Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California)

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Los Altos High School
Established	1954
Type	Public secondary
Principal	Wynne Satterwhite
Students	1,700 (approx.)
Grades	9-12
Location	201 Almond Avenue Los Altos, California, California USA
Colors	blue, silver and white
Mascot	eagle
Newspaper	The Talon
Website	http://www.la.mvla.net/

Los Altos High School, located in Los Altos, California, is one of the two MVLA School District public high schools, the other school being Mountain View High School. As of 2005, the school principal is Wynne Satterwhite. The previous principal was George Perez, who left in 2004.

1 History
2 Statistics and demographics
3 Graduation Requirements
4 Programs and Highlights
5 Mascot and School Colors
6 Notable Alumni
7 External links

[edit] History

The school was established in 1954 on the site of an orchard. Initially, Los Altos High School served the mostly white, middle to upper class populations of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. In 1982, the district closed its oldest high school, Mountain View High, which was located on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View. Awalt High School was then renamed Mountain View High. The new attendance boundaries for the two schools cut from the hill communities of Los Altos in the west through the valley community of Mountain View to the San Francisco Bay in the east. The two remaining district high schools now draw equally from professional and working-class families and have a similar demographic population. In more recent history, Los Altos High underwent a large renovation over the past few years, which has significantly enhanced the campus environment, including a science and art building and a Sprinturf athletic field.

[edit] Statistics and demographics

As of the 2003-2004 school year, the enrollment was approximately 1600 students; in the last few years each incoming class has been significantly larger than the outgoing class. According the to 2005 Academic Performance Index Base School Report, Los Altos has a majority of white students.[1]

Ethnicity	Percentage
African American (not of Hispanic origin)	23
American Indian or Alaska Native	0
Asian	17
Filipino	3
Tsai	2
Hispanic or Latino	23
Pacific Islander	1
White (not of Hispanic origin)	53

[edit] Graduation Requirements

Subjects	Credits
English/Communication	40
Mathematics	20
Science	20
Social Studies	35
World Language/Fine Arts/Practical Arts (10 credits in 2 out of 3 areas)	20
Physical Education	20
Health	5
Electives	60
Total Credits	220

[edit] Programs and Highlights

119 students earned the title of AP Scholar in 2005
Interdisciplinary courses are offered including Environmental Field Studies, Global Connections and a math/science based pre-engineering program
Middle College: a program where LAHS students may spend one or two full years at a local community college
MainStreet Singers tour all over the world and are recognized for excellence in international and vocal music competitions
83% of students participate in academic, extracurricular and community service clubs
Over 50% of the students participate in athletics
The counseling department was awarded the prestigious School Personnel Accountability Report Card (SPARC)

[edit] Mascot and School Colors

The school's mascot is the eagle, which it shares with nearby Almond Elementary School, both of which are located on Almond Avenue. Before the eagle, the school's mascot was the knight, but it was changed in 1982, as part of the reorganization when the original Mountain View High School was closed (The eagle was the mascot of the original Mountain View High School). The school colors are blue, silver and white, they were blue and gold before the reorganization.