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Pioneer High School (San Jose)
Encyclopedia
Pioneer High School is a public high school located in the Blossom Valley district of San Jose, California. It is one of six high schools in the San Jose Unified School District
, and is a science magnet school with an interdisciplinary focus on community service and service learning. It was nominated for California Distinguished School awards in 2008,2006, 2000, and 1996.
. Each student has a certain amount of unit requirements under different categories that they must complete in order to graduate. There are a number of accelerated and Advanced Placement
classes students can choose from, as well as mock trial and radio broadcasting extra-curricular activities that they can choose to be involved in. The yearbook was a semi-finalist in the year 2006, and in the 2006-2007 school year the yearbook was chosen as the national sample.
Pioneer High School has received 4 California Distinguished School
awards (1996,2000,2006,and 2008), has been awarded the Santa Clara County Top Ten High School award, and has been listed in the Mercury News as a National Service Learning Leader School from 1998-2006. The school's Academic Performance index in 2007 was 801/1000, putting it in the top 20% of schools and classifying it under the "Very High Performing School" category. Pioneer has never failed to achieve the growth goals expected of them under the No Child Left Behind Act
.
and service learning as part of its mission statement. To supplement this focus, the school requires all sophomore students to participate in a "Sophomore Project", a venture that demands a minimum of 30 hours of community service in the span of a couple of months. In most cases, students exceed this amount, sometimes even exceeding hundreds of hours, in which case they are presented a Presidential Award for Service. Many students claim that the Sophomore Project assignment is the most challenging part of attending Pioneer High School.
During their Senior year, students are again given the opportunity to participate in a service learning project when they are introduced to the "Senior Exhibition" assignment. Students may complete multiple hours of personal or community work in order to obtain extra credits. The Senior Exhibition project is not mandatory.
Pioneer Mustangs Athletics are generally known for being a strong force within the BVAL league of the Central Coast Section. The Athletic Department, headed by Joe Berticevich, has experienced much success over the past decade. Perhaps the sport Pioneer is most known for is its football team. Pioneer football has achieved multiple winning seasons in the Mount Hamilton division of BVAL over the past decade, and continually competes with private schools of a much higher caliber.
Other noteworthy programs include Basketball, Golf, Cross Country, Track and Field.
San Jose Unified School District
San Jose Unified School District is a K-12 school district in Santa Clara County, California. It serves a large portion of the city of San Jose, California with a student population of approximately 32,000.-List of schools:...
, and is a science magnet school with an interdisciplinary focus on community service and service learning. It was nominated for California Distinguished School awards in 2008,2006, 2000, and 1996.
Academics
Pioneer High School is a California Public High School, and therefore has to abide by rules and regulations set forth by the California State GovernmentGovernment of California
The government of California operates in the context of a democratic republic with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of California and the other elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the California State Legislature which...
. Each student has a certain amount of unit requirements under different categories that they must complete in order to graduate. There are a number of accelerated and Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
classes students can choose from, as well as mock trial and radio broadcasting extra-curricular activities that they can choose to be involved in. The yearbook was a semi-finalist in the year 2006, and in the 2006-2007 school year the yearbook was chosen as the national sample.
Pioneer High School has received 4 California Distinguished School
California Distinguished School
A California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately five percent of California schools are awarded this honor each year following a selection...
awards (1996,2000,2006,and 2008), has been awarded the Santa Clara County Top Ten High School award, and has been listed in the Mercury News as a National Service Learning Leader School from 1998-2006. The school's Academic Performance index in 2007 was 801/1000, putting it in the top 20% of schools and classifying it under the "Very High Performing School" category. Pioneer has never failed to achieve the growth goals expected of them under the No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
.
Service Learning Focus
Pioneer High School focuses on community serviceCommunity service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
and service learning as part of its mission statement. To supplement this focus, the school requires all sophomore students to participate in a "Sophomore Project", a venture that demands a minimum of 30 hours of community service in the span of a couple of months. In most cases, students exceed this amount, sometimes even exceeding hundreds of hours, in which case they are presented a Presidential Award for Service. Many students claim that the Sophomore Project assignment is the most challenging part of attending Pioneer High School.
During their Senior year, students are again given the opportunity to participate in a service learning project when they are introduced to the "Senior Exhibition" assignment. Students may complete multiple hours of personal or community work in order to obtain extra credits. The Senior Exhibition project is not mandatory.
Athletics
Other noteworthy programs include Basketball, Golf, Cross Country, Track and Field.
Administration
- Sue Walker, Principal
- Debi Richardson, Assistant Principal - Curriculum
- Erin Van Bebber, Assistant Principal - Guidance
- Tim Gavello, Assistant Principal - Discipline
- Lauren Maslyar, Assistant Principal - Activities
Demographics
Pioneer's racial demographics are- Caucasian (49%)
- Hispanic (30%)
- Asian (12%)
- Black (3%)
- Native American (3%)
- Other (3%)