Aliso Niguel High School
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Coordinates: 33°33′40.7″N 117°43′11″W / 33.561306°N 117.71972°W
| Aliso Niguel High School | |
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| Location | |
| 28000 Wolverine Way Aliso Viejo, California,  United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | 1993 |
| School district | Capistrano Unified School District |
| Principal | Chris Carter |
| Faculty | 120 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 2,976 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Black, teal, white |
| Mascot | Wolverines |
| Newspaper | The Growling Wolverine |
| Yearbook | The Legend |
| Website | www.alisoniguel.com |
Aliso Niguel High School (ANHS) is a high school located in the city of Aliso Viejo, California, U.S. Most of its students reside in the communities of Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel. The school is a California Distinguished School, a National Blue Ribbon School, and a New American High School.[1] Aliso Niguel was ranked as number 217 in Newsweek's 2011 list of the top 500 high schools in the nation, falling within the top 5% of high schools nationwide.
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[edit] History
Opening its doors in 1993 with a student body of 1600, ANHS became the fourth high school in the Capistrano Unified School District. With the implementation of Digital High School grant in 2000, Aliso Niguel High School invested over $1 million in new technology and related instruction. Additionally, all teachers have e-mail addresses and web sites for swift communication with parents. Organized parent involvement takes the form of an active PTSA and a wide range of parent booster organizations. fa In 1996, Aliso Niguel was selected as a California Distinguished School, the youngest school ever to be recognized as such by the State Department of Education.[1] In 2000, Aliso Niguel High School received national recognition as a Blue Ribbon School and New American High School.[1] In 2004, The Western Association of Schools and Colleges granted Aliso Niguel a six-year term of accreditation, which it renewed for an additional six year period in 2010.
[edit] Student ethnicity
| Year[2] | Caucasian | African Am. | Hispanic | Asian | AmerInd | Unspecified | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 2164 | 82 | 295 | 409 | 8 | 163 | 3121 |
| 2007 | 2218 | 85 | 304 | 404 | 10 | 175 | 3226 |
[edit] Facilities
Although the high school started small (with about 1,400 students) in their first year, the high school grew rapidly over the years, and it still continues to grow to this present day. Currently, the school has 26 portable classrooms in its southern parking lot adding to 22,080 square feet (2,051 m2), and 100 permanent classrooms. The permanent buildings are 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) forming a grand total of 222,080 square feet (20,632 m2) on the campus, making Aliso the largest school in the district.
[edit] Academics
In 2005, the school's students scored within the top 90% of all schools on the California High School Exit Exam. 90% of all students that took the English Language Arts passed and 91% passed in the Math section.[citation needed]
[edit] Sports
Aliso Niguel's sports teams are known as the Wolverines and compete in the South Coast League of the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section. From 1998 to 2005, they were members of the Sea View League, and in the Pacific Coast League before 1998.
[edit] Pep Squad
Aliso's Pep Squads have won national and international titles.
- 2005 season: The Aliso varsity cheer team won the USA first place national title.[citation needed]
- 2006 season: The varsity cheer team won second at USA and the JV cheer team won first.[citation needed]
- 2007 season: The Varsity cheer team took the USA national title grand champions,[citation needed] and first place on the international level in Hawaii.
- 2008 season: The JV and varsity teams received first place at the National Competition: "King of the Bleachers".[citation needed] The Varsity Song team traveled to Florida for the NDA competition to compete against teams from all over the US and got 2nd place in the Team Performance division, losing first place by .02 points.[citation needed]
- 2010 season: The Varsity Cheer team won first place at U.S. Finals in Las Vegas, and 1st place at NCA nationals hosted at Knotts Berry Farm.[citation needed] The JV Cheer team won 1st Place at COA Nationals.[citation needed]
[edit] Fine and practical arts
[edit] Marching band
The Aliso Niguel Marching Band is a representative class that rehearses outdoors. As part of the Western Band Association, they perform in four marching competitions and participate in the WBA finals. They also perform in the Laguna Niguel Holiday Parade in the second Saturday in the month of December every year.[3] The marching band won the title for 2008 WBA combined 1/2/3A Grand Champion. [4]
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Dance ban
In September 2006, the Principal Charles Salter canceled the remainder of all school dances in response to students "freak dancing" and arriving drunk to the first dance of the year.[5] Salter stated that he would bring back dances if, and only if, students and parents could cooperate and develop a solution to "the problem." This story initially received regional attention. The story gained widespread, national attention later that month when the school's annual Homecoming Dance was banned.[6]
The dance ban was covered by the BBC, NPR, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, and the national news program Geraldo at Large. The principal later reinstated the dances with explicit rules that were developed by five parents, five students and three school officials. The first dance under the new rules was the Winter Formal of February 2007. These rules include the type of dancing students are allowed to do. Also, in order to attend any school dance, students and their parents must sign a dance contract before buying a ticket. Although students are upset over losing their Homecoming dance, many are relieved that the ban has been lifted and hope that this will not happen again.[7]
[edit] Protests
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ANHS students protested against the Iraq war by walking out of school on March 20, 2003, the day after the U.S. began military strikes in Iraq. Students marched from campus onto a nearby hill overlooking the school, where they stood for hours, holding signs bearing anti-war slogans that could be seen by other students and teachers on campus.
On April 2, 2010, nearly 500 students walked out of their first period class to protest impending teacher pay cuts. At about 7:50 A.M. roughly 400 students had congregated under the large canopy in front of the school. After being ordered numerous times to return to class by a number of high-ranking school officials, the students ignored the order, and marched up the driveway to the one road leading to the school. They overran it, waving signs, and chanting in support for their teachers. After reaching the main intersection of Aliso Creek Road, and Wolverine Way, the students took over the four corners of the intersection and continued waving signs and chanting. Numerous passing drivers showed support by leaning in their horns, or waving out the window. At about 8:30 A.M., Capistrano Unified School District Officials showed up to witness the protest, although school officials followed the mass of students in order to prevent a riot like situation that occurred at nearby Dana Hills High School, several days earlier. For the most part, the protest remained peaceful, albeit loud and energetic. Police were also on hand to make sure nothing got out of hand. At 9:30, students began to march back to the high school, to return to classes, only to find proctors waiting for them, and all classroom doors locked. The students were detained (under the canopy at which the protest started), but were later released during passing period. The rest of the school day was allegedly filled with false fire alarms, but nothing more. The protest received immediate coverage from the local newspaper Orange County Register [1], as well as the local contingent of national new corporation CNN [2]. Capistrano Unified School District even released a response to the incident saying,
"People have emotions, and those emotions sometimes get expressed when you're young in ways that aren't acceptable." "It doesn't surprise me. But we don't want to see our students missing time in class. They're going to college and they're going to be tested, and they need that class time," said school board President Anna Bryson. [3]
Immediately after the incident, in an article published to The OC Register, school officials promised that students will be disciplined for their actions, saying that "Even Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi served the consequences for their civil disobedience."[4]
Some parents allegedly support their students actions, saying the walkout may help the district "Wake Up". [5]
[edit] Notable alumni
- Sasha Cohen, Olympic figure skater
- Ivan Koumaev, participant on So You Think You Can Dance (Season 2)
- Derek Lee Rock, drummer for ska band Suburban Legends
- Josh Partington, lead guitarist for Something Corporate
- Skip Schumaker, Major League Baseball outfielder and second baseman, St. Louis Cardinals
- Kyla Ross, American gymnast
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c http://alisoniguel.net
- ^ http://www.schooldigger.com/go/CA/schools/0744002328/school.aspx
- ^ Laguna Niguel Holiday Parade, a program partnered with the Toys for Tots
- ^ http://www.westernbands.org/members/2/Aliso-Niguel-HS.html
- ^ Change in dance moves called for, The Orange County Register, September 21, 2006
- ^ Homecoming dance gets boot, The Orange County Register, September 29, 2006
- ^ Ban on Dances Lifted
