Mira Loma High School

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Mira Loma High School
Logo-miraloma1.jpg
Location
Sacramento, California, Sacramento County, 95821
United States
Information
Type Public Magnet School
Established 1960
School district San Juan Unified School District
Principal Paul Oropallo
Faculty 81
Grades 9–12
Number of students 1,817
Student:teacher ratio 22.4
Color(s) Scarlet red & Columbia blue         
Mascot Matadors
Newspaper The Matador Capers
Yearbook Recuerdos
Athletic Conference Capital League
Website [2]

Mira Loma High School is a public high school located in Sacramento, California, United States. It is a part of the San Juan Unified School District with a student body of approximately 1800 students. Mira Loma High School has been an IB World School since 1989, and is the largest International Baccalaureate program in Northern California [1]. Mira Loma also achieves consistently high pass rates for IB exams. According to Mira Loma, in 1996-1997 the school had a pass rate of 93%, with a 100% diploma attainment rate for students [2]. In 2007-2008 the pass rate was 93% with a 100% diploma attainment rate [3]. Both statistics are well above both the North American average (78%) and the world average (81%) for diploma attainment. Mira Loma has encouraged implementation of the International Baccalaureate program in other school districts with noted success. Winston Churchill Middle School began offering the Middle Years Program in 2000, and Granite Bay High School in the Roseville Joint Unified School District was authorized as an IB World School in 2008.

Contents

[edit] Recognition

Mira Loma High School is held in high regard locally and nationally: Mira Loma High School was ranked in the top 250 high schools in the United States by Newsweek in 2004. This statistic has increased since 2003 when it was ranked in the top 300 schools. As of 2008, Mira Loma is ranked 225th in the nation under Newsweek's scale.[4]

[edit] The Arcade Creek Project

The Mira Loma Arcade Creek Project is a highly-recognized ongoing study of the riparian corridor of an urban watershed in Sacramento, California. It consists of eleven studies which measure the health of the Arcade Creek and is run entirely by students of Mira Loma High School and five faculty advisers.[5] The project has received many awards and recognitions including the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award [6].

[edit] Scholarships

Mira Loma students compete both nationally and locally for various prestigious scholarships. Mira Lomans have received The Frank H. Buck Scholarship, Schwab Rosenhouse Scholarship, Bank of America Scholarship, Regents, Chancellor's and Alumni Scholarships to the University of California, the President's Scholarship to various universities, Independent scholarships and grants to many universities, and Appointments to U.S. Military Academies including the United States Military Academy at West Point.[2] Mira Loma holds the distinction of having the largest number of Frank H. Buck Scholarship recipients of the high schools in the 6 county area from which the foundation accepts applications, with 18 Buck scholarship recipients.

[edit] Academic Competitions

[edit] Science Olympiad

Mira Loma has several consistently strong academic teams. The Mira Loma Science Olympiad team has won the Northern California State Competition and gone to the National Science Olympiad Tournaments for the last four years, placing their highest (at 6th place) in 2006. Mira Loma placed 10th in the national competition in 2009[7].

[edit] Science Bowl

The Mira Loma National Science Bowl team (consisting of a group of students that answer gameshow-style questions on science and mathematics) has competed at a national level thirteen times. Mira Loma's teams have also won 13 of the past 19 Sacramento Regional Science Bowls. In 2007, the Mira Loma team placed 9th in the nation. In 2008, the team became the youngest from Mira Loma to attend national competition where they placed 2nd.[8]. In 2009, Mira Loma attended the national competition again and placed 1st in the nation.[9] Mira Loma also shares a partnership with Intel through their PC Pals program.[10]

[edit] Mathematics

Mira Loma High School has placed in the following competitions: CSUS Computer Science competition, American High School Mathematics Examination, California Mathematics League, Mathletes, National Society of Black Engineers competition, and its SAT Math scores are the highest in the San Juan Unified School District.

Mira Loma's Mathletes team won the 2009 Regional Finals at the CSUS Grand Meet.

[edit] Art

The Mira Loma Art Department is currently contributing to campus beautification by creating murals throughout the campus and creating a promotional video for the school. In recent years, Mira Loma students have exhibited at the Phantom Gallery during Sacramento's celebrated Second Saturday Art Fair, the Department of Agriculture, Sacramento International Airport, Sacramento Fine Arts Gallery, Mesa Verde Art Gallery, Crocker Art Museum, American River College, IB Headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, and California State University, Sacramento. Mira Loma students consistently receive Summer scholarships for the California Institute of the Arts, and have been awarded the following honors: Film Festival Student Award, Illustrator's Award, Watercolor Scholarships, and Best of Show at the California State Fair. In 2009 Mira Loma students were published in Arts & Activities Magazine, the leading arts education magazine in the nation. In 2008, IB/IS/MYP Visual Arts teahcer Alison Stiles (2006 San Juan Unified Teacher of the Year and 2006 Sacramento County Teacher of the Year) was awarded a grant from Visual Art Technology used to incorporate modern technology and resources with teaching. In 2008 Mira Loma participated in the recycled art STARS program with great success.

[edit] Drama

Mira Loma's drama department regularly sells out its seasonal productions. The department is currently headed by Doniel Soto, former California State University, Sacramento theatre and dance professor, founder of Abandon Productions and The Space in downtown Sacramento. The drama department's recent reinvention of Macbeth, titled Maxbeth, received glowing reviews from many sources, including Marcus Crowder of the media blog 21Q, who called the production "...the kind of stuff that makes you gasp and laugh at the sheer audacity, ingenuity and artistry of it." [11] Mira Loma has also received the Mari Carson IB Theatre Arts Award, awards for Directing and Acting at the Lincoln Festival and scholarships for acting, 1st place awards for directing, writing and acting at the San Juan Theater Festival.[12]

[edit] Speech and Debate

In 2007, Mira Loma sent a member of its Speech and Debate team to the National Forensics League National Tournament in National Extemporaneous Speaking. In 2008, Mira Loma sent a Public Forum team to the NFL tournament. Also in 2008, at the California State Tournament, Mira Loma had two students reach the Finals of Impromptu Speaking, placing 2nd and 5th. Mira Loma also took second place in Public Forum Debate of the 32 team pool at States.

In 2009, Mira Loma surpassed Granite Bay High School as leaders of the Sacramento Valley Forensics League. The team sent 21 students to the State Tournament, as well as 6 to the NFL National Tournament. At the State Tournament, Junior Safeena Mecklai won 1st place in Impromptu Speaking.

[edit] National History Day

Mira Loma has developed a strong National History Day team, sending several teams to the state competition regularly as well as the national competition. In 2006, a Mira Loma team competed in the Senior Documentary category and won 3rd place in the nation. In 2007, two Mira Loma teams reached the California State Finals in the Senior Documentary category and one advanced to nationals. In 2008, Mira Loma sent 3 Senior Documentary teams to the state competition as well as a number of other teams from Senior Website, Senior Dramatic Performance, and Senior Historical Paper. The Senior Documentary team went on to win 11th in the nation.

[edit] Future Business Leaders of America

Mira Loma is known for its thriving FBLA club, which frequently ranks at local, state, and national levels. Recently, competitors placed first in Marketing, Business Law, Personal Finance, and Business Math in 2009, and ranked in Business Calculations, Business Communication, and in the Entrepreneurship Team event.

Mira Loma was awarded a $1000 grant from Business Journal in 1997. In the same year Mira Loma was also one of three schools in the country to pilot the National Retail Federation Retail Readiness Assessment.

[edit] English Department

In addition to math and science awards, Mira Loma's English department has received both local and national recognition for outstanding creative ability. Individual students have placed 1st and 2nd in the Bill of Rights Essay Contest, the "Write Idea" contest sponsored by The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Bee Poetry competition, the Norman Mailer High School and College Writing Award, and an award from the American Scholastic Press Association. Mira Loma's literary magazine, Prisms has received the prestigious Norman Mailer High School and College Writing Award as well.

[edit] Yearbook

Mira Loma's yearbook, Recuerdos received the Norman Mailer High School and College Writing Award multiple times, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Award, and a writing contest award from The Sacramento Bee newspaper.

[edit] International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement

Mira Loma offers a large number of International Baccalaureate courses that prepare students for IB examinations every spring. The IB tests are either Standard Level (SL) or Higher Level (HL) based on the amount of coursework prior to the examination. It was also one of approximately 25 schools worldwide to offer an IB course in anthropology, which was discontinued after the 2006-2007 school year due to the teacher's retirement. The following IB examinations were taken by Mira Loma students in 2006:

  • Biology (HL)
  • English A1 (HL)
  • Environmental Systems (SL)
  • French B (SL/HL)
  • Further Math (SL)
  • German B (SL/HL)
  • History of Americas (HL)
  • Japanese B (SL/HL)
  • Mandarin B (SL/HL)
  • Math Studies (SL)
  • Mathematics (SL/HL)
  • Music (SL/HL)
  • Physics (SL)
  • Cultural Anthropology (SL)
  • Spanish B (SL/HL)
  • Theatre Arts (SL/HL)
  • Theory of Knowledge
  • Visual Arts (SL/HL)[13]

Additionally, AP Calculus is offered to eligible students. AP US History was taught by Bruce Lagomarsino, but has since been discontinued in favor of a total IB campus. Although the classes are not offered ar Mira Loma, some students also took AP Physics, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry exams during the 2006-2007 school year. AP Japanese and AP Chinese have also been taken by students in past years.

[edit] Student Life

[edit] Extracurriculars

Mira Loma offers a variety extracurricular clubs that meet both at lunch and after school. Some of these clubs include Astronomy Club, Ballroom Dance Club, Speech and Debate Club, Economics Club, Gay-Straight Alliance, Youth Court, Mock Trial, Moot Court, International Relief Club, as well as ethnic organizations such as Latinos Unidos, Jewish Student Union, Black Students Union and Desi Plus Club. Religious organizations include the Slavic Christian Club and Muslim Students Association. Future Business Leaders of America club as well as Climate Crisis Club, Habitat for Humanity Club, Solar Cooking Club, Key Club, and a chapter of the National Spanish Honor Society, French, Korean, German, and Chinese clubs are also active on campus, particularly with the yearly Oktoberfest hosted by the German club.

[edit] Internationalism

Mira Loma often classifies itself as an international school, and is particularly known for its large Slavic community of students from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and to a smaller degree, from Romania and Bulgaria. Many of these students were born overseas and speak English as a second language, and could be considered Third Culture Kids. Mira Loma also has a large Asian-American population of students from China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East. Students from Kenya, the Congo, and a multitude of other African countries also attend Mira Loma. One of Mira Loma's unifying characteristics is its strong sense of internationalism and wide variety of cultures and viewpoints. Mira Loma has thriving international exchange program with various countries. Every third summer a small group of students stay with a host family in the Osaka area of Japan and attend Tanabe High School. The Mazaltan Orphanage Program is particularly popular as well. In the last two years, 218 students in Chinese, German, French, Japanese and Spanish have either hosted students from countries where those languages are spoken or traveled with teachers to those countries. Mira Loma's Pre-IB Program, giving 30 units for the condensed 3 years of instruction in 2 years time has been approved by High School Council, is the only accelerated curriculum of its type in the district. Mira Lomans have hosted exchange students from France, Germany, Japan, England and Switzerland.

[edit] International Night

In early April Mira Loma celebrates its annual International Night, in which students from various ethnic backgrounds set up presentations about their culture (typically offering some traditional food as well) and sometimes give performances of traditional dance or music.

[edit] Sports-A-Rama

Another Mira Loma tradition is the annual Sports-A-Rama in which the four classes compete against each other in a variety of games and other competitions to win bragging rights. Games begin with Penny Wars several weeks in advance of the event itself and culminate in the event known as the statue wherein around fifty students from each class perform a choreographed dance routine on the subject of the class's theme. The 2009 themes consisted of Cyborg Seniors, Nick Juniors, Sesame Street Sophomores, and Frosh Price of Bel Air.

[edit] Pi Day

Every March 14, the Mira Loma Math Club hosts Pi Day on campus. This event features carnival-like events that relate to the mathematical number. Events include a fundraiser that awards those who donate with the opportunity to throw cream pies at volunteering teachers and a competition where students memorize and recite the digits of Pi. In recent years, the celebration is given a popular culture theme involving a play on the word "pi" such as Monty Pi-thon, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman, and The Empire Strikes Back.

[edit] Quadfest

Several times throughout the year, a number of student bands perform live songs in the school quad during lunch. The event, which usually takes place after pep rallies, is hosted by the B Sharps music club. Certain variations of this event occur during the year, such as Lovefest near Valentine's Day.

[edit] Sports

Mira Loma was a sports powerhouse in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s winning league championships in football, basketball, track and field, cross-country and baseball. The 1972 Matadors football team had a perfect season with 12 wins, no losses, a Capital Valley Conference Championship and winner of the inaugural City Championship.

[edit] Notable alumni

  • Gina Spadafori (Class of 1976); Writer and national columnist. Writes syndicated column "Pet Connection" and author of the book "Dogs for Dummies" and co-author of "Cats For Dummies".
  • Richard Chase; Serial killer and subject of the book "Dracula Killer" by Ray Biondi, killed six people in 1977 and early 1978 then died in prison in 1980.
  • James House; Country songwriter and singer. His first album "Days Gone By" received airtime on CMT.
  • Sam J. Jones (Class of 1972); Actor. Had the lead role in the 1980 hit movie, "Flash Gordon"
  • Melissa Dimino (Class of 1978) 1992 Olympic Speed Skier. 1984 Women's World Record holder; 124.483 mph.
  • Peter Mansoor (Class of 1978); Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret). Author of the book, "Baghdad At Sunrise". Was General Petraeus's executive officer in Iraq during most of the surge. First in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1982.

[edit] Notable faculty

  • Jeff Ray; Television screenwriter, (The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, Hunter) was a teacher and head of the Mira Loma drama department from 1997-2002.[14]
  • Cindy Suchanek, retired IB Environmental Science teacher, was and is instrumental in the Arcade Creek Project at Mira Loma, and was a recipient of the prestigious Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence in 2005 [15]
  • Sharrie Lord, retired IB Anthropology teacher (2006); Mira Loma is one of only 25 IB schools to offer IB Anthropology. She is writing the text for the course.

[edit] References

 This article uses bare URLs. Please help improve this article by turning bare URLs into proper citations containing all of the information on the referenced work's title, date, publisher, publication, and author, so that the article remains verifiable in the future. (There are several templates available that can help to make formatting such citations simple.)
This page may also be able to help find problematic links. (May 2009)
  1. ^ http://www.sanjuan.edu/popup_info.cfm?story=3486
  2. ^ a b http://www.miralomahigh.org/awards.htm#91842342
  3. ^ http://www.sanjuan.edu/popup_info.cfm?story=2532
  4. ^ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com
  5. ^ Arcade Creek Project
  6. ^ Governor Schwarzenegger Announces Environmental and Economic Honors
  7. ^ http://www.energy.gov/news2009/7372.htm
  8. ^ News10.net - Search Results
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ http://www.intel.com/community/california/folsom/education
  11. ^ http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/ticket/archives/cat_theater.html
  12. ^ http://www.miralomahigh.org/awards.htm#86380600
  13. ^ Mira Loma High School
  14. ^ LOOKOUT!
  15. ^ http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050519/195753.html?.v=1

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira_Loma_High_School"