Citrus Hill High School

Citrus Hill High School is a secondary public co-ed school serving students of Moreno Valley, Perris and Riverside in the Val Verde Unified School District.

History

Citrus Hill High School opened on August 18, 2005 with 651 enrollees grades 9-10. Citrus Hill High School (CHHS) is located on 60 acres in the unincorporated area of Perris in the County of Riverside, approximately nine miles west of Moreno Valley and three miles southwest of Riverside. The community in which CHHS is located consists of primarily rural, residential community with some commercial and retail service businesses. The immediate area consists of single family homes and ranch style properties. The school name refers to the former orange groves where our school now stands. Our mascot, the Hawk, is a natural resident of the area. The school now serves approximately 2,200 students. It also serves 146 special education enrollees. Students' families are largely nuclear families in the lower to middle socio-economic range. The most recent demographic data shows Citrus Hill High School has an ethnically-diverse population, with 73% of our student Hispanic, 14% African-American, and 10% White. The remaining 3% includes Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino students. About 17% of the students are English Learners, and 67% qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Campus

Citrus Hill students begin their day at 7:30 a.m., complete with six (possibly seven) periods of instruction, and end their day at 2:39 or 3:40 p.m. (end time for seventh period). The school year is divided into two 18-week semesters. Successful completion of each course earns five credits per semester. Academic class size has a maximum enrollment of 33 students per class or a maximum of 165 students per day. Citrus Hill High School provides students with a variety of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Currently, there are nearly two dozen academic support/co-curricular clubs active on camps along with sixteen cultural and service clubs which provide students with a large selection of choices for extra curricular activities. In addition, there are sixteen competitive athletic teams, many with three levels of participation. Citrus Hill High School is staffed with full-time Activities and an Athletic Director to provide support for these programs and to provide a stronger school connectedness and participation among the student body. Currently 25% of students participate in a co-curricular class/activity and 21% participate in athletics.

Activities and Organizations

Citrus Hill High School has many support services for all grade levels. The Link Crew program serves to train and support upperclassmen mentors for the ninth grade class. Most ninth grade advisory classes have two Link Crew members for a class of 20-25 students. Link Crew leaders must qualify for the program by maintaining a grade point average of 2.5. The leaders know that they are considered role models and behave as such. The Associated Student Body is in charge of all social activities for the student body. There are student representatives from all grade levels. In order to qualify for ASB, students must maintain a 2.0 grade point average. The program is open to any student that qualifies and has the desire to learn how to become an effective leader. ASB has elected-officer positions for the school as a whole and for each grade level. Students are elected to these positions from their grade-level peers. These students help to facilitate meetings. Excessive discipline issues or not meeting the required GPA serve as cause for removal from the program. The students at Citrus Hill benefit from the many ASB activities. ASB sponsors dances, Pep rallies, lunchtime activities, spirit weeks, and the like. ASB also publishes a Daily Bulletin that is broadcast daily to all 2nd period classes to announce upcoming events and requirements. Monthly, there is a school-wide unity day that focuses on cultural diversity and teacher-to-student relationship building. On these Fridays, teachers and students attend performances from various school groups during the advisory period. Planners ensure that the performances celebrate the diverse populations of Citrus Hill.

The choral program is one part of an extensive electives program offered at Citrus Hill High School. The three levels of choir offered are; Beginning Choir, Jazz Choir, and Chamber Singers. The leveling of the choral program allows students to participate in that choir that best suites their performance skills while fulfilling the required fine arts credit. In addition, Chamber Singers meets the University of California and California State Universities ‗a-g‘ subject requirements. All groups are performing groups, however, Jazz Choir and especially Chamber Singers compete extensively with other high school choral groups.

Citrus Hill‘s active drama department regularly produces two full productions a year. Once a year, there is a musical uniting effort with band and choir. Furthermore, there are additional showcase performances where students are able to do their class projects for a larger community.

The art program features an annual show where students are able to share selected works with the campus community. With two AP courses, the art program does much to prepare college bound students for UC/CSU admissions.

The Talon the yearbook of Citrus Hill High School, is a full-color book with 172 pages. Students use various types of publishing software and completely digital photographs. The staff of dedicated students works during their class time, as well as before and after school, covering events both on- and off-campus. The intent of the yearbook is to document each school year by highlighting the positive and significant events fairly and accurately, in a style that is visually attractive and professionally designed. Students learn Associated Press styles and formats used in journalism publications. Six weeks of intensive training in legal issues, ethical standards, format and design, revision, layouts, and photography prepare students for the challenge of creating their yearbook. Guest presenters have offered their expertise in special areas—these include newspaper reporters, editors, and professional photographers.

The journalism program regularly produces a newspaper. Previously The Talon Times, it is now called The Soaring Eye. The newspaper highlights schools events and student opinion pieces.

The CHHS band program consists of various performance ensembles including Marching Band, Concert Band, Winter Drumline, Percussion Ensemble and the yearly musical performance with the Drama and Choir Departments. Classes given throughout the day support these ensembles where everyone can participate, regardless of level. Whether it is the beginning band class to learn a new instrument or an advanced band for those with previous music experience, there is something available to suit all interested students‘ needs. The program has successfully exposed students to various musical genres, making them more well-rounded performers. The Band was established in 2005 by Jeff Dooley, whose instruction lasted from 2005-2010. The Drumline is under instruction of Sem Avena and has been since the school's band program began. The colorguard instructor is Robert Rodriguez. From 2010 to 2011, the bands were directed by Alan Douglas Underwood. As of the 2011-2012 season, the Citrus Hill bands are under the direction of Candice Haden, a graduate of the University of Redlands.

Athletics

Athletic programs are a big part of Citrus Hill‘s culture. There are a variety of different sports for athletes at all levels. CHHS has won the CIF championship title in football for the last two years. This is particularly notable given the newness of the school. In addition to our highly successful program, Citrus Hill boasts a number of school sports teams for both boys and girls, many of which compete with great levels of success. The program provides a full range of support access to NCAA requirements. This comprehensive athletics program focuses on team building, individual growth and reinforces the tenets of CLASS.

The school's athletic teams compete in the CIF Southern Section in the Mountain Pass League. Teams are fielded in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, softball, swimming, track, volleyball, and wrestling. The teams have won several league championship titles and the football team has won three division championships (2007, 2008, 2012) in addition to holding an Inland Empire record for a 38-game win streak (2007–2009).

Southern Section Division Titles (CIF)

• Football 2007 2008 2012 2013
• Boys Soccer 2011

References

External links

• Citrus Hill High School
• Citrus Hill High School Band and Color Guard Website