dropped.Test Scores and State-wide ranking
In 2005, Los Altos High School received an outstanding APIAcademic Performance Index
The Academic Performance Index is a measurement of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California, United States. It is one of the main components of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the California legislature in 1999...
score of 786, considerably lower than that of the local Intermediate School
Egan Junior High School
Ardis G. Egan Junior High School is a middle school for seventh and eighth graders in Los Altos, California. A lot of people go here. It is part of the Los Altos School District. Most of Egan's five hundred students live in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, though a few live in Mountain View. Egan is...
and Elementary School
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s.
2006 marked the year in which Los Altos High School was ranked 229th nationally by Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
on High-Achievement High Schools (for public schools only), while that score fell to number 456 nationally in 2008, rising the following year to 372. In 2006, City-data deemed Los Altos High School to be the 9th best High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, with an API of 797. However, Newsweek grades schools on weighted data and teacher:student ratios, while City-Data merely uses API as a standard.
In 2007, Los Altos High met both its 2007 schoolwide growth target and all subgroup growth targets, both set by the state of California. They were among the 50% of schools who did. In addition, its API growth rate significantly increased by a margin of 5 points between the years 2006 and 2007.
2008 was a low point for the school, as it failed the state's growth target in all aspects, falling seven points in the API from the previous year, with a final score of 795. Asians lost their score slightly by five points and while students with disabilities lost 25 points from the previous year, while Hispanics and the economically disadvantaged scored higher than the previous year. However, they passed the Federal "Adequate Yearly Progress" standards.
2009 saw an increase of 30 points in the API for the school, with a 34 point increase for Latino students and 64 for English-Language learners. 825 points is the highest in school history.
Educational environment
The California Department of EducationCalifornia Department of Education
The California Department of Education is a California agency that oversees public education. The department oversees funding and testing, and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement...
claims that in 2007, teacher credentials were lower and had slightly less experience than the state average, despite higher pupil spending and more Advanced Placement selections. Despite the lack of proper teaching credentials, Los Altos has seven teachers who have certified emergency credentials. In 2009, Michelle Bissonnette, who taught at Los Altos for 10 years, was selected as one of three "Teaching Ambassador Fellows" to work as a full-time employee of the United States Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
for one school year.
In 2008, Newsweek reported that only 16 of the 1,600 students attending Los Altos High received federally subsidized meals and 49.8% of the graduating senior class had at least one passing grade on an AP test or IB Test.
Programs and Highlights
Los Altos High School boasts a strong music department, athletic department, and a host of student-run clubs.Athletic Department
Los Altos High School requires two years of Physical EducationPhysical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
credits
Credit (education)
A course credit is a unit that gives weighting to the value, level or time requirements of an academic course taken at a school or other educational institution.- United States :...
in order to graduate. After-school sports each provide one quarter or one semester of credits. Its sports teams participate in the regional SCVAL League. The Track and Field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
team, especially, has made it to State championships numerous times, most notably first place 40 years ago. The team is coached by Olympic runner PattiSue Plumer
PattiSue Plumer
Patricia Susan "PattiSue" Plumer is a retired American long-distance runner who ran twice in the Summer Olympics. She ran first in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea where she finished 13th in the now defunct 3000 metres...
.
| Season | Sport | Season | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn Autumn Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier.... |
Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
Spring Spring (season) Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and... |
Track and Field Track and field Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area... |
| Boy Boy A boy is a young male human , as contrasted to its female counterpart, girl, or an adult male, a man.The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both... s Water Polo Water polo Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a... |
Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... |
||
| Girls Water Polo Water polo Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a... |
Badminton Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their... |
||
| Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... |
Boy Boy A boy is a young male human , as contrasted to its female counterpart, girl, or an adult male, a man.The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both... s Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... |
||
| Girls Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... |
Gymnastics Gymnastics Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body... |
||
| Girls Field Hockey Field hockey Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks... |
Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.... |
||
| Cross Country Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road... |
Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand... |
||
| Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... and Diving Diving Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one... |
|||
| Lacrosse Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh... |
|||
| Winter Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:... |
Boy Boy A boy is a young male human , as contrasted to its female counterpart, girl, or an adult male, a man.The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both... s Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
Summer Summer Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice... |
|
| Girls Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
|||
| Wrestling Wrestling Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position... |
|||
| Boy Boy A boy is a young male human , as contrasted to its female counterpart, girl, or an adult male, a man.The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both... s Soccer |
|||
| Girls Soccer |
Performing Arts Department
Auxiliary Units
The Auxiliary Units or GHQ Auxiliary Units were specially trained, highly secret units created by the United Kingdom government during the Second World War, with the aim of resisting the expected occupation of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany, after a planned invasion codenamed Operation Sea Lion...
(also known as Color Guard
Color guard
In the military of the United States and other militaries, the color guard carries the National Color and other flags appropriate to its position in the chain of command. Typically these include a unit flag and a departmental flag...
), Marching Band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
, Jazz Band
Jazz band
A jazz band is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands usually consist of a rhythm section and a horn section, in the early days often trumpet, trombone, and clarinet with rhythm section of piano, banjo, bass or tuba, and drums.-Eras:SwingDuring the swing era in the mid-twentieth...
, Chamber Ensemble, StringOrchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band. Los Altos High School also includes Concert Choir and the world renowned Main Street Singers. The school also hosts a Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
department, the advanced course of which is called Broken Box Theatre Company and performs in the school's Eagle Theater.
The school's world-traveling vocal ensemble, known as the "Main Street Singers", travel around the world on tour every year. They gained international reputation through completing concert travel to 45 countries from six different continents and performing works in twenty languages ranging from Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
to Contemporary in over 100 concerts yearly. In 2009, they became the first international organization to travel from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
to Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
via the newly implemented Three Links
Three Links
The Three Links or Three Linkages was a "message of Compatriots in Taiwan" calling for the unification of mainland China and Taiwan. It was sent by the PRC National People's Congress in 1979....
system. Pop singer Aaron Fresh took part of the school's glee
Glee (music)
A glee is an English type of part song spanning the late baroque, classical and early romantic periods. It is usually scored for at least three voices, and generally intended to be sung unaccompanied. Glees often consist of a number of short, musically contrasted movements and their texts can be...
and choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
program while he attended Los Altos High School.
The High School's Marching Band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
is part of the Western Band Association
Western Band Association
The Western Band Association is a nonprofit organization that promotes high school music education in California, Arizona and Nevada. Specifically, the WBA organizes many marching band competitions for high school students...
, which is based in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1997, the LAHS Marching Band received six awards at the state festival. Since then, the band's reputation deteriorated somewhat, and in the 2007 season, they scored last place out of 11 participating bands. 2008 saw a rejuvenation of the school's marching band program, as it won its first sweepstakes award in four years, and placing 7th out of 48 participating bands at Western Band's state preliminaries.
The year 1998 was the "Golden Year" for the Los Altos Instrumental Music Department. Three students were selected for the Santa Clara County Honor Band, while the Jazz Band and Orchestra received a unanimous "Superior" rating at the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival and CMEA Orchestra Festival respectively. In addition, one band and two orchestra students were accepted into the California Music Educator's Association All-State Honor Band and Orchestra, respectively.
Student Clubs
One Dollar For Life
One Dollar For Life, or otherwise known as ODFL is an IRS Registered 5013 non-profit organization founded to address third world poverty on the premise of collecting one dollar from each of millions of US high school students and then channeling those funds into small-scale infrastructure projects...
, a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
founded by history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
teacher Robert Freeman. It also hosts club extensions of many nationally recognized organizations, such as American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, AVID Council
Advancement Via Individual Determination
Advancement Via Individual Determination is an American college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges, focusing on students in the academic middle. The formula is to raise expectations of students...
, Club Darfur, Future Business Leaders of America, Gay-Straight Alliance
Gay-straight alliance
Gay–straight alliances are student organizations, found primarily in North American high schools and universities, that are intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their straight allies .-Goal:The goal of most, if not all,...
, Key Club
Kiwanis
Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...
, Model United Nations
Model United Nations
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda....
, Safe Ride
Designated driver
The terms "designated driver" and "designated driving" refer to selecting a person to remain sober, as the driver of a vehicle, while others are allowed to drink to excess . A designated driver is a person who abstains from alcohol on a social occasion in order to drive his/her companions home safely...
, and Mock Trial
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
. They also have "student unions" of most ethnic and racial groups present in the school. These clubs impact the entire Los Altos community
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
, and in the case of One Dollar For Life and Amnesty International, they impact regions in rural Africa and Haiti, respectively.
The Los Altos Green Team, with the help of Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
officials, urged citizens to sign petitions and presented them to the City Council. This helped create the grassroots for a Los Altos "Cool Cities" campaign to aide the city in becoming more Green
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
; resulting in the city to be included in the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
through the Mayor's Climate Protection Center. They have also invited an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
-trained speaker to deliver an "update" on An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
as well as provide tips on making the student's lives more environmental. They have since started a local sustainable
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...
and organic garden
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
and plan to sell subscriptions to local residents.
In addition, class of 2008 and previous president of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, received an award for his efforts in promoting gay rights at a local level; while joining San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
city's annual gay-pride parade. In 2004, the Alliance petitioned the Los Altos
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
city council to proclaim a Gay Pride Parade in the city's downtown, which resulted in the passage of language which specifically prohibited religious, racial, ethnic or sexual discrimination-related proclamations. The group, along with the support of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
and then-Supervisor Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...
, then petitioned the city council to reverse the law, a move which was unanimously approved in 2006. They then organized a Gay Pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
parade in downtown Los Altos
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
, with over 300 in attendance. Due to this event, the County of Santa Clara and multiple local cities
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
declared a gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
day in honor of the club. In addition, the school sponsors a Day of Silence
Day of Silence
The Day of Silence is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's annual day of action to protest the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students and their supporters...
event annually to combat discrimination against LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
students.
Los Altos High School shares a Speech and Debate team with Mountain View High School. The team was founded by Charles Dahan in 1999, with Dahan earning nine Tournament of Champions
Tournament of Champions (debate)
The Tournament of Champions is a high school debate tournament held annually at the University of Kentucky on the first weekend of May. It is the most prestigious tournament on the "national circuit," representing some of the most competitively successful debaters from the nation's most prestigious...
bids during his debate career. In 2008, Daniel Moerner, class of 2009, won the Walter Alan Ulrich Award for Top Speaker in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the Tournament of Champions
Tournament of Champions (debate)
The Tournament of Champions is a high school debate tournament held annually at the University of Kentucky on the first weekend of May. It is the most prestigious tournament on the "national circuit," representing some of the most competitively successful debaters from the nation's most prestigious...
. In 2009, he also became the first debater to ever win the Stanford Invitational and Berkeley National Invitational back-to-back in their 20-year history.
The Talon is the school's student-run newspaper which has been nationally recognized by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association
National Scholastic Press Association
The National Scholastic Press Association is a nonprofit organization founded in 1921 for high school and secondary school publications in the United States. The association is membership-based and annually hosts high school journalism conventions across the country...
. In 1997, it was honored as one of the NSPA's newspaper pacemakers. In 2009, it placed 10th for the NSPA's national Best in Show award in the Newspaper 17+ pages category. They also won several awards for Features writing, Entertainment Review writing, Photography, and Editorial Cartooning. In 2010, The Talon's website, www.lahstalon.org, placed 8th for the NSPA's Best in Show award for publication websites. In 2011, The Talon's website qualified for the Pacemaker online finalists. The website was designed by Seena Burns. The current Editor-in-Chief is Anny Dow.
Notable alumni
- Steve CentanniSteve CentanniSteven James Centanni is an American news reporter for Fox News Channel.-Journalism career:Centanni joined FNC in 1996. He is currently based in Washington D.C. as a national correspondent....
, Fox News National Correspondent - Lorrie FairLorrie FairLorraine Ming "Lorrie" Fair was a member of the World Cup Champion United States national soccer team. Over the span of ten years, she was a part of one World Cup Team and three Olympic teams, and retired from international play in 2005.Her twin sister, Veronica Ching Fair, was also a member of...
, Midfielder on the US Women's FIFA World Cup team and UNC's National Title team, class of 1996. - Juliette FretteJuliette FrettéJuliette Rose Fretté is an American artist, writer, and model.She is the Playmate of the Month for the June 2008 issue of Playboy magazine, and unusually wrote the article text that accompanied her pictures....
, June 2008 Playboy Playmate of the Month, class of 2002. - William Gross, director of PIMCO, class of 1962.
- Willie HowardWillie HowardWillie L. Howard is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft and played for them for two seasons before a serious injury ended his career...
, two-time All-Pac-10 tackle, member of Stanford's 2000 Rose Bowl team, Drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2000, class of 1996. - John Brady KieslingBrady KieslingJohn Brady Kiesling is a former US diplomat and the author of "Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower" . He was the first of three U.S. foreign service officers to resign, on February 25, 2003, to protest the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin...
, former U.S. foreign service officer who resigned in 2003 to protest the invasion of Iraq. His resignation letter was published widely. Class of 1975. - Oscar Lusth, 1st runner-up, Survivor: Cook IslandsSurvivor: Cook IslandsSurvivor: Cook Islands is the thirteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, having premiered on September 14, 2006...
, class of 1999. - Raj Mathai, NBC Bay Area Sports Director/Anchor.
- Theodore OlsonTheodore OlsonTheodore Bevry Olson is a former United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004 under President George W. Bush.- Early life :...
, 42nd United States Solicitor GeneralUnited States Solicitor GeneralThe United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...
, lawyer for Bush-Cheney in Bush v. GoreBush v. GoreBush v. Gore, , is the landmark United States Supreme Court decision on December 12, 2000, that effectively resolved the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush. Only eight days earlier, the United States Supreme Court had unanimously decided the closely related case of Bush v...
, a case which effectively decided the outcome of the 2000 presidential election2000 presidential electionThe 2000 presidential election may refer to:* Croatian presidential elections, 2000* Federal Republic of Yugoslavia presidential election, 2000* Fijian presidential election, 2000* Ghanaian presidential election, 2000* Polish presidential election, 2000...
in favor of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
; joined forces with David BoiesDavid BoiesDavid Boies is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner. He has been involved in various high-profile cases in the United States.-Early life and education:...
, his former rival in Bush v. Gore, to challenge the constitutionality of Proposition 8California Proposition 8 (2008)Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
in the case of Perry v. SchwarzeneggerPerry v. SchwarzeneggerPerry v. Schwarzenegger is a federal lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the federal constitutionality of Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that amended the California Constitution to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples,...
; Time 100Time 100Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
recipient; class of 1958. - Jennifer SummitJennifer SummitJennifer Summit is an American scholar of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature and Professor of English at Stanford University...
, Professor of English, Stanford University, Chair of Department (2008 - ), class of 1983. - Andrew Arnold TinkAndrew TinkAndrew Arnold Tink BA LLB MP is a former Australian politician, having served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2007....
Member of Parliament (1987–2007), New South Wales Legislative Assembly, class of 1971.
External links
- Los Altos High School website
- The Main Street Singers of Los Altos High School - an SATB Chamber Group
- The Talon (school newspaper)