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Arcadia High School (California)

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Arcadia High School
Location
Map
180 Campus Drive

Arcadia
,
California

United States
Information
TypePublic
MottoA Symbol of Honor and Pride
Established1952
School districtArcadia Unified School District
PrincipalMr. David Vannasdall
Faculty155
Grades9-12
Number of students3699 (as of May 2007)
Color(s)Cardinal and Gold
Athleticscolorguard, marching band, baseball, cross-country, golf, pep flags, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo
Athletics conferencePacific League
MascotApaches
Information(626) 821-8370
Websitehttp://www.ausd.net/ahs

Arcadia High School is a part of the Arcadia Unified School District and is a four-year comprehensive secondary school located on a 40-acre (160,000 m2) site in Arcadia, California.

The school was first opened in 1952, and incorporated the ninth grade into the school in 1994. The incoming freshman class largely consists of students who graduated from Arcadia’s three middle schools (Richard Henry Dana Middle School, Foothills Middle School and First Avenue Middle School.)

Arcadia High School has a teaching staff of 155. Six hold doctorate degrees and 82 have masters degrees. The administrative staff consists of the principal, four assistant principals, and two deans of students. A staff of seven counselors hold masters degrees and Pupil Personnel Service Credentials, with three of the counselors licensed Marriage/Family/Child Counselors. Arcadia High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and received a six-year accreditation in June 2004.[1]

Highlights

  • Newsweek ranks Arcadia High School 262nd on its 2006 list of the United States' 1200 best public high schools [1]
  • 2 Nationally acclaimed Show Choirs, Chanteurs and New Spirit
  • 250 students compete on 8 award-winning academic teams
  • 48 member Pep Squad
  • Over 400 students in the Arcadia High School Apache Marching Band and Colorguard
  • 900 students participate in the athletics program
  • Arcadian Yearbook and Apache Pow Wow Newspaper Staff of over 115 students
  • Video Production and Apache News Team
  • 250 student Choral Department Program
  • Nationally recognized 386 member Apache Marching Band and Colorguard
  • 350 student Symphony Orchestra program
  • about 90 students involved in the three Percussion Ensembles
  • Dance and Theater Production groups

[1]

Demographics

As of 2006, the racial makeup of the school is approximately 67% Asian, 23% White American (not of Hispanic origin), 1% African American, 0% Native American, 0% Pacific Islander, and 8% Hispanic or Latino of any race.[2]

Academics

Arcadia High students must complete 225 credits and pass math, reading, writing and swimming proficiency tests to graduate. Arcadia High School offers a broad range of Advanced Placement, Honors level and college preparatory courses. Arcadia High has a total of 35 Advanced Placement/Honors courses.

Arcadia High has 19 Advanced Placement courses including: English Language, English Literature, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Computer Science A, US History, US Government, Comparative Government, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Science, Physics B, Physics C, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, Chinese Language, French Language, Japanese Language, Music Theory, and Art History.

Nearly all honors and AP classes require admissions criteria, which may include entrance exams, teacher recommendations, and past performance history or audition. Arcadia High does not weigh GPA or rank its students. Arcadia students have a high pass rate in the Advanced Placement exams and have around 30 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists a year.

The current senior class is represented by 29 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists and 50 Commended students.[1]

Athletics

Arcadia High School is governed by the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section as a member of the Pacific League. Its athletic mascot is the Apache and its colors are cardinal and gold. The Apache boys compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo. The Apache girls compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and water polo. There is also a pep squad with Song, Cheer, and Pep flags. Arcadia’s main rival is Crescenta Valley High School. Both teams often contend for the League Championship.

Arcadia teams are very competitive and often qualify for the CIF playoffs. In 2005, boys' soccer was a finalist in the Division III CIF playoffs. The girls track team is also one of the best teams in Southern California. They have only lost two dual meets in the last four years and regularly send athletes to CIF Finals.

The boys' cross country program, lead by head coach Jim O'Brien, is one of the most dominant teams in the state, having placed 3rd, 7th and 8th in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 CIF-State Cross Country Championships in Division I, respectively. In 2006, the team finished 7th in the open race at the Nike Team Nationals, and in 2007, the team finished 5th in the open race at Nike Team Nationals. In the 2008, the team placed 1st in the seeded sweepstakes race of the Stanford Invitational, which marked the first time they have ever done so. The program is notorious for their depth and intelligence during races and also very prestigious in producing numerous collegiate cross-country runners. The team is currently ranked 4th in CIF Division 1, and are looking to qualify for the seeded race in Nike Team Nationals for the very first time.

Arcadia is known for its Arcadia Invitational, the largest and most prestigious high school track meet in the nation. The meet has witnessed many high school records being broken and featured Olympians Quincy Watts, Steve Lewis, Danny Everett, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Gail Devers, Mike Powell, Michael Marsh, Marion Jones, Allyson Felix, Monique Henderson, Deena Kastor, Michelle Perry, Alan Webb, and even Cathy Freeman from Australia.[3]

Extracurricular Activities

Arcadia High School offers many extracurricular activities including clubs, video production, journalism, yearbook, robotics, ROP, academic teams and performing arts groups. Its performing arts groups and academic teams consistently rank at the top of California and, in some instances, the world.

Performing Arts

Arcadia maintains a large and diverse performing arts program. It has a drama program, a dance/prop production program (Colorguard) who has placed third in the nation twice, a dance program (Orchesis), four choirs and a large instrumental music program.

Instrumental Music

The instrumental music department is very competitive at Arcadia, with a strong music program from the middle schools. The music department consists of groups such as the Marching Band, Orchestra, Color Guard and Percussion.

The Marching Band is led by Tom Landes and is one of the largest bands in California with over 400 members. The Arcadia Apache Marching Band consists of the band, the color guard and the percussion led by Kevin Sherrill. The band has marched in the *Rose Parade in nearby Pasadena fourteen times, most recently in 2008. They have also marched in such diverse venues as the Gator Bowl parade and the 55th Presidential Inaugural Parade. Arcadia has held the annual Arcadia Festival of Bands since 1954.

Concert Band is led by Tom Landes and is divided into three levels: Band I, Band II, and Band III. Band I consists of the freshman class. Band II is divided into two classes due to its size: Brass and Woodwinds, and consists of all players who are not freshmen. Band III is a selective Concert Band, with an audition requirement to enter.

The orchestra is led by Rick England and Tom Forbes and has competed in the Heritage Festivals in numerous places, including Orlando, San Francisco and San Diego and even winning first places in all three divisions for their three orchestras. The orchestra, like the Concert Band, is divided into three levels: Orchestra I, Orchestra II, and Orchestra III.

Choir

Arcadia High School has two show choirs: New Spirit, an all-girls' show choir, and Chanteurs, a mixed show choir. Chanteurs has been around for 51 years and New Spirit is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2006. Both groups have continuously earned the highest honors in competitions throughout southern California, maintaining its rank as two of the top show choirs in its years running.

The choral program also includes a Concert Choir, which consists of male and female choral singers performing more classical pieces, and a Treble Choir, which consists of lower classmen female singers learning to sing in a choir setting.

The Arcadia Choral Department is directed by Mr. Rolland Maxson. Both Chanteurs and New Spirit are choreographed by Veronica Ramos.

Academic Teams

Arcadia is also home to several powerhouse academic teams, including Academic Decathlon, Destination Imagination, We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution Team, Speech and Debate, Math Team, National Ocean Sciences Bowl, National Science Bowl, Quiz Bowl, and Science Olympiad.

The Constitution team has been one of the most consistent teams on campus and qualified for the State finals for the 20 consecutive years as of 2008 and winning multiple national titles. The Science Bowl and Quiz Bowl teams have become dominant teams in their respective regions. The Science Bowl team won the JPL regional in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2003 and thus qualified for the national tournament in each of those years. The Quiz Bowl team qualified for the NAQT HS national championship tournament in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Two Arcadia teams made the playoffs in 2007, placing 33rd and 49th, respectively, in the nation; and one Arcadia team placed 17th in the nation the following year.

Clubs

Arcadia High has many clubs governed by the associated student body, including Philosophy Club, the GSA, A.L.L.I.E.S. Christian Club, Chinese Club, Korean Culture Club, Future Business Leaders of America, Junior State of America, Young Democrats of America, Key Club, National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation, Interact Club, Leo Club, Students Promoting Literacy Club, French Club, Physics Club, chemistry Club, Magic Tricks Club, S.I.G.N. (speaking in gestures naturally) club, and Astronomy Club.

Future Business Leaders of America Chapter (FBLA) has been one of the most successful clubs at Arcadia High School. In the 2006-2007 school year, FBLA had more than 150 paid members. The 2006-2007 school year they placed 1st in sweepstakes during Gold Coast Section Conference and 7th in sweepstakes at the California State Leadership Conference. Also, many of Arcadia FBLA's members and officers attended the National Leadership Conference this summer in Chicago.

Key Club is another very successful club at Arcadia High School. Like FBLA it is part of a national organization which involves interacting with other schools and large community service projects around the county.

Interact Club is sponsored by Rotary International Arcadia. In 2007, the club was involved in helping third world countries by sponsoring money to build water wells. Interact has helped a village in Belur, India raising over $1200 to build a well. In 2007, Interact and the Arcadia High School Student Body donated over $1700 to an orphanage in Ensenada, Mexico to fund for a solar panel heater for the orphanage.

Young Democrats of America (YDA) is a vibrant and thriving organization composed of Arcadian students interested in politics, current events and world affairs. The organization holds weekly lunch discussions, offers extracurricular opportunities, and holds as one of its primary values the importance of open exchange. Therefore, students of all political affiliations and background are welcomed to join, explore and learn!

Magic Tricks Club is founded by renowned magician, Edsel Chiu, in 2002.

Journalism

  • Yearbook: "The Arcadian"
  • Newspaper: "The Apache Pow Wow" [2]
  • Video: "Apache News"

Recent Awards and Achievements

2006-2007 School Year

  • Arcadia had 29 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists.
  • Boys' cross country placed 7th in the 2006 CIF-State Cross Country Championships in Division I. The team finished 7th in the open race at the Nike Team Nationals.
  • Boys' cross country's Andrew Pilavjian was the second American to finish the Nike Team Nationals. Renaud Poizat, was the tenth American to finish and is the fastest sophomore in the state of California.
  • The Band attended the Logan Field Tournament for the first time, representing the Southern California bands in a Northern California competition. The band won second place overall, earning the highest Percussion and Auxiliary scores of the night.
  • The Colorguard placed 3rd at WGI World Championships and 1st at WGASC Championships.
  • The Academic Decathlon placed 3rd overall at state level for both A and B teams.
  • The Quiz Bowl team won the TWAIN Tournament at UCLA, took 1st and 2nd place at the 2007 Baby Anteater Tournament at UC Irvine and qualified two teams for the NAQT HS National Championship Tournament. Both teams make the playoffs in the 2007 NAQT HS NCT and place 33rd and 49th respectively in the nation.
  • The Constitution Team placed 4th in the state competition, continuing the tradition of competing in finals 19 years in a row.
  • The Ocean Science Bowl Team placed 3rd at the regional competition.
  • The Destination Imagination improvisation team placed 2nd at regional competition and has qualified for state competition.
  • The Speech and Debate Team placed 3rd overall at the State Qualifier tournament, sending 15 members to state (as of March 11, 2007), and won sweepstakes in their division of the California state championships.
  • The Arcadia Future Business Leaders of America chapter placed 2nd at Gold Coast Section Conference and has qualified 20 members for state competition.
  • The World Percussion Ensemble placed 4th in SC-PA Championships, and 9th overall in WGI World Championships.
  • The Arcadia Orchestra and choral groups competed at the Heritage Music Festival in Orlando, Florida during spring break and brought back seven plaques and eight trophies, a new record.
  • The Science Olympiad team placed 2nd at regional competition and 4th at state competition.
  • The Arcadia Future Business Leaders of America chapter placed 7th at California State Conference and qualified 6 members for the 2007 National Leadership Conference held in Chicago.
  • The Arcadia Girls Track and Field Team won its first league championship since 1976

2007-2008 School Year

  • Boys cross country placed 8th in the 2007 CIF-State Cross Country Championships in Division I.
  • The Arcadia Marching Band marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade for the fourteenth time on January 1, 2008.
  • The Boys Water Polo team made school history winning the first ever league championship in school history and advancing to CIF semi finals. The team won 25-3, 9-0 in league.
  • The girls track team went undefeated in league to claim another league championship. They also sent three athletes to the Southern Section Masters Meet.
  • The Quiz Bowl team won the 2008 Winter Invitational Tournament at UCLA and qualified for the 2008 NAQT HS National Championship Tournament.
  • Both Destination Imagination improvisation teams qualified for state.
  • The World Percussion Ensemble placed 5th in SC-PA Championships, and 12th overall in WGI World Championships.
  • The winter guard won 13th place at nationals.
  • JV A Percussion made it into Percussion Finals for the SC-PA Champoinships.
  • JV A and O Percussion accomplished First Place in their trip to Arizona.
  • The Math Team won first place at the Bay Math League for the first time.

Rose Parade Achievements

Arcadia High School has been known to have several alumni join the ranks of the Rose Court, seven of which have been Queens.

  • Pamela Tedesco was chosen Rose Queen in 1970. She graduated from Arcadia High School in 1968.
  • Christina Farrell was named the 81st Rose Queen in 1999.
  • Kristin Leigh Harris & Julie Jeanne Myers were chosen as back-to-back Rose Queens for the 1987 and 1988 Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California.
  • Erica Brynes was named the 76th Tournament of Roses Queen in 1994.
  • Dusty Gibbs was named the 90th Rose Queen and reigned over the 119th Rose Parade and 94th Rose Bowl Game in 2008.
  • Courtney Lee was named the 91th Rose Queen giving Arcadia back to back Rose Queens in '08 and '09
  • In 1986, April Lake reigned as a rose princess for Pasadena.
  • Sandra Waltrip and Diane Welch reigned as two of the seven Tournament of Roses Royal Court princesses in 1987.
  • Shannon Stockdale became one of the seven Rose Court princesses in 2001. Two years later Erinne LaBrie also became a Rose Court princess.
  • Arcadia High School marches in the 119th Rose Parade.
  • Alyssa Jones '05 was named to the 2006 Rose Court.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c http://district.ausd.net/docs/ahs_profile_06-07.pdf
  2. ^ 2006 API Growth School Report
  3. ^ Arcadia Invitational
  4. ^ Bruce Bochte Statistics - The Baseball Cube
  5. ^ Mark Smith Statistics - The Baseball Cube
  6. ^ Steve Kemp Statistics - The Baseball Cube
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