St. Bernard High School (Los Angeles, California)

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Location
St. Bernard High School
Los Angeles, California, USA
Information
Principal	Mr. Denis Munoz
Enrollment	470
Type	Catholic school
Campus	Urban residential area near Los Angeles International Airport
Athletics	football, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys volleyball, girls volleyball, baseball, softball, golf, boys soccer, girls soccer
Mascot	Vikings
Color(s)	Blue, Gold and White
Established	1956
Homepage	www.stbernardhs.com

Saint Bernard High School is a four year (9-12), co-instructional, Catholic high school located in Playa Del Rey, California, which is in the West Los Angeles area. Its mission is "to send forth faith-filled, principled and knowledgeable young men and women by providing an exemplary college preparatory education rooted in Roman Catholic tradition." The school was founded in 1956. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The school is located next to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) across from Westchester High School.

[edit] History

Plans for Saint Bernard High School were begun in 1955 in response to the need for high schools in the Westchester-Playa del Rey area. Saint Bernard was founded as a four year, co-instructional, Catholic high school located at St. Anastasia School. It was at St. Anastasia that classes were held for one year prior to the completion of the present campus. On December 4, 1957, the present land site was blessed at a simple ceremony.

The school has undergone a series of changes in recent years. For one, the school has made strides in improving access to technology for students. The schools has added a new computer lab for both the 2006 and 2007 school years. In addition, teachers post assignments and syllabi on the school's online portal, allowing parents to access information at home. The 21st century St. Bernard classroom disperses information using a variety of techniques and technologies throughout the the academic disciplines.

The current administrative team, led by Denis Munoz and his vice-principal Dr. Beth Polito, is attempting to reinvent the school and stymie declining enrollment by implementing the AVEAS (Achieving Viking Excellence As Scholars) program. The introduction of this program coincided with the school's WASC visit in the 2007-2008 school year. Munoz took over the principal position after the one-year tenure of Rick Kruska, who went on to being the superintendent of schools in the Oakland Catholic Archdiocese.

As part of the new AVEAS program, faculty utilize authentic modes of assessment and various individual methodologies to meet the specific needs of individual students. Teacher competencies are held to the California standards for the teaching profession. Social development and physical growth occur in athletics and co-curricular activities. The school takes particular pride in its fine-arts program, presenting an annual spring musical that regularly includes over 70 students.

[edit] Student body

The student body totals approximately 503 pupils from the surrounding areas of Westchester, Inglewood, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Venice, Baldwin Hills, etc. As of the mid-2000s, the ethnic breakdown is roughly 62% African-American and 25% Latino with the remaining being White/Asian/Other.