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Revision as of 08:34, 19 March 2006
Gretchen Whitney High School, often simply abbreviated as Whitney High School, is a public school in Cerritos, California, serving grades 7-12. It is in the ABC Unified School District. It has a population of 1,020, predominantly Asian-American students, and its current principal is Patricia Hager.
Statistics
Student Enrollment by Ethnic Group
- African-American: 1.9%
- American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.1%
- Asian-American: 74.9%
- Filipino-American: 8.7%
- Hispanic-American or Latino: 6.8%
- Pacific Islander: 0.4%
- White (Not Hispanic): 7.3%
- Multiple or No Response: 0%
Student to Teacher Ratio
- 29:1
Academic Performance Index (API)
- 979 (2005)
Average SAT Reasoning Test Score
- 1327
Teachers with Full Credentials
- 95%
History
Whitney High School was founded on September 25, 1976 (under the name Gretchen A. Whitney Learning Center) as a community academic learning center and as an alternative magnet school. (It should be noted that Whitney High School is not an official "magnet" school.)
Whitney High School admits its students based on their performance on the state exams. This high school is open to any applicants entering seventh to twelveth grade in the ABC Unifed School District. This allows Whitney to admit students willing to strive for excellence from other middle schools and high schools.
On September 25, 1991, President George H.W. Bush recognized Whitney as one of the best high schools in the United States, presenting its principal, Dr. Pauline B. Ferris, with the Department of Education's National Recognition Award as a Blue Ribbon School.[1] Whitney is 1 of only 19 secondary schools to win this award twice, winning it twice in four years.
President George W. Bush's brother Neil, co-founder of an educational software company, has visited the campus several times, as he put it, “because of the respect the staff has for students. I’ve never seen anything like it. Every school should be this way.” Mr. Bush has received some criticism for a comment about calculus he made during a 2002 visit to the campus, in which he stated that students shouldn't be "forced to study something a kid thinks is terribly useless and obscure." The comment was widely repeated as though Bush had said simply that "calculus was useless".[2]
Whitney High also received some media attention after a near scare. On December 1, 2004, at around 4:15pm, several bank robbers entered the campus in an attempt to evade the police and began to move toward the students. Several staff members blocked the entrance to Whitney and former teacher Chris Williams successfully tackled one of the suspects.
In 2005, the Associated Press rated Whitney High the best high school in California[3], based on its API score. Whitney's SAT scores are nearly one hundred points higher than the second place school in California. Furthermore, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) rated Whitney's Advanced Placement Physics and Calculus BC programs as the best in the world based on the number of students enrolled in the classes compared to the number that pass the Advanced Placement (AP) test.
Extracurricular
Clubs
Whitney High is home to 47 clubs. Several of these clubs are based on the mix of cultures in Whitney. Kokoro Kara, for example, represents the Japanese sect of the school. However these clubs do not require having the proper ethnic background to join.
The some educational clubs participate in various competitions in the United States (Robotics Club) or internationally (Spaceset). Others are involved in discussions and activities of their subject (Physics Club, History Club)
Some clubs at Whitney are part of larger networks of clubs. Junior State of America (grades 9-12) is a politics-oriented organization that is part of the nationwide Junior State of America organization. Students attend conventions in which they participate in debates about national issues. Key Club (grades 9-12) and Builders Club (grades 7-8) are part of the larger Kiwanis Family. These clubs do community services to the local area with other Key Clubs.
The rest of the clubs consist of recreational activities (Guitar Club, Racket Club, Chess Club, Club Flash, Mahjong Club). These clubs are open to anyone with interest in the subject.
Athletics
Whitney High athletics league status is CIF Division IV and the mascot is the Whitney Wildcat.
| Fall Sports | Winter Sports | Spring Sports |
|---|---|---|
| Girls Tennis | Girls Basketball | Boys Volleyball |
| Girls Volleyball | Boys Basketball | Girls Softball |
| Co-ed Water Polo | Boys Soccer | Boys Baseball |
| Girls Cross Country | Girls Soccer | Boys Tennis |
| Boys Cross Country | Girls Swimming | |
| Boys Swimming | ||
| Girls Track & Field | ||
| Boys Track & Field | ||
| Co-ed Golf |
Whitney does not have a football team. A running joke among Whitneyites is that the nonexistent football team is "undefeated in the league".
Publications
- Aspects – Whitney’s bimonthly school wide newspaper.
- Kaleidoscope – Whitney’s annual yearbook.
Alma Mater
School of Dreams
Whitney High is the subject of School of Dreams, a book written by the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Edward Humes [4], [5], and published in September 2004. Humes spent the 2001-2002 school year at Whitney teaching a writing work shop, and used his case study of Whitney High to bring national attention to the pressures endured by the students of America's selective schools. Many Whitney students have shunned this book, believing it creates an unfavorable and inaccurate stereotype of the school.
Incidentally, neither the hardback cover photo nor the paperback cover photo are pictures of Whitney- which might have been the author's intention, as if to portray a school where studying is hard.
References
- Humes, Edward School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School. Harcourt, 2003. ISBN 0151007039