Aliso Niguel High School

Aliso Niguel High School
File:Aliso Niguel logo.gif
Address
28000 Wolverine Way Aliso Viejo , California United States
Information
Type	Public high school
Motto	Home of the Wolverines
Established	1993
School district	Capistrano Unified School District
Principal	Charles Salter
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	4,317 (as of 2006)
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Black, Teal and White
Mascot	Wolverine
Newspaper	The Growling Wolverine
Website	http://www.alisoniguel.com/

File:AlisoViejoCALM.GIF

Aliso Niguel High School located in Aliso Viejo, California

Aliso Niguel High School is a four-year public school in Aliso Viejo, California, United States. It is a part of the Capistrano Unified School District, founded in the fall of 1993. Its relatively large enrollment of over 4,000 students is drawn from the nearby communities of Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel. This school has also been credited to being a Blue Ribbon School, California Distinguished School, and New American High School.

History

Founded in the year 1993, it is located on a creek bed near Aliso Creek, which is a creek that connects to the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach. Aliso Niguel was the fourth high school that opened within the Capistrano Unified School District, and was considered to be one of the fastest growing schools.

The school did not have athletic equipment and other amenities for students like the present day (i.e. football field, gymnasium, basketball courts), and they only had hallway classrooms and portables. Over the years, steady improvement has increased with changes in technology, classrooms, and student enrollment.

Although the high school started small (with about 1,400 students) in their first year, the high school grew rapidly over the years, and it still continues to grow in the present day. An example includes that the campus will continue to grow as a proposed decision states portable classrooms located at the southern parking lot will be demolished in 2009 in order to relieve overcrowding, and they will be replaced by two-story classroom buildings.

Academics

Advanced Program and Honors courses

The school offers Advanced Placement and Honor Courses at all high school grade levels.

Advanced Program courses

Aliso Niguel offers Advanced Placement Program (AP) classes in AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Language and Composition, AP French Language, AP European History, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics B, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, AP Psychology, AP Spanish Language, AP United States Government and Politics and AP United States History.

Advanced Program testing

In the month of May, all students taking AP classes are required to take Advance Program (AP) testing, with the exception of AP Studio Art (which they will instead create their year-long portfolio assessment). AP testing will shows the student's proficiency of knowledge in a particular AP class, and the testing can also determine whether they can receive college credit by scoring on a 5-point scale of at least a 3 (5 being "extremely well qualified" to 1 being "no recommendation"). Typical AP tests consist of multiple-choice questions with free response and/or document based questions (DBQs).

Honor courses

Honor courses are very similar to Advanced Program classes as it has the same type of qualifications. The differences are that there is no AP testing and those classes do not have summer homework.

Currently, Aliso Niguel High School only hosts Precalculus as an official honors course with teacher James Powers.

California High School Exit Exam

The California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) is required by all students for graduation for the classes of 2006 and beyond. Students will start taking it in their sophomore (10th grade) year. If individuals fail to pass, they must retake it once every following school year until they pass on all materials of the exam. Otherwise, they will not earn a high school diploma, and there will be no exceptions.

The material on the exam, however, is generally considered to be easy material within the district for many students. The exam consists of Algebra 1 and materials covered in English II or English II Accelerated classes.

Given that Aliso Niguel's test scores on more advanced topics place it behind the other schools in CUSD, these CAHSEE scores suggest that Niguel Hills Middle School, Aliso Viejo Middle School, and Don Juan Avila Middle School are sending very capable students, who later fall behind their peers, to Aliso Niguel.

2005 Results: After taking the CAHSEE, Aliso Niguel scored within the top 90% of all schools in the state that serve 9-12th grades. 90% of all students that took the English Language Arts passed. 91% passed in the Math section.

Graduation credits and college prep courses

A minimum of 220 graduation credits is needed to graduate high school, as part of the Capistrano Unified School District's requirements. 70 of those credits are required from elective classes. All students earn 5 points of graduation credits for each semester for each class with a passing grade of "D" or better.

For the student graduation years of 2008 and beyond, there is a minimum level that is needed to be fulfilled in order to allow the student to graduate. The requirements are as follows: 40 credits (4 years) of college preparatory English, 20 credits (2 years) of Mathematics, 20 credits of Science (10 credits biological, 10 credits physical), 30 credits (3 years) Social Science, 10 credits (1 year) of Fine Arts electives, 20 credits of Physical Education electives (1 semester must be taken in freshmen year), 5 credits (1 semester) of Health. For individuals who did not score "normal grade level" (a RIT score of 228 or above) on their 8th grade Standardized Spring CORE Reading Test, they must take Reading Improvement (5 credits) or Reading Workshop (10 credits), depending on their RIT score, in their 9th grade year in high school.

For the Class of 2007 and previous classes, students were required to fulfill the graduation requirements above and take the Career Education and Computer Applications (C.E.C.A.) course in order for the student to graduate. It is strongly recommended for students of the Class of 2008 and beyond.

In addition, all students must pass the California High School Exit Exam beginning in their sophomore (10th grade) year in order to graduate.

Athletics

Aliso Niguel's sports teams are known as the Wolverines. Most of them compete in the South Coast League, at the highest level of the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section.

The High School has an artificial turf football and soccer field added in and officially opened in early September 2006. The running track surrounding the football field, which was upgraded in January 2007, is an all-weather track complete with 9 lanes.

Volleyball

Aliso Niguel has a volleyball program, coached by academic teachers Doug O'Brien and Dan Bornfeld.

Football

In 1996, their third year of existence, the Wolverine football team went 14-0, winning the Southern Section Division VIII championship, defeating Pacifica High School in the title game.

The Wolverines have moved up a league, due to ongoing success in multiple sports. This includes the soccer (both girls and guys groups) and the track and field teams. The track and field team has won the sea view league 3 consecutive years. The Girls' Soccer team and the Boys' Soccer team each took first place in the league in the 2006-2007 year. Neither reached the CIF Championships.

Wrestling

This school hosts a high school wrestling team for all high school grade levels. The team is directed by Matthew Orndoff, a wrestling teacher and an academic English teacher.

Cross country

The cross country team is directed by John Walsh, a cross country coach and a biology teacher. The team competes in races, sprints, and marathons, including the 26.2-mile long Los Angeles Marathon.

Basketball

The school field house will be home to the Orange County Gladiators of the American Basketball Association when they begin play in fall 2007.

Pep squad

Coach Eric Anderson has coached the varsity and junior varsity teams since 2004. Both cheer squads (Varsity and Junior Varsity) have won national and international titles.

2005 Season: The Aliso Varsity cheer team won the USA first place national title.

2006 Season: The varsity cheer team won second at USA and the JV cheer team won first. In the 2006-2007 season the Varsity cheer team took home first place in every competition except for one in their division (small varsity coed level 5); including the USA national title grand champions, and first place on the international level in Hawaii.

Performing arts

Bands

Band classes are currently under the direction of Duane Otani, a music teacher since the 2006-2007 school year.

The high school band consists of instruments in the brass, woodwind, and percussion families: trumpet, trombone, euphonium, tuba, French horn, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, flute, xylophone, bass drum, snare drum, and chimes.

Concert band

Starting in the 2007-2008 school year, the concert band will be the starting point in the band program for incoming students. Students may take marching band as a dual enrollment in their schedule for physical education credits needed to graduate high school.

Symphonic band

Also starting in the 2007-2008 school year, Otani plans to create another band called the symphonic band, which performs various pieces of music from many types of backgrounds. Students may take marching band as a dual enrollment in their schedule for physical education credits needed to graduate high school.

Wind ensemble

The wind ensemble is the most advanced and the highest level class in all of the band classes. Wind ensemble students may also take marching band as a dual enrollment in their schedule for physical education credits needed to graduate high school.

Marching band

The Aliso Niguel Marching Band is a representative class that rehearses outdoors. As part of the Western Band Association, they perform in four marching competitions and participate in the WBA finals. They also perform in the Laguna Niguel Holiday Parade in the second Saturday in the month of December every year.

2005 Season: The marching band performed in competitions held at Northern Arizona University (located in Flagstaff, Arizona), Mission Viejo High School, Riverside Community College and Trabuco Hills High School. In the WBA finals (which was held in Lakewood in the Los Angeles area), the marching band won 2nd place in the class AAA division.

2006 Season: The marching band performed and won sweepstakes awards in local field show competitions at Newport Harbor High School, Valley View High School, Mission Viejo High School and Trabuco Hills High School. In the WBA finals (which was held in Fresno, California), they won 4th place in the class AAA division. The band won 1st place in percussion in the class AAA division finals. Also, the Color Guard won 1st place during prelims, and they beat the World Class guard, Beyer.

2007 Season: According to the ANHS 2007 Fall Marching Band calendar, the marching band will be performing in competitions at Orange Coast College, Mission Viejo High School, Mission Hills High School and Trabuco Hills High School. The WBA finals will be hosted in the Southern California area. The preliminaries will be hosted in Los Angeles Pierce College, and the finals will be hosted in East Los Angeles College.

Orchestra

Aliso Niguel hosts a prestigious orchestra program. Orchestra teacher Albert Jeung's class consists of string instruments: cello, violin, viola, and double bass.

The orchestra performs for many local communities. They have also created a mass performance with the Aliso Niguel band program adding up to a total of at least 200 players combined. Their mass performances are usually held in their large gymnasium.

Choir

There are four choir classes at Aliso Niguel, all directed under Jason Harney. His four classes are A Cappella, Madrigals, Men's Ensemble, and Women's Ensemble.

Two of the choir classes, Men's Ensemble and Women's Ensemble, are open for all students to join. The second most advanced choir is the Bella Cantore, which is an auditioned choir for women. The most advanced choir is Madrigals, the school's chamber choir.

The advanced Madrigals and Bella Cantore choirs were invited to perform in Carnegie Hall in the spring of 2007. They toured New York and also sang in St. Paul's Chapel. Both choirs regularly perform at festivals in nearby universities, including the University of Redlands, Chapman University, the Soka University of America, California State University, Long Beach and UCSB. They perform in four concerts of their own each year and in the choral department's Coffeehouse Cabaret.

Controversy

File:Vandalismletter.gif

Screenshot of Charles Salter's e-mail regarding to the school's vandalism.

School dance ban

In September 2006, Charles Salter, the school's principal, canceled the remainder of all school dances in response to students "freak dancing" and arriving drunk to the first dance of the year. Salter stated that he would bring back dances if, and only if, students and parents could cooperate and develop a solution to "the problem." This story made headlines in regional news and appeared on many dancing-related websites.

The story gained widespread, national attention later that month when Salter stood his ground and decided to ban the school's annual Homecoming Dance.

The dance ban was covered by the BBC, NPR and the national news program Geraldo at Large.

The principal later reinstated the dances with explicit rules. The first dance under the new rules was the Winter Formal of February 2007.

Although students are upset over losing their Homecoming dance, many are relieved that the ban has been lifted and hope that this will not happen again.

School vandalism

On June 17, 2007, Charles Salter reported school vandalism that occurred in the middle of the previous night. Ten trees near the football field were completely or partially cut down, costing the school district $10,000 to rehabilitate the situation.

Clubs

• Associated Student Body (or ASB) is one of the largest and longest-running clubs on campus at Aliso Niguel High School. This club is made of about forty (40) people who have been appointed and elected to their positions.
• California Scholarship Federation (or CSF) is another club that looks highly upon those who have a minimum of 3.6 GPA, while completing a given amount of community service to the surrounding area.
• National Honor Society (or NHS) is also a long-running club that looks highly upon those who have a minimum of 3.8 GPA.

Student ethnicity

Ethnicity This School State Average White, not Hispanic 70% 31% Asian 10% 8% Hispanic or Latino 9% 47% Multiple or No Response 5% 2% African American, not Hispanic 3% 8% Filipino 2% 3% Pacific Islander <1% <1% American Indian or Alaska Native <1% <1%

Notable alumni

• Sasha Cohen, Olympic figure skater
• William Freund, double-murder suicide gunman.
• Ivan Koumaev, contestant on the show So You Think You Can Dance
• Josh Partington, guitarist of Something Corporate
• Derek Lee Rock, drummer for ska band Suburban Legends
• Skip Schumaker, MLB Outfielder, Stl. Cardinals

Sources

• Aliso Niguel Homepage
• GreatSchools.net
• Aliso Niguel Awards
• Wolverine Wrestling
• Instrumental Music Program

External links

• Aliso Niguel Homepage
• Aliso Niguel Girls Volleyball Homepage
• Aliso Niguel Football Homepage