Jump to content

San Dieguito Academy

Coordinates: 33°2′14.82″N 117°16′30.07″W / 33.0374500°N 117.2750194°W / 33.0374500; -117.2750194
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 170.213.131.190 (talk) at 02:26, 29 February 2012 (Undid revision 479403947 by 170.213.131.190 (talk)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

33°2′14.82″N 117°16′30.07″W / 33.0374500°N 117.2750194°W / 33.0374500; -117.2750194

San Dieguito Academy
Principal Tim Hornig
School type Public
Founded 1936
Location Encinitas, California, United States
Enrollment 1,528
Faculty 115
Campus surroundings Suburban
Mascot Mustang
Newspaper The Mustang
Yearbook The Hoofprint
School color(s) Navy blue & white

San Dieguito High School Academy, originally known as San Dieguito Union High School and San Dieguito High School, is a high school in the San Dieguito Union High School District in Encinitas, California, San Diego County, which was established in 1936. [1]

History

The school was founded in 1936 as the first public high school within the new San Dieguito Union High School District, educating students in grades 8 through 12.[2]

As the campus had not yet been built when school started September 14, 1936, students attended classes in tents.

In 1996 San Dieguito High School was re-designed as a "school of choice" and renamed San Dieguito High School Academy to offer a student centered environment for a maximum of 1,450 students. [3]

All students living within the district may enroll at either La Costa Canyon High School or Torrey Pines High School within their attendance areas, but they are also eligible to attend San Dieguito Academy and Canyon Crest Academy, both of which are designed to be "schools of choice." Typically, more students apply than there are available spaces, so a lottery of applicants is conducted to determine who may attend. New students with siblings that already attend SDA are automatically enrolled to the school.

One hallmark of a San Dieguito Union High School District academy is a "4x4" class schedule as opposed to a more traditional "rotating block schedule" schedule. This means that students may take four 90-minute classes every day during an 18-week course, completing eight classes (80 credits) a year.

In 1998, the school had roughly 1000 students, and by 2002, had 1500 (population limits of district high schools and academies are required to grow relative to the district). Fall 2003 enrollment was 1462.

Athletics

San Dieguito Academy is a CIF Division III school and a member of the Coastal Conference; student athletes may participate in 18 varsity/junior varsity level sports.[4] As of the 2011 school year, they will be switching to Division II, which will allow them to compete against larger high schools.

From 1936 to 1995, football was a strong tradition at San Dieguito, but has not been played as a team sport on campus since the school became a district school of choice. Now the homecoming festivities center around an annual flag football game: the faculty vs. the students.

The Mustang Surf Team won the Red Bull High School Cup in 2007. The surf team also won the 2007 National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) Championships that same year.

San Dieguito Academy recently entered a tournament of martial arts in which Wedgie Monster, a highly honorable student, achieved a world record of most bubbles karate-chopped in one minute. San Dieguito Academy is on a mission to form a team who can excel in the art of fairy hunting. SDA once had a flag football game in which the losing team was bathed in a giant tub of waffles. The Mustangs also have won 12 championships in unicorn brushing and racing. The Mustangs are world-renowned for their excellent Centaur riding and are coached by the famous wizard Centaur riding instructor Michael Santos. Another Student by the name of Roo, a student looked up to for the incredible feats accomplished, found out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll lollipop. His highly honored Sensei, Kim Dinh, taught him the secrets to shuffling to Jazz music and dougieing to Classical Piano music. Both Wedgie Monster and Roo have received the privilege of earning the title of being called the world’s best MINFDUCKS.

Academic Teams

SDA’s Academic Teams include Mustang Minds, Robotics and Speech and Debate. All Teams have competed at local, state, and national levels. 2010/11 School Year, SDA's Academic Teams comprise close to 150 enthusiastic SDA students. In the past two years, all teams have competed in their respective national events at least once with strong results.

SDA's Academic teams rely mostly on donated resources facilitated by the San Dieguito Academy Foundation (SDAF) Academic Council. The Academic Council meets the 4th Monday of the Month, at 6:30 p.m. at SDA in Building B’s Conference Room. Anyone is invited to attend.

Mustang Minds

SDA’s Academic League Teams include a Varsity Quiz Bowl Team and Mustang Mind Teams that compete in quiz bowl style matches and tournaments. Quiz bowl style matches are team-based and fast-paced, Jeopardy-style competition that includes answering knowledge based questions via a lock-out buzzer system. Questions span multiple disciplines including history, art, math, literature, social sciences, science, world languages, mythology, philosophy, and current events.

Controversial Issues Forum

SDA's Controversial Issues Forum talks about issues that are trending in current news. The group was started in 2010 by a handful of students interested in generating interest in global issues. The Forum was national ranked for its attendance numbers by the think-tank, Trending Issues Now, located in Washington D.C.

Varsity Quiz Bowl Team

Varsity Quiz Bowl Team consists of SDA Seniors that compete in Tournaments throughout Southern California as part of the National Academic Quiz Team (NAQT). SDA’s team has been nationally ranked qualifying for the NAQT-High School Championship Tournament and PACE –High School Championship Tournament.

Mustang Mind Teams

Mustang Minds has three teams: Freshman, Junior Varsity, and Varsity Teams. Mustang Mind Teams compete in the Coast League Division, a member of the North County Academic League (N.C.A.L). N.C.A.L. matches are quiz bowl style dedicated to the demonstration of academic competition, scholastic excellence, and educational achievement. High School team matches consist of five active players on each team with player substitutions during timed rounds.

Robotics

The Robotics team, known as Team Paradox, builds robots for competitions. Every year, the team competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition, which creates a game that requires a specific set of skills for which teams must create a successful robot. The teams are then given six weeks to design and build a robot. Competitions are held after this period, leading up to the international championship. Team Paradox is supported by many sponsors, including AFCEA, Qualcomm, SAIC, ViaSat, and Nordson/Asymtek.

Speech and Debate Team

San Dieguito Academy has a competitive speech and debate team, which competes in multiple activities throughout the season (August to June). The team has been recognized on a national level, and competes at tournaments throughout California, Nevada, and most recently, New York. In the 2011-2012 season the team has won multiple Tournament of Champions(TOC) bids, qualifying some members to attend the TOC, a tournament of the best debates from around the country.

Debate

The SDA debate team primarily focuses on both Policy and Lincoln Douglas (LD) debate. Policy debate emphasizes governmental law, and Lincoln Douglas generally has a greater focus on the morality of laws, role of governments, and extent of individual rights in international relations. Both types of argumentation are divided into two skill levels: Varsity (for those with two or more years of debate experience), and Novice (for first year competitors).

Speech

San Dieguito Academy's speech team has received multiple awards and achievements over the past years. Recently, it has become more active in the San Diego Imperial Valley League. In 2010, several SDA students qualified for the California State Championships Tournament. The team competes in a wide variety of events including Impromptu, Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Prose and Poetry, Duo, Dramatic Interpretation, Original Interpretation, and Student Congress and has competed at the following tournaments: CSU Fullerton, Novice Individual Events, and La Costa Canyon Winter Classic. At the Winter Classic many TOC bids were won giving some of the speakers a chance to be nationally recognized.

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Dieguito_Academy&oldid=479404073"