American High School (Fremont, California)

American High School (AHS) is a public secondary school located in Fremont, California. It is one of five public high schools within the Fremont Unified School District.^[1] The school receives its students through the American High School attendance area boundary set by the district. It was a California Distinguished School from 2005 to 2009.

History

The school opened in 1972 as an open campus with 9th, 10th and 11th graders under Principal Joseph Tranchina. The Class of 1974 was the school's first graduating class, and the Class of 1976 was the first four-year class. The school was designed with space classrooms. Each wing, (the 300. 500 and 700) housed the classrooms. The open space comes from the fact that only the exterior walls of the wings were permanent. The interior "walls" consisted of free standing dividers. The size and shape of the classrooms could be modified based on the needs of the class. Frequently, the dividers could be removed to have cross disciplinary instruction and activity. This flexibility served to make it easier to have grade level teams work together.

Student body

Population

The student population at the end of the 2004-2005 school year was 1,981 students.^[2] In previous school years, 2003–2004, 2002–2003, 2001–2002, the school’s population has been 1,868, 1,692, and 1,586 respectively.^[2] A few years before the aforementioned boundary changes, the student population at American ranked around 1,200 students, and according to recent estimates, it has grown to 2017 in the 2005-2006 school year students, and in 2008-2009 school year it grew to 2026.^[3] In the 2009-2010 year, American High School's population rose to over 2000, making it the 2nd largest school in the district.

Demographics

The student population at American High School is approximately 51% male and 49% female. In terms of ethnicity, the largest group at the school is the Asian population. It is the fastest growing portion of the population and represents 31% of the student body. The second largest group is Whites, which represent 28% of the population, African Americans at 26%, followed by Filipinos at 10%, Latinos at 9%, Pacific Islanders at 1% and Native American at less than 1%. 16% of the population identifies itself with another race or multiple races.^[2] The large growth in the Asian population is attributed by many to the arrival of students from Ardenwood and Forest Park elementary schools, which both boast a majority Asian population.^[4][5] The largest nationality in American high school are the Afghan Americans. Since the 1990s there is an average of 300 Afghan American who attend AHS. This is due to the location of the school being at the edge of Little Kabul District of Fremont.

Attendance Area

Elementary schools that attend American High School:

• Ardenwood Elementary
• Forest Park Elementary
• Brookvale Elementary
• Oliveria Elementary
• Patterson Elementary
• Warwick Elementary
• New Horizons School

Student Teacher Ratio

American High has struggled to maintain low class sizes among all subjects and classes, but the rapidly increasing population and the limited class space and resources have resulted in a slight increase in class sizes. The class sizes for English and mathematics have stayed about the same, or gone down slightly, as state regulations has mandated smaller class sizes in these critical subjects, due to budget cuts however, the recent sizes of these classes has not dipped far below 30 students. However, social science classes have been forced to add 5 more classes of 33 students or more than in previous years. Science classes have had to add 6 more classes of 33 students or more than in previous years.^[2]

AHS Administration

• Principal: Mr. Steven Musto
• Principal's Secretary: Ms. Donna Hartigan
• Assistant Principal: Ms. Amanda Melsby
• Assistant Principal: Ms. Kristina Palos
• Assistant Principal: Mr. Rob Reibenchuh

Academics

American High School has gone from having a 49% passing rate on the CAHSEE in 2001 to having an 87% in 2010. The Academic Performance Index (API) has also improved from 646 in 1999 to 831 in 2012 (1999 - 646; 2000 - 673; 2001 - 676; 2002 - 681; 2003 - 721; 2004 - 757; 2009 - 787; 2010 - 796; 2011 - 811; 2012 - 831). Additionally, American High School earned a rare 6-year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Campus and facilities

2012 Map of facilities and permanent buildings at American High School. Three major wings (300, 500, 700) and the Rotunda, which form the main building. Cafeteria is now in its own building

American High School was separated into three main wings under its original design. When opened in 1972, the 300 and 500 wings were open areas with individual classrooms being separated by portable dividers. By the time of the thirtieth anniversary, those wings had been remodeled to a traditional permanent wall arrangement.

Classes have been organized according to the wings. The 300-wing has traditionally served as the home of English, social studies and foreign language departments. The 500-wing has traditionally served as the home of the mathematics and science classes. The 700-wing has generally been reserved for the arts: music, theater, photography, art, sculpture, and architecture. There are two theaters. Theater 50 is similar to a college lecture hall, while Theater 70 serves as the theater for the fall play and spring musical. When built, there were two additional theaters, Theater 30 and 31, which through the use of a retractable wall, could be converted into one larger theater. These theaters were later remodeled into classrooms. In addition, there is a 400 wing, which is a series of two computer labs between the 300 and 500 wings. Between the 500 wing and the 700 wing is 600 wing, which is a series of three classrooms, one of which is now a kitchen for the cooking ROP classes. The classrooms of the 600 wing open up to the former cafeteria, now an open area. A new cafeteria - multipurpose building was built next to the gym in 2010. The 900 wing is a fenced complex of four classrooms just beyond the 700 wing.

Athletics

American High School's mascot is the American Eagle and its colors are red, white, and blue. Unique at the time, the incoming students to the school in 1972 were polled and chose the school's name, mascot, and colors. American High School belongs to the Mission Valley Athletic League (MVAL).

The following sports are offered at American High School: cross country, football, volleyball, water polo, tennis, basketball, soccer, wrestling, baseball, track and field, golf, softball, swimming, and badminton.

American's Boys Cross Country team placed second at MVALS. In addition, both boys and girls basketball teams, girls soccer team, and girls volleyball team have qualified for North Coast Section Playoffs.

Administration

At the end of the 2005 school year, principal Connie White was reassigned, an unpopular move for some of the Fremont and American High School community. Connie White resigned shortly after, choosing to move to South Dakota to care for her parents.

The school board announced Mitchell Carter as principal for the 2005-2006 school year. Newly appointed assistant principals were Kathy Burgardt and Rob Reibenschuh, in the 2005-2006 school year. In the 2007-2008 school year, Jeana Nightengale, Mark Banez, and Suzanne Ayriss took over as new Counselors. Mitchell Carter retired at the end of June, 2008.

July 2008 Ron Leone was named principal. At this time FUSD began an aggressive campaign to make American High a model school for academic learning. Leone had stirred up tension with students, staff and parents during his time at American. After two years, he chose to retire during the summer of 2009 along with Burghardt.

In July 2010 Greg Bailey replaced Leone as principal with new Assistant Principal Anette Raichbart, and current Assistant Principal Rob Reibenschuh, and Vice-Principal Leanna Sutton.

In Fall 2012 Kristina Palos replaced Assistant Principal Anette Raichbart who was promoted to principal at another school site.

In August 2013 Vice Principal Leanna Sutton was promoted to be Principal at another school site. The Vice Principal position was eliminated and Amanda Melsby was hired as an Assistant Principal.

In August 2014 Greg Bailey was promoted to a Director position at the district office. Steven Musto was hired to be the new Principal.

The school has three full-time campus supervisors and is a closed campus with a school resource officer (SRO) from the FPD as do all the high schools in Fremont.

Notable Alumni

• Len Wiseman, director of Underworld (2003) and Underworld: Evolution (2006) and husband of Kate Beckinsale^[6][7]
• Robert Flynn, lead vocalist and guitarist for the metal band Machine Head.
• Steve Lewis (1987), 400-meter gold medalist at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
• Gary Erickson (1975), founder and CEO of Clif Bar and Clif Family Vineyard. Author of Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business

References

External links

• American's official website
• Fremont Unified School District's website

Coordinates: 37°33′53″N 122°00′57″W / 37.5645917°N 122.015947°W / 37.5645917; -122.015947