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Granada Hills Charter

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Granada Hills Charter High School
Location
Map
10535 Zelzah Ave
Granada Hills, CA, 91344

United States
Information
TypePublic
MottoThe Largest Charter School in the Nation
Established1961
School districtLos Angeles Unified School District
Grades9-12
Color(s)green, black, white
MascotHighlanders
Websitehttp://www.ghchs.com

Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. The school colors are green, black, and white.

It is located in the Granada Hills neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was previously directly administered by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), but is currently independent as the school was granted charter status. It is commonly known as "GHHS", "GHCHS", or simply "Granada".

Granada serves Granada Hills, portions of Northridge, and Porter Ranch.

History

The school was founded in 1961. In 1994, the school became an LAUSD magnet school, running a program in math and sciences for the deaf and hard of hearing, in conjunction with the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). In 2003, the school was awarded charter status, as part of a larger drive to free Los Angeles area schools from LAUSD bureaucratic restrictions, and increase student achievement. Every year, the high school generates $25-$30 million in tax revenues. Before obtaining charter status, $5-$6 million was given to other schools that were low-performing.

The school will be relieved when Valley Region High School 4 opens in 2010.[1]


Controversy

Under the administration of Brian Bauer, the school has suffered from countless legal issues. More than 90% of the original staff has been replaced by newer teachers and R.O.P. positions. Standardized test scores have dropped tremendously but rarely reach the mainstream press. Many law suites have been filed with members of the administration over harassment charges. Acusations of curruption have surrounded the adminatration since the school becoming a charter high school and nearly every employee who had been part of the original opposition to becoming a charter has been either fired or forced to resign. Many of those employees were award winning and noteworthy teachers under the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school is also the poster child for Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to privatize education.


Overview

Mission Statement

GRANADA HILLS CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL will provide a positive student-centered environment in which all students will develop academic skills, practical skills, and attitudes to enable them to be successful lifelong learners and productive, responsible citizens in a diverse society. We pledge our resources to create a school where all students are actively engaged in the process of learning in a multicultural, multilingual setting.

Expected School Wide Learning Results (ESLRS)

Every student who graduates from GHCHS will be:

  • AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR

Able to read, write, speak and listen for a variety of reasons.

  • AN INFORMATION MANAGER

Able to locate, access, organize, evaluate, and supply information for a complex and technological world.

  • A PROBLEM SOLVER

Able to apply a variety of thinking, creative and computing skills to produce solutions to practical and theoretical problems.

  • A PRODUCTIVE MEMBER OF SOCIETY

Able to demonstrate healthy, responsible behavior and work collaboratively and respectfully in a linguistically and culturally diverse community.

  • LIFELONG LEARNER

Able to set educational and career goals, develop a realistic strategy to achieve those goals and apply content knowledge and critical thinking skills to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

About

The school is currently accredited by WASC, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The way the charter basically works is that there is an overall governing board that runs the school. The governing board then branches off to four committees: Student Services, Facilities and Operations, Curriculum and Instruction, and Human Resources. These four committees contain various representatives which include students, teachers, parents, administrators, and other faculty.

Policies

Each of the governing committees creates the rules related to each separate branch. These rules do not have to coincide with the LAUSD's standards and are not required to be within boundaries.

For example, the school has now decided that it is mandatory for students to take all standardized tests. There are forms which may be filled out so that a student's parents can pull him or her out of this test. However, Granada has decided that even if this paperwork is filled out the student still may no longer be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities or graduate on stage, regardless of parental consent.

Stadium

Since the charter was issued, one of the school's biggest initiatives was the purchase of a new track and athletic field priced at approximately $1.2 million.

The football field is named in honor of John Elway, a former football player for the Denver Broncos and Granada alum. The Stadium is also the home of the San Fernando Valley Quakes, a minor-league soccer team in the USL Premier Development League, and the only pro sports franchise to be located in the San Fernando Valley.

Achievements

Academics

In 2007, Granada won the Los Angeles City Academic Decathlon and its Science Bowl team placed second at the Los Angeles regional competition.

In 2005, its Science Bowl teams took fourth and fifth place at the regional competition, and its Academic Decathlon team ranked third in the nation. Currently, Granada, is the 379th best high school in the nation, according to Newsweek.

The school has a team that participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition every year, Team #599 the RoboDox. In 2006, they were finalists at the Southern California Regional Competition. They were also the champions of the Los Angeles VEX Regional Competition held in December 2006 at CSUN.

Band

The Highlander Marching Band, led by Al Nelson and Justin Parsons, has been awarded numerous sweepstakes trophies and as of 2006 is the reigning Grand Sweepstakes Champion of the Portland Rose Festival. The band has a very extensive resume, including:[2]

Athletics

In the 1978 L.A. City Championship Baseball game, John Elway led Granada to the title over Crenshaw High, which featured future major leaguers Chris Brown and Darryl Strawberry.

Granada Hills Girls Golf team is 6-0 for LA City Championship titles since the program started in 2001.

Partial list of Granada Hills L.A. City Championship teams:

  • Baseball: 1975 (4A Division), 1976 (4A Division), 1978 (4A Division), 1979 (4A Division), 1984 (4A Division), 2002 (Invitational), 2003 (Invitational), 2004 (Invitational), 2006 (Invitational)
  • Basketball: 1976 (3A Division), 1987 (3A Division)
  • Football: 1970, 1987
  • Girls Golf: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
  • Volleyball: 1986 (3A Division), 1987 (3A Division), 1997 (4A Division), 2006, 2007
  • Swimming: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

Other

Residents zoned to Granada Hills, Monroe, and Cleveland high schools may also attend Northridge Academy High School.

The music video "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls was partially filmed on campus.

Notable alumni

External links

References

  1. ^ Valley Region High School 4
  2. ^ Band's resume
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