| Milpitas High School | |
|---|---|
| Milpitas High School billboard and campus. | |
| Location | |
| 1285 Escuela Parkway Milpitas, California, United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1969 |
| School district | Milpitas Unified School District |
| Principal | Ken Schlaff [1] |
| Faculty | 122 [2] |
| Enrollment | 2,945 [2] |
| Color(s) | Blue Gold |
| Song | Milpitas Alma Mater |
| Mascot | Trojan |
| Website | mhs.musd.org |
Milpitas High School (MHS) is a public four-year comprehensive high school in Milpitas, California, a suburban community adjacent to San Jose. It is one of two high schools within the Milpitas Unified School District.
As of 2011, Milpitas High School had an API score of 812 and had an API ranking of 8 out of 10.[2] In 2004, MHS was granted a full, six year accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
The school provides its students with many academic, extracurricular and other resources in a community committed to diversity in its student body, faculty and staff. Milpitas High School has modernized facilities which are spread across a 44 acre campus.
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Milpitas High School was directly preceded by Samuel Ayer High School. A continuum of education had existed in what is now the City of Milpitas since the Spanish colonial era, only to be interrupted by brief periods from 1848-1858 upon the secularization of the Californian missions, and 1954–1959, in which James Lick High School in the nearby city of San Jose became the high school for Milpitas residents. Upon the final restoration of local secondary education in 1959, a classical education in Latin Grammar and English Literature ceased to be the norm, and a modern curriculum was implemented, of which forms the basis of the curriculum for the present high school. Milpitas High School co-existed with Samuel Ayer High School from 1969, until the latter closed its doors in 1980, leaving Milpitas High School to be the sole remaining high school. The predecessors of Milpitas High School are:
First interruption period, 1848-1856
Second interruption period, 1954-1959
Restoration to Milpitas
Milpitas High School is located on Escuela Parkway in Milpitas, north of Jacklin Road. The eastern side of the school is the main entrance and student drop-off area, and the western side consists of a football stadium, track, and mural of Milpitas High School's mascot, the Trojan.
Milpitas High School has many facilities for athletic use. The school has two swimming pools that are now closed to public use. Also, the football and soccer fields are built of artificial turf, and the synthetic rubber track was built in 2003 and finished in 2004. Since its beginnings, Milpitas High has been renovated and improved, with new buildings and facilities being added for school use. Marshall Pomeroy Elementary School is adjacent to Milpitas High School's east side, and Thomas Russell Middle School is located northeast of the high school.
Milpitas High School is an ethnically diverse school. About 130 ethnic and national minority groups are represented. A total of 1,414 students have a primary language other than English. More than half of the students are of Filipino and Vietnamese descent. Other Asian-Pacific American groups in order of population include Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Japanese, Pacific Islanders, and Hmongs.
There are three programs at Milpitas High School. They are the:
In the 2011/2012 school year, the following Advanced Placement are offered at Milpitas High School.
There are two committees to enrich development at Milpitas School:
Students must complete 220 credits, including:
Milpitas Unified requires 20 hours of community service in order to receive a high school diploma.
On December 2, 2006, the Milpitas High School Varsity football team won the CCS Championship for the first time. The Trojans competed against rival Piedmont Hills High School and won, 39-21. This was the second time Milpitas High School made it to the CCS Championship game. The first time was in 1993, and the Trojans lost to Leland High School in a shutout scenario of 35-0. Milpitas won CCS again in 2009.
The 2008 football season was a successful one for the trojans becoming the De Anza division league champions with a record of 9 and 1.
There are three academies in the school: Engineering and Technology Academy, Traveling and Tourism Academy, Digital Business Academy,
The Engineering and Technology Academy offers a variety of projects for students to complete in the year. Including catapults, solar ovens, solar cars, and hover cars. Students are divided up into teams, picked by the teachers, and compete against each other to win for the E-Tech Cup. The winning team would usually be the team with projects that have the highest performance.
As of 2008, the Digital Business Academy and Engineering and Technology Academy teachers have been given SmartBoards, a touch-screen interactive whiteboard that displays content from a computer.
Unique to campus lexicon is the word "clogs", which means "clubs and organizations".
Interact, Key, VSA (Vietnamese Student Association), PUSO (Pilipino United Student Organization) and Dragon Boat, and Chinese Club are among the many clogs on campus.
The Milpitas High Mathematics Team, a division of the Math Club, participates annually in the five mathematics competitions hosted by National Assessment & Testing. In 2008, the Mathematics Team placed first nationally in Collaborative Problem-Solving Contest.[3] This feat was repeated in 2009. The Mathematics Team has also competed in the Stanford Mathematics Tournament, the Santa Clara Mathematics Contest, BAMO, AMC, and SCVMA continuously since 2003.
The marching band, jazz band, orchestra, and concert bands have been under the direction of Milpitas High Alumn, Christopher Kaldy, since the 1998 school year. Under the direction of, Christopher Kaldy, the music department has thrived; with a 100+ member marching band, a Pep Band, a 60 piece symphony orchestra, two concert bands, percussion ensembles, and a jazz band. Previous band directors have included Dick Goodrich, Wes Robbins, David Bakken and Eric Swisher. www.mhsmusic.org
Milpitas High School also has a concert choir and glee club which have been under the direction of Dan McQuigg since the 2010 school year. English and music teacher, Paula Chenoweth, revived the choir class in 2002 after many years with no vocal classes at the high school.
The MHS Marching Band regularly competes in NCBA (Northern California Band Association) and WBA (Western Band Association) field show competitions. The marching band and pep band also regularly perform at home varsity football games.
At the conclusion of the marching band season each December, the members form separate concert bands; a Wind Ensemble and a Symphonic Band.
Milpitas High School has a standard 17-piece Jazz Band that meets every morning during zero period, from 7-8 AM In April 2005, the Milpitas High School Jazz Band received a Command Performance Rating at the 2005 Santa Cruz Jazz Festival.
Since 2002, the MHS Symphony Orchestra has provided an opportunity for string musicians to perform a variety of classical and contemporary orchestral literature.
In addition to the concert choir, Mr. McQuigg also directs the MHS Glee Club which he formed in the 2009 school year. The concert choir was revived in 2002 by former director, Paula Chenoweth, after being canceled in the mid 1990's and again in the 2008 school year.
Many students at MHS belong to the Navy Junior ROTC program, including its drill teams. The drill teams consists of Drill Team With Arms and Unarmed Drill Team, and Color Guard. Each year, Milpitas NJROTC hosts "Legions of Troy," a drill meet and athletic competition that many other California JROTC units attend. On a weekly basis, the classes have academics, uniform, physical training, and drill. The unit is not run by teachers, but students. The unit has two instructors to oversee them: Lieutenant Commander Queen and Senior Chief Petty Officer Ezell. The current Commanding Officer is Cadet Lieutenant Huber, Cody.
The Trojan Lowdown was a TV Video Production that served as the MHS daily news announcement broadcast that covered items such as upcoming student activities, any changes in schedules, club, class or athletic information, and other announcements. The announcements produced on the Trojan Lowdown were meant to help keep students informed. Mr. Champ Wrencher is the faculty advisor for the TV Video Production class. The name "Trojan Lowdown" was unanimously chosen by the class after student Daniel Tong (Class of 2002) randomly submitted it thinking that it wouldn't be chosen.
As of the 2006-2007 school year, the "Trojan Lowdown" no longer makes announcements, and the intercom has been employed again for morning announcements. However, the Trojan Lowdown is now producing a monthly show in a video journal format, and it has been dubbed "The New Trojan Lowdown".
Milpitas High School annually hosts the Trojan Olympics, a friendly competition between the class grades. The classes compete for bragging rights for the year. Spirit points, ticket sales, decorations, Trojan Olympic games, dances, and a pyramid are all accounted for in deciding who wins the Trojan Olympics.
For many years it was thought that only the senior class could win the competition, however in 2005, the Class of 2007 made history by becoming the first Sophomore Class to win, and then again in 2006 becoming the first Junior class to win. To top it all off, they won again in 2007, becoming the first class to win three consecutive years in a row. In 2008, the Freshman Class of 2011 made history by coming in 2nd place, defeating both the sophomore and junior classes—achieving the highest place a freshman class has ever reached in Trojan Olympics.
2005: Class of 2007
2006: Class of 2007
2007: Class of 2007
2008: Class of 2008
2009: Class of 2009 and 2010 (tie)
2010: Class of 2011
2011: Class of 2012
(As of the 2011-2012 school year)
Freshmen (c/o 2015): Purple
Sophomores (c/o 2014): Maroon
Juniors (c/o 2013): Orange
Seniors (c/o 2012): Green
Every year, the class with the most spirit points, which are obtained through attending Pack the House sport events, dressing up for Spirit Days, etc., wins the Spirit Trophy and is given the title as "Spirit Champions".
WINNERS:
2009: Class of 2011
2010: Class of 2011 2011: Class of 2011
The words to the Milpitas High School Alma Mater were written by former band directors Reginald Wesley Robbins and David Bakken. The original tune used for the alma mater is from an 18th or 19th century hymnsong.
"Milpitas Alma Mater Dear,
All your praises now we cheer.
And through the years our pledge will be
To honor your community.
Cultural diversity
You bring forth with dignity.
Milpitas with your banner bold,
We will love your blue and gold."
The Milpitas High School Fight Song is actually the Notre Dame Victory March which was originally written by Rev. Michael J. Shea. The adapted words are:
"Milpitas High School
That's where we're from
We've got the other team on the run
V - I - C - T - O - R - Y
That is the motto we go by
Bring on the challenge, we'll never stop
'til Blue and Gold are Up at the top
Win or Lose we'll do our best
Our spirits will never rest.
Go!...Fight!...Win!"