Homestead High School (Cupertino, California)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Homestead High School
Homestead High School building.jpg
Location
Cupertino, California, United States
Coordinates 37°20′10″N 122°2′55″W / 37.33611°N 122.04861°W / 37.33611; -122.04861Coordinates: 37°20′10″N 122°2′55″W / 37.33611°N 122.04861°W / 37.33611; -122.04861
Information
Type Public 4-year comprehensive
Established 1962
Principal Graham Clark[1]
Staff 97 (in 2007)[2]
Grades 9–12
Number of students 2,270 (in 2007)[2]
Campus Suburban
Color(s)      green      white
Mascot Mustang
Rival Fremont High School
Newspaper The Epitaph
Website www.hhs.fuhsd.org

Homestead High School (HHS) is an American comprehensive high school serving western Cupertino, western Sunnyvale, and portions of southern Los Altos, in Santa Clara County, California. Opened in 1962, the school serves 2,270 students in grades 9 to 12 as part of the Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD).[2][3] In 2003 and 2009 the California Department of Education recognized Homestead as a California Distinguished School, and in 2004, the Federal Department of Education recognized Homestead as a Blue Ribbon School.[1][4]

Contents

[edit] Demographics

The table below represents the gradual increase in enrolling students between the years 2003 and 2007.

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
1,844 1,823 2,001 2,089 2,270

Source:[5]

As of the 2007 school year, the racial composition was as follows:

Approximately 5.5% of the student population were economically disadvantaged.

Source: [6]

[edit] History

Homestead High School has played an important role in the development of Silicon Valley. During the late 1960s and 1970s, the school was a haven for students interested in electronics and the emerging computer age. The school’s electronics class is considered as seminal as Frederick Terman's program at Stanford University.[7] During this period, the electronics teacher, John McCollum, created a hands-on classroom in which students like Stephen Wozniak learned while designing, building, repairing, and understanding a range of equipment.[8] Today, would-be engineers, mathematicians, and entrepreneurs find support through the school's programs in robotics, mathematics, science, business courses, and its Future Business Leaders of America chapter.

[edit] Campus

Homestead High School's swimming pool.

Homestead High School is bordered by Homestead Road to the north and Interstate 280 to the south. The athletic facilities were remodeled in Summer 2009 to add solar panels and shade structures over both parking lots and reorient the football field and track so that lights could be installed and the school could host night-time games. The other half, facing Homestead Road, consists of several school buildings. The majority of the buildings have an inner corridor with outdoor corridors connecting the buildings. Green-colored hoofmarks decorate Homestead High School's sidewalks and walkways, which are from the school's official mascot and color. The front walls of the school are decorated with murals of similar theme, including a large, newly painted mural of a mustang. The school has also recently been reminded by a school project that it has over 42 water fountains. [9]

[edit] Academics

Homestead High School's curricula includes preparatory courses, vocational training, and general education. The school has a variety of special programs to meet the needs of exceptional students. Open-access Advanced Placement (AP) classes are offered in the subject including US History, English, Physics, Calculus, Art, Government/Economics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Statistics, Spanish, French, Japanese, Music Theory, and Chinese. Several programs promote positive learning for all students, including Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) and inclusion classes to support the needs of English Language Learners and Special education students. The school also offers a Peer Tutorial program and a program called EXCEL[clarification needed] to serve the needs of students trying to pass the California High School Exit Exam and finish graduation requirements. The school introduced a block schedule in the 2003 school year that includes a 30-minute tutorial period four days a week.[1]

Academically, Homestead ranks in the top 10 high schools in Santa Clara County.[citation needed] Based on the average standardized test scores of its diverse student body, Homestead ranks fourth in the Fremont Union High School District, below top-ranked Monta Vista High School,second-ranked Lynbrook High School, and third ranked Cupertino High School. Homestead has been successful at placing its students in state and national competitions.[clarification needed] In science, math, and business, Homestead students have matched or outperformed students at Lynbrook and Monta Vista, and Homestead students have regularly placed among the top schools in the United States.[citation needed]

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Homestead High School provides a broad co-curricular program. Students actively lead and participate in a wide variety of organizations, clubs and teams.[10] Several have received national distinction.

[edit] Colorguard

Taught by a world class instructional staff, Homestead colorguard is one of the top teams in the nation. Undefeated Scholastic AA Class CCGC Champion for 4 years and placing 6th at WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio has made the organization nationally known. The caption head is Jason Peeples and is assisted by Luis Valcazar, Ethan Brooks, and Courtney Aruta, as well as many other occasional staff members. They are currently competing in the Open class in both the CCGC circuit and the WGI circuit.

[edit] The Epitaph

Homestead's award-winning student newspaper, The Epitaph," won eight Gold Crowns from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). During that same period, it received eight Pacemaker Awards from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA). As late as 1994, those were the most national awards ever given to a high school paper.

The paper also received one of its highest honors, The Press Freedom Award from the Student Press Law Center, in 1988 for its successful defense of a story about about a junior boy who was HIV positive, one of the first such stories in any high school newspaper. The story had been initially censored by the principal but was allowed to run when the newspaper invoked California Education Code section [48907][1], a California law that protected students' rights to free expression. The story was reported nationally in the wake of a Supreme Court's decision in Hazelwood School District et al. v. Kuhlmeier et al., 484 U.S. 260 (1988) This case gave school officials greater latitude in determining the content of a school's official student publications. The California law made the ruling moot in the state.

During that same period, the paper also won numerous local and state awards. The San Jose Mercury News named the paper the best in its annual contest for Silicon Valley student newspapers ten of the twelve years the paper ran the contest. It was also awarded the top prize from the San Francisco Press Club several times during that period, as well as the top prize from the now-defunct Palo Alto Times.

The paper's unusual name was selected by the school's first students in 1962. In keeping with the school's western theme and Mustang mascot, they named the paper after the first newspaper west of the Rockies, The Tombstone, Arizona Epitaph, which had been popularized in a television series of the time about Wyatt Earp, "Tombstone Territory."

Some the newspapers former staffers have gone on to work professionally. Most notably, Alex Williams ('83) writes for The New York Times and Michael D. Shear ('86) is a White House reporter for The Washington Post.

The paper's original adviser, Nick Ferentinos, was named the 1994 Dow Jones National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year.

[edit] Forte! Music Community Service Club

Forte! is a club on campus that provides opportunities for musicians to perform music as means of community service. "Forte" has the dual meaning of both "loud" in musical terms and "passion" in literal terms. Forte! allows students at Homestead High School to express themselves through the art of music. Forte! is composed of chamber ensembles that perform to serve the community. In the past, the club has performed at the Cupertino Square Shopping Center, JW House of Kaiser Permanente, the HC Manor in Sunnyvale, and the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center.


[edit] FIRST Robotics Team

Homestead has a robotics team that competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The team was created by students in 2001. The team number is 670. Alumnus Steve Wozniak has served as a key supporter of the team over the years. Homestead offers a robotics class that serves as a recruiting ground for students interested in joining the team.[11] The team has a website detailing its history, mission, news, and ongoing activities.[12]

[edit] Future Business Leaders of America

Homestead High School is home to a chapter of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), an organization dedicated to preparing students for success in business and careers. The chapter has enjoyed success, having won an unofficial sweepstakes tally for the past 12 years at California FBLA's Bay Section Level, and the official Sweepstakes Award at the California FBLA State Leadership Conference for the past 11 years.[1][13] The chapter had a paid membership of over 200 students for the 2007-2008 school year.

[edit] Key Club

A club dedicated on developing leadership and character skills, Key Club is the world's largest community service club. Homestead's Key Club consists of more than 100 members. Its mission is to provide its members with opportunities to perform service, build character, and develop leadership. Homestead's Key Club is part of Division 34 South of the Cali-Nev-Ha district.

[edit] KFC: Komedy and Film Club

The KFC: Komedy & Film Club represents the school at the annual district-wide Student Film Festival. At the First Annual Homestead High School Student Film Festival in May 2006, members of the KFC took third place overall. At the Second Annual FUHSD Student Film Festival in May 2007, members of the KFC represented their school while placing 1st in the Comedy category.[citation needed]

[edit] Mathematics Competitions Team

The mathematics team has regularly qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME). The team took fourth place nationally in the Mu Alpha Theta National Log 1 Contest Mathematics Contest in 2005, 2006, and 2007. From 2003 through 2006, Homestead's math team placed among the top 10 teams nationally in the Ciphering Time Trials, a contest sponsored by National Assessment & Testing. During this period, Homestead's team also placed among the top 20 teams in several other contests sponsored by National Assessment & Testing, including the Team Scramble, the Four-by-Four, and the Collaborative Problem Solving Contests.[14] In 2002, the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competition (AMC) awarded the Edyth May Sliffe Award for Excellence in Teaching to Homestead teacher and team faculty advisor Steve Headley.[15]

[edit] Music Department and Marching Band
 This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (February 2008)

Homestead has an accomplished music program, with a continuous run of championships and sweepstakes starting in 1993 with their field show rendition of Phantom of the Opera. Since then, the Mighty Mustang Marching Band has performed such shows as The Who's "Tommy", and Miss Saigon. In 2005, the band tied for 6th place in the 5A division at the Western Band Association (WBA) State Championships. In 2007 and 2006, the band took the Grand Sweepstakes Award and Sweepstakes Awards in Music, Marching, Showmanship and Field Show at the Cupertino Tournament of Bands. In 2007, the band participated in a Bands of America regional placing 5th in finals.[16] In 2008, the marching band placed 5th in the WBA finals with a score of 91.22, the first they have broken the 90 mark in WBA competition. In 2009 WBA State Championships, the percussion section placed 1st in preliminaries.[17] The school colorguard participates in the California Color Guard Circuit and placed 2nd at the 2006 WBA State Championships. During the 2008 season, the colorguard was ranked 1st in every CGGC show they participated in, including championships. They also won both WGI regionals they participated in and scored 3rd in the WGI Power Regional West. They travel to Dayton, Ohio every April for WGI World Championships where they place very well. The jazz, vocal, string and wind ensembles consistently rank superior in competitions.[citation needed] Wind Ensemble and Orchestra performed in Carnegie Hall at the 2007 New York Band and Orchestra Festival, winning Silver Awards for each musical group.[18] In accordance with Homestead's long-standing reputation as a leader in internet technology at the high school level, the HHS Marching Band maintained the first website in the Fremont Union High School District, hand-coded by alumna Shanna Roberts in 1995. The site continued, albeit from a different domain, after her graduation by alumnus Trenton Hill.

[edit] The Pegasus

Homestead's yearbook, Pegasus, has been its most award-winning publication of recent years, capturing two Pacemakers from the National Scholastic Press Association in 2002 and 2005. The Pacemaker is awarded to the 20 best yearbooks in the country, often out of more than a thousand contenders. The yearbook was also an NSPA Pacemaker Finalist in 2000 and 2001. In 2006, the CSPA awarded the Pegasus a Silver Crown. The yearbook has also won myriad other awards, ranging from CSPA Gold Circles (awarded for individual stories, concepts, designs, and photography) to various Best in Show awards.

[edit] Science Bowl Team

Homestead has a team competing in the Science Bowl, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Over the years, Homestead students have won awards at the National Chemistry Olympiad and the National Science Bowl. Teacher Gareth Wong initially organized and advised the team, and in 2002 the American Chemical Society recognized his work with a High School Teacher Award for the Western Region.[19] The team is currently advised by chemistry teacher Chris Nafrada and physics teacher Mary Anne Plano. On February 10, 2007, Homestead's team won the regional competition at the Stanford Linear Accelerator, eventually repeating their regional victory on February 2, 2008.[20] At the 2007 National Science Bowl Competition in Washington D.C., Homestead's team placed twelfth out of more than sixty high-school teams, winning a $1,000 prize for the school's science department.[21] In 2009, Homestead made it to the National competition for the third time in a row. At the National Science Bowl Competition, they placed in the top eight out of sixty-seven other high schools.

[edit] Theater Department

Homestead has an active theater department that presents multiple plays per year. Homestead also sends a contingent to the annual California Thespian Festival. In the spring of 2006, Homestead students Ittai Geiger and Jeff Glass took first and second place, as well as "Best At Fest" at the International Thespian Society Festival, where more than 2,000 students competed for awards.[22]

[edit] Trigenesis

Trigenesis is a math, science, and philosophy club. The club provides peer support for students interested in participating in the county science fair or other science and technology competitions. Over the years, club members have won awards at the Synopsis Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship, the California State Science Fair and the Siemens Competition.

[edit] Athletics

Homestead has teams in the following sports:

[edit] Notable alumni

Notable alumni at Homestead High School include:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Executive Summary School Accountability Report Card". Fremont Union High School District. 2005-2006. http://www.fuhsd.org/SARC/Hexsum06.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-14. 
  2. ^ a b c "Homestead High - Reports (CA Dept of Education)". California Department of Education. http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/DQReports.asp?CDSType=S&CDSCode=43694684333316&lPage=P. Retrieved 2008-02-28. 
  3. ^ "HHS School Profile" (PDF). http://hhs.fuhsd.org/guidance/documents/school_profile_2006-07.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
  4. ^ "2004 Schools — No Child Left Behind—Blue Ribbon Schools Program". 2005-09-23. http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/2004/index.html. Retrieved 2007-01-16. 
  5. ^ http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/page=sl/sid=84419/midx=CPEnrollment
  6. ^ http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/page=sp/sid=84419
  7. ^ Malone, Michael S. (1999-04-08). "Infinite Loop — Peeling Apple to find no core". http://www.cnn.com/books/beginnings/9904/infinite.loop/index.html. Retrieved 2007-01-13. "In particular, there was a class at Homestead in electronics taught by John McCollum. It would prove as important to the computer age as Fred Terman's electronics class at Stanford had been for Bill Hewlett and David Packard three decades before." 
  8. ^ Rahimzadeh, Auri (1995). "The PowerGS Issue #5 Woz Interview". http://www.woz.org/pages/wozscape/pgsinterview.html. Retrieved 2007-01-13. 
  9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9S8FC9lvEY
  10. ^ "Homestead High School Clubs". http://www.hhs.fuhsd.org/clubs/. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
  11. ^ Hussey, Erin (2006-10-25). "Dueling machines square off in robot games". The Cupertino Courier. http://www.community-newspapers.com/archives/cupertinocourier/20061025/education1.shtml. Retrieved 2007-01-16. 
  12. ^ "Homestead Robotics Team". http://hrt670.com/main.php?speed=high. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
  13. ^ Fremont Union High School District (2006-07-06). "Fremont Union High School District FBLA Students Lead California to National Championship" (PDF). Press release. http://www.fuhsd.org/FBLAnat06.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-17. 
  14. ^ "NatAssessment.com". http://www.natassessment.com. Retrieved 2007-01-14. 
  15. ^ "AMC Sliffe Alumni List - California". http://www.unl.edu/amc/f-miscellaneous/f4-sliffe/Alumni/California.shtml#ca. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
  16. ^ Elbogen, Ruby (2006-10-25). "Striking up the bands is a longstanding tradition". Cupertino Courier (MediaNews / Silicon Valley Community Newspapers). http://www.svcn.com/archives/cupertinocourier/20061025/news5.shtml. Retrieved 2008-02-28. 
  17. ^ "Western Band Association 4A/5A Class Championships" (PDF). Western Band Association. 2009-11-22. http://www.westernbands.org/admin/event_images/big_photo/330_~11-21-09%20WBA%204A-5A%20Class%20Champs.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 
  18. ^ "New York Band and Orchestra Festival - Program Details". 2007-04-21. http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_8711.html?selecteddate=04212007. Retrieved 2008-02-28. 
  19. ^ "ACS Announces High School Teacher Awards". Journal of Chemical Education 79 (9): 1067. September 2002. http://www.chem.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2002/Sep/abs1067.html. Retrieved 2008-02-28. 
  20. ^ "DOE Regional Science Bowl at SLAC". http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/scibowl/. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
  21. ^ "NSB: Media". http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/nsb/media.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
  22. ^ "Noteworthies". Los Altos Town Crier. 2006-03-29. http://www.latc.com/2006/03/29/. Retrieved 2007-01-16. 
  23. ^ "Meet Dan Gordon". http://www.gordonbiersch.com/brewery/about/bio_dan.html. 
  24. ^ "Linda Jezek records at databaseolympics.com". http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JEZEKLIN01. 

[edit] External links


Fremont Union High School District

Cupertino | Fremont | Homestead | Lynbrook | Monta Vista
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_High_School_(Cupertino,_California)"