Castro Valley High School

Castro Valley High School
Location
Castro Valley , California U.S.
Information
Type	Public
Established	1956
Principal	Pete Alvarez
Number of students	2900
Color(s)	Green and Gold
Mascot	Trojans
Website	http://www.cvhs.cv.k12.ca.us/

Castro Valley High School is a comprehensive, 9-12 public high school located in an unincorporated suburban community Castro Valley, California, U.S. Named a National Exemplary School in 1984-85 and 1988-89, a California Distinguished School in 1987-88 and 2000-01.

The current student enrollment is approximately 2,900 students.

Ethnic Makeup:

• 46% Caucasian
• 25% Asian
• 16% Hispanic
• 07% African American
• 03% Filipino
• 02% Multi/No Response
• 01% Native American
• 01% Pacific Islander

Castro Valley High School has been named a 2009 California Distinguished School.

Academics

As a comprehensive high school, Castro Valley High School provides a wide variety of course offerings, including Advanced, Honors, and Advanced Placement courses. These courses are: Advanced Sophomore English, AP Calculus, Honors American Literature, AP Statistics, AP English Literature, AP Computer Science, Advanced Freshman Science, AP United States History, Honors Biology, AP European History, Honors Chemistry, AP Studio Art, AP Chemistry, AP Art History, Honors Physics, Honors Chamber Orchestra, AP Environmental Science, Honors American Sign Language, AP Spanish, AP French, AP German, AP Japanese.

In 2008, CVHS opened a new, state-of-the-art library that includes computer labs, teaching spaces, study areas, periodicals and an updated book collection.

Students receive a variety of awards for their achievements including: Academic Blocks, Renaissance Program, California Scholarship Federation and Departmental Awards from individual faculty members. At graduation students are ranked for Honors (3.5 - 3.74), High Honors (3.75 - 3.99) and Highest Honors (4.0 and above).

During the 2007-08 school year 391 seniors took the SAT with a mean Critical Reading score of 516, a mean Math score of 544 and a mean Writing score of 520. In addition, during the 2007-08 school year, the ACT was taken by 115 students with a mean score of 23.1 on the composite.

Visual and Performing Arts

Castro Valley High School offers an array of visual art courses that allow students to explore interests, improve skills and learn about career options in arts-related fields. Current course offerings feature a variety of hands-on art experiences and include traditional and digital art options.

During the 2005–2006 school year, the Center for the Arts, a state-of-the-art facility that includes a theater, classrooms and an art gallery, was built on the eastern edge of the campus. The theater hosts productions from CVHS' drama classes starring as well as professional and amateur performances of music and theater. The art gallery exhibits student artwork along with work from professional artists from Castro Valley and the East Bay. CVHS also has a music department, offering vocal classes(such as the Madrigal Chamber Choir), orchestra, band and jazz band courses.

Notable alumni

• Jeff Beal, Emmy award winning composer
• Cliff Burton, former bassist for Metallica
• Luenell, actress in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
• Rachel Maddow, TV, radio host, and Rhodes Scholar.
• Jason Castro (baseball), Selected 10th overall in the 2008 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros, attended and played baseball at Stanford University

External links

• Official Castro Valley High School site