| Palos Verdes High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 600 Cloyden Road, | |
| Information | |
| Established | 1961 |
| Principal | Dr. Nick Stephany |
| Enrollment | 1,836 (from fact sheet for 2009 to 2010 school year)[1] |
| Color(s) | Red, Black, and White |
| Mascot | Sea King |
| Website | http://www.pvhigh.com |
Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California, USA (the others being Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (formerly Rolling Hills High School) and Rancho Del Mar High School). Located by the ocean in Palos Verdes Estates, the school is part of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District.
Originally opened in 1961, the school earned many awards for academic and athletic excellence before declining enrollments due to demographic changes led the District to close PVHS in 1991, combining three existing high schools into Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PVPHS). The campus remained in use as Palos Verdes Intermediate School, with the former intermediate schools having been closed as part of the reorganization. In 2002, climbing enrollments and overcrowding at Peninsula High School led the district to reopen Palos Verdes High School. By the first year, enrollment reached 470 students.
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PVHS is home to the Palos Verdes Sea Kings, the only high school team in the nation to have participated in the DARPA Grand Challenge.
The school also has an award-winning drama program that was chosen to represent the United States in the Edinburgh Theatre Festival in 2009.
The school is also known for its broadcast journalism program Live from 205 (referring to the program's room number), which has won several awards at the STN National Convention from 2005 through 2011, including the Excellence Award for best high school weekly news show in the country in the 2007,2008, 2009 and 2010 competitions. At the recent 2011 STN convention, Live From 205 won 10 awards in various categories, this is more awards than any other school has ever won at the convention.[2][3]
The Cal-Nev-Ha KIWIN'S organization on campus has made remarkable gains. Not only does it have the largest amount of students involved in community service, but it has made notable gains in leadership both on a divisional (Diamond Division) level and district level. As of 2009 there have been three Lieutenant Governors from PVHS, 4 executive board members, 2 appointed board members. The Governor for California-Nevada-Hawaii KIWIN'S District for the 2008-2009 service year was also from Palos Verdes High.
The school's science olympiad team, coached by Eva Stamper, typically advances to the state competition each year, and in 2008 achieved fourth place in the competitive Los Angeles Regionals.
Palos Verdes High School also has an award winning yearbook program lead under Susan Pavelka. The yearbook is also competes with college level yearbboks.
The athletic teams (known as the Sea Kings) are represented by the colors red, black, and white, and compete in the Bay League for most sports. The nickname comes from the Greek god Poseidon, the school's official mascot. Their cross-town rival is the PVPHS Panthers, whom they battle in various sports for the "King of the Hill". This is a recent development coming a few years after the reopening in 2002, as the teams were not closely aligned or regularly matched up immediately thereafter due to sizeable differences in enrollment. The original cross-town rival was the Rolling Hills High School Titans, the original school housed on the PVPHS campus before district wide consolidation took effect.
In 1965 the Sea Kings captured their first CIF championship in any sport as the undefeated (11-0-1) football team defeated Tustin Foothill 20-7 to capture the CIF AA Championship. Earlier that season marked the first meeting ever on the gridiron between the Sea Kings and their cross-town rivals the Rolling Hills Titans (Peninsula Panthers.) The Sea Kings won that first-ever game 28-7.
In 1975, a notable date in the school's sports history, the Sea Kings won the CIF Boys Basketball Championship, defeating perennial champion Verbum Dei High School in the semi-finals in one of the biggest upsets in California high school basketball history. Palos Verdes was led by future NBA all-star Bill Laimbeer, while Verbum Dei's biggest star was David Greenwood, who became Laimbeer's teammate on the 1990 Detroit Pistons NBA championship team.
The Sea Kings have won many CIF titles over the years in several other boys and girls sports, and a few teams have even been recognized at the state or national level. Circa 1990, it claimed a national championship in both girls basketball as well as boys soccer, as recognized by USA Today. Most recently, the school has claimed CIF titles in baseball (2005), boys lacrosse, and in boys soccer for the 2006-07 season.
The Red Tide, is a student-run spirit organization that supports the sports teams. Started specifically to cheer for boys basketball, the Red Tide is a major presence at most games, where an entire section of the bleachers is often a sea of red. Their taglines include "Roll Tide," "Tritons Up," and "Red Tide Nation."
The Palos Verdes Cross Country Team is a cross country team from Palos Verdes High School in California.
Palos Verdes fielded a varsity boys cross country team in 1961, the year the school opened. The boys' varsity team has won a total of six CIF titles. They were champions in 1967, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1990, 2009, their first CIF title after the school reopened and most recently, in 2011. The boys have also won 17 Bay League titles, most recently in 2007 and 2009. The boys' team also won their first state championship in 2009, qualifying for the Nike Cross Nationals.
Girls cross country did not compete as a team until 1977. The girls varsity team won 14 consecutive Bay League titles from 1977 to 1991.[4] The girls' team has won six California Interscholastic Federation titles. The girls won CIF titles in 1979, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989. The 1987 girls' team was named National Champions. They were also state champions in 1987, 1988, and 1989.
The cross country program was founded in 1961 by coach Bill O'Rourke and then followed by Terry Wallace. The leader of the cross country program during the 70‘s was coach Bob Latham. Coach Latham was in charge from 1972 until 1979 when he left Palos Verdes. Sue Scully was the coach for the 1980 season followed by Joe Kelly. Coach Kelly was in charge at Palos Verdes High School from 1981 until the school closed in 1991.
The team is currently coached by Brian Shapiro, Jeff Atkinson, and Alex Broughton.