Dana Hills High School

Dana Hills High School
Location
33333 Golden Lantern Dana Point, CA
Information
Type	Public School
Established	1972
School district	Capistrano Unified School District
Principal	Dr. Robert Nye
Color(s)	Blue and Silver
Mascot	The Dolphins

Dana Hills High School is a high school in Dana Point, California. It is one of the oldest high schools in South Orange County, having opened in 1973. The school's enrollment of 3,000 students is drawn from the nearby communities of Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, Capistrano Beach, and San Juan Capistrano.

Dana Hills now has over 155,839 square feet (14,477.9 m²) in permanent buildings, yet it still struggles with overcrowding. Two new science buildings have opened as of 2007, and the math wing has been redone, featuring wider hallways and larger classrooms. These two improvements to Dana Hills have allowed for the removal of fourteen portables making the new portable count 38.

STAR Testing

Dana Hills' Academic Performance Index (API) for the year of 2007 was 824. This was a significant improvement over 2006's API of 816. The high test scores in recent years have provided the school with partial funding for new science buildings, a renovation of the math department, an artificial turf football field / all-weather track, and over 150 new computers and flat screen monitors used in CECA, Career and College Planning, AP Computer Science, and Digital Photo. Incentives are given to the students to do well on these standardized tests.

Recent Scores

Year	API	Growth
2007	3	8
2006	816	5
2005	811	43
2004	768	18
2003	750	1

Advanced Placement

Dana Hills offers a wide array of Advanced Placement (AP) classes. These AP classes include Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Literature, Language and Composition, Music Theory, Art History, Psychology, Spanish IV, French IV, Latin: Vergil, European History, United States History, Government / Economics, Computer Science A, and Computer Science AB. All AP classes offer a “grade bump” making a 5.0 GPA possible in that class exclusively. Honors Pre-Calculus is the last Honors class at Dana to still offer a 5.0 GPA.

Newspaper

The Dana Hills newspaper, simply known as The Paper, is produced by a staff of approximately twenty students. Ten newspapers are produced a year, two of those being written by the journalism class and the other eight by the actual newspaper staff. The Paper's adviser is Paige Prescott, who took over the paper following Kris Evans' retirement at the end of the 2007-08 school year..

HMO

Dana Hills has its own junior medical program, the Health and Medical Occupations Academy. The academy is for those who wish to study or pursue a career in medicine, as it prepares students for higher education in the medical field. Participants are involved in field trips, hospital duties, and even view medical procedures as they are performed.

Cross country

The pride of Dana Hills' sports is its boys' and girls' cross country teams - which almost always finish as league champions in the South Coast League, which is arguably one of the most competitive in Southern California. As of 3 years ago (2006), the boys' team appeared in CIF-SS Finals for the 27th time under Coach Tim Butler. The boys' team later went on to the state meet where they placed 9th in D1. Continuing their success, the following week they participated in the first ever Nike Team National Open Race where they placed 3rd overall. Dana Hills has one State Championship plaque which they received in 1988, two 2nd place finishes, and two 3rd place finishes. The program is also the most successful in the state of California with its 30+ year history. In 2007 and 2008 The boys team won CIF Div 1 Championships. In 2008 the Girls also won the CIF Div. 1 Championship. This has been the first time ever that any school in CIF Div. 1 won both boys and girls in the same division state championship for cross country.

On September 26, 2007, Megan Myers, a freshman runner on the girls' team collapsed and later died during her race in a dual meet against Capistrano Valley High School. The cause of her death is now known to be heart inflammation.

On October 13, 2007 Dana Hills Varsity Boys' team won its third Orange County Title. They also won its 2nd consecutive title in the always competitive South Coast League Finals on November 1, 2007. Led by outstanding Junior Tyler Valdes that got first with a time of 15:10 for three miles (5 km). This has been Dana Hills' 8th title for the past 10 years for the dolphins. On November 17, 2007 The Boys' varsity team won the CIF SS FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP race after a 19 year gap from the last first place they earned in 1987-88. They scored 94 points over second place (vista murrieta 133)and ran the third fastest Mt. Sac team time in 77:01.

At last after 19 years, the boys cross country team won its 2nd D1 State Championship in its 30+ years as a program under the guidance of coach Tim Butler and assistant coaches Craig Dunn and Andrew Corman. The boys team, led by Tyler Valdes was: Tyler Valdes Jr., Tyler Alvarez Sr., Zak Phillips Jr., Ryan Valdes Jr., Josh Chan Sr., Rusty Parker Sr., Josh Dean Jr., and Anthony Lacambra Jr. Their score was 65 to 2nd place Murrieta Valley's 135 and Vista Murrieta's 146. The 2008 team was lead by Tyler Valdes, Sr. Ryan Valdes, Sr. Zak Phillips, Sr. Tyler Hogshead, Sr. Anthony LaCambra, Sr. Josh Dean, Sr. Jesus Molina, Jr. And Blake Ahrold, Jr.

Mathematics Department

Miss Williamson is the cornerstone of the math department. All other math teachers are irrelevant. Miss Williamson is one of the finest teachers and has the best personality, she is so animated and full of school spirit. LOLOLOLOL

Notable alumni

• Dana Brown, film maker
• Denise Brown - (sister of Nicole Brown Simpson)
• Nicole Brown Simpson (murdered)
• Melinda Clarke of The O.C.
• Vince de la Peña, professional surfer
• Kellen Foley, SockKid (of SockGuy company)
• Josie Goldberg of Farmer Wants a Wife (U.S. TV series)
• Brian Ireland of Something Corporate
• Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin
• Pat O'Connell, professional surfer
• Justin South, drummer of Augustana
• Scott Covington, NFL quarterback for the St. Louis Rams and Cincinnati Bengals
• Seth Etherton, Major League Baseball pitcher for the Anaheim Angels and Cincinnati Reds
• Mimi Walters, State Senator, former State Assemblywoman
• Bao Quach, Professional MMA fighter

External links

• Official website
• SOCSA - South Orange County School of the Arts
• School Profile
• The Paper