العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolLA SIERRA HIGH SCHOOL
'La Sierra High School', located in Riverside, California, is a public high school in the Alvord Unified School District that was founded on August 28 1969. The school underwent a change in principals when Dr. Don Austin took up the position of principal at Laguna Beach High School for the 2005-2006 school year. Dr. Austin was replaced by Dr. Robert Cunard.
The two main feeder schools for La Sierra High are Arizona Intermediate and Villegas Intermediate schools. La Sierra's rival is Norte Vista High School, the other public high school in Alvord Unified.
History
La Sierra High School is opened in 1969 with Dr. William Conlon as the first principal. It was a mainly white middle-class school with only about 1500 students. Arizona Middle School was the only feeder middle school.
After Dr. Conlon left for a position at the district office, Mr. Menzia (who came from Norte Vista)became the second principal, and was strict with the students so that they could succeed later in life. After retiring, Dr. Marc Jackson became principal. After only two years, he left and interim principals were put into place, one of them being Dr. Don Austin. Dr. Austin was said by some students and teachers that he "began the turnaround" of La Sierra, with club improvements, newer buildings, renovations of old ones, and improvements in academics. This led to L.S. becoming one of the highest scoring campuses in the county. In 2006, Dr. Austin left La Sierra to become the principal of Laguna Beach High School. Dr. Robert Cunard, from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, became the current principal. He added new security cameras for student safety.
Some other changes include student demographics. Although the majority of La Sierra students are still middle-class, 27% use free/reduced price lunch. 55% of the students are Hispanic, making up the majority of English-Learners. To relieve Arizona's crowding, Villegas middle school was opened, thus Ari was no longer the only feeder school.
New cement replaced the all-grass walkways. The main office was once the mini-theater that had walls that could be moved for more chairs. The main office was where the cafeteria is now. Finally, the student population of La Sierra is now about 3100, more than double of what it was when it first began.
Recent events
La Sierra has recently become one of the highest scoring campuses in the Inland Empire as ranked by the annual achievement tests given by the State of California. In 2005, La Sierra High was awarded a 6-year clear accreditation through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, making La Sierra High the only comprehensive high school in the entire Inland Empire to earn this distinction.
As of the 2006-2007 school year, approximately 3,190 students attend La Sierra High. Many of the 2005-2006 valedictorians have joined some of the nation's top universities, e.g. University of California Berkeley, and the University of California Los Angeles.
Academics and Test Scores
Academics
Academics at La Sierra is strong in every way, and is only getting stronger. Reforms in stricter education are expected to be carried out next year, as Dr. Cunard strategizes about which areas will benefit most from stricter policies.
La Sierra offers 15 AP Courses in Art Portfolio, Biology, Calculus (AB and BC), Chemistry, Economics, Environmental Science, English, European History, Government, Physics B, Spanish Language, Statistics, U.S. History, Language, and Literature. La Sierra hopes to adopt a Computer Science course within the next few years, as our society is becoming more dependent on innovative technology.
College Outlook
La Sierra's student body is made up of focused and dedicated individuals who attend prestigious Universities, such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, Stanford, USC, as well as numerous Cal States. Applying to colleges is a typically smooth, well-guided process at La Sierra; however some students have complained about being uninformed of important documents such as the CSS, and other university-based financial aid opportunities.
Test Scores
API
As of 2005, La Sierra High School has increased its API to 715 from the 2004 base score of 679. It was a considerable 36 point growth rate. Although it met the schoolwide growth target, it did not meet the state subgroup growth targets. To encourage schools to improve achievement for all students, the state computes APIs and sets improvement targets for the different student subgroups at the school. See below:
| Subgroup | API Base |
|---|---|
| All Students | 715 |
| African-American | 690 |
| Asian | 791 |
| Hispanic | 676 |
| White/Caucasian | 761 |
| Socioeconomically disadvantaged | 664 |
| English Learners | 648 |
| Special Education | 487 |
CST Results
As of 2005, La Sierra's students met or exceeded the state expectations on the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) as listed below: [1]
| Subject | Freshmen Pass rate (%) | Sophomore Pass rate (%) | Junior Pass rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algebra 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Algebra 2 | 80 | 24 | 6 |
| Biology / Life Sciences | 20 | 14 | 12 |
| Chemistry | -- | 22 | 12 |
| Earth Sciences | 5 | 20 | 19 |
| English | 39 | 32 | 30 |
| Geometry | 46 | 10 | 6 |
| World History | -- | 29 | -- |
| U.S. History | -- | -- | 39 |
CAHSEE Results
All data below reflects the percentage of sophomore, junior, and senior students who passed the CAHSEE sections.
| Year | Percent Passed |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 65 |
| 2003 | 67 |
| 2004 | 71 |
| 2005 | 65 |
| 2006 | 61 |
| Year | Percent Passed |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 24 |
| 2003 | 40 |
| 2004 | 70 |
| 2005 | 67 |
| 2006 | 91 |
Activities and Clubs
Some of the notable clubs on campus include:
★ ASB (Associated Student Body)
★ Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)
★ Black Student Union
★ California Scholarship Federation(CSF)
★ Cheer Club
★ Chess Club
★ College Club
★ Drama Club
★ Economics Club
★ Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
★ Future Farmers of America
★ French Club
★ Health Organization Students of America
★ Latinos Working Together
★ Marching Band
★ Music Industry Club
★ Pingpong Club
★ Renaissance Club
★ Spanish Club
★ Mock Trial
★ Screamin' Eagles Marching Band
★ ''Sunrise'' (Yearbook)
★ ''The Eagle's Quill'' (Student newspaper)
★ The Call (Christian Club)
★ Wind Ensemble
★ Winter Drumline
Athletics
La Sierra High School is a member of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Ivy League, competing with Riverside Polytechnic High School, Riverside John W. North High School, Riverside Martin Luther King High School, Riverside Arlington High School, and Riverside Ramona High School. La Sierra High School is committed to the idea of producing 'student-athletes' manifested by their varsity head coaching staff. La Sierra competes in 20 varsity sports, while maintaining a full junior varsity and freshmen schedule. The 2005-2006 season included several league championships for LSHS. The track team extended the varsity win streak to 37 in a row, while the football team won the first league championship in many years.
However, the 2006-2007 football season ended with a 1-9 record. Afterwhich their head coach, Mike Churchill departed in February 2007, following former Principle Don Austin to Laguna Beach High School to take the Athletic Director (AD) position there. Head football coach Churchill had only been in the position one year, this is the third coaching change for La Sierra football in as many years.
On April 19, 2007, La Sierra announced they had hired former Desert Hot Springs High School head football coach, Craig Cieslik, to replace Churchill after a two month search.
'Fall Sports': ★ Cross Country (Boys and Girls) ★ Golf (Girls) ★ Football (Boys) ★ Tennis (Girls) ★ Volleyball (Girls) ★ Water Polo (Boys) ★ Pep Squad | 'Winter Sports': ★ Basketball (Boys) ★ Basketball (Girls) ★ Soccer (Boys) ★ Soccer (Girls) ★ Water Polo (Girls) ★ Wrestling ★ Pep Squad | 'Spring Sports': ★ Baseball (Boys) ★ Golf (Boys) ★ Softball (Girls) ★ Swimming (Boys and Girls) ★ Tennis (Boys) ★ Track & Field (Boys and Girls) ★ Volleyball (Boys) ★ Pep Squad |
They have begun the 2007 football season with a win against Norte Vista in all three levels, freshman, junior varsity, and varsity.
Teachers
| Category | Total # of Teachers [4] |
|---|---|
| La Sierra | 120 |
| District | 899 |
| County | 18,164 |
| State | 307,864 |
| Type of Credential | Teachers (State) | Teachers (LSHS) |
|---|---|---|
| Full | 307,864 (94.2%) | 114 (95.0%) |
| University Intern | 7,668 (2.5%) | 3 (2.5%) |
| District Intern | 2,690 (0.9%) | 2 (1.7%) |
| Pre-Intern | 1,150 (0.4%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Emergency | 9,922 (3.2%) | 1 (0.8%) |
| Waiver | 1,298 (0.4%) | 0 (0.0%) |
According to the CA Department of Education website, the teachers at La Sierra have 11.1 average teaching experience, and have spent an average of 10 years teaching in the Alvord Unified School District (as of 2005-2006 school year). The average class size is ~ 30.
Students
★ Breakdown by Ethnicity
| Ethnicity | LSHS (% of population) | State (% of population) |
|---|---|---|
| African American, not Hispanic | 8 | 8 |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | <1 | <1 |
| Asian | 6 | 8 |
| Filipino | 3 | 3 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 50 | 47 |
| Multiple or No Response | <1 | 2 |
| Pacific Islander | <1 | <1 |
| White, not Hispanic | 32 | 31 |
★ Home Languages of English Learners
| Language | La Sierra High | State |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | <1% | <1% |
| Filipino (Pilipino or Tagalog) | 2% | 1% |
| Hindi | <1% | <1% |
| Khmer (Cambodian) | <1% | <1% |
| Lao | <1% | <1% |
| Mandarin (Puntonghua) | <1% | <1% |
| Persian | <1% | <1% |
| Portuguese | 1% | <1% |
| Rumanian | 1% | <1% |
| Russian | <1% | <1% |
| Samoan | <1% | <1% |
| Spanish | 89% | 85% |
| Thai | <1% | <1% |
| Vietnamese | 2% | 2% |
| All other non-English languages | <1% | <1% |
Trivia
The eagle was selected as the mascot because it opened the year when America landed on the moon, and one astronaut said, "The eagle has landed."
According to urban legend, the site of L.S.H.S was selected mainly because it was north of its then-only feeder school, Arizona. Being north represented getting promoted. The hill where the 91 freeway comes through was a symbol of going through life's challenges.
Originally, the site of La Sierra was 70 acres, but six acres were taken away to build Collett Elementary, and another twelve to build McAulliffe. The land originally belonging to La Sierra was traded for homes that were on the current site of McAulliffe Elementary.
School Colors
La Sierra High School's official school colors are blue and white. Red is the unofficial color recently added.
Alma Mater
''Written by Leroy Jacobs''
Notable alumni
★ Jesse G. James, host of the TV show ''Monster Garage''
★ Tyree Washington, American track and field athlete
★ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Professional Boxer
★ Keri Furman Mendoza (Class of 1995) aka Kerissa Fare[2], Playboy Playmate of the Month, September 2000
Contact
'Address':
4145 La Sierra Avenue
Riverside, California 92505
'Phone':
(951) 351-9235
'Fax':
(951) 351-9307
'Website':
www.alvord.k12.ca.us/LaSierra
Footnotes
1. California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program [1]. Accessed on 02 November, 2006.
2. California High School Exit Examination Cahsee Results. Accessed on 02 November, 2006.
3. California High School Exit Examination Cahsee Results. Accessed on 02 November, 2006.
4. California Department of Education website. CDE website. Accessed on 02 November, 2006.
External links
★
★ La Sierra High School
★ La Sierra Cross Country and Track
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
