Palos Verdes Peninsula High School
| Palos Verdes Peninsula High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
|
27118 Silver Spur Road, Rolling Hills Estates, California, United States | |
| Information | |
| Established | 1964 |
| Principal | Mitzi Cress |
| Faculty | 114 |
| Enrollment | 2,526[1] (2012–13) |
| Color(s) | Black and gold |
| Mascot | Panthers |
| Original name | Rolling Hills High School |
| Renamed | 1991 |
| Website | http://www.pvphs.com |
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (also known as Peninsula High, Pen High, or PVPHS) is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Rolling Hills Estates in Los Angeles County, California, USA, (the others being Palos Verdes High School and Rancho Del Mar High School). Located near the Peninsula Promenade mall and near Hawthorne Boulevard and Silver Spur Road, Peninsula High serves the communities of Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, and Palos Verdes Estates.
PVPHS has been ranked 15th in the nation by Newsweek and 89th by U.S. News & World Report. It has an API of 907 in the state of California.[2]
The school was formed in 1991 when Miraleste High School, Palos Verdes High School, and Rolling Hills High School were merged into a single high school. The former Rolling Hills High School campus (opened 1964) had the highest capacity and was used for the combined school. When overcrowding became a problem after 1999, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District elected to re-open Palos Verdes High School in 2002. There are approximately 2,500 students.
Enrollment of 2,543 includes 641 seniors, 579 juniors, 635 sophomores, and 688 freshmen with a certificated staff of 113 (98 teachers, 6 counselors, 3 administrators, 1 athletic director, 1 activities director, 1 safe school counselor, 1 psychologist, 1 librarian, and 1 nurse) to service the multi-ethnic student body.
Students compete in baseball, basketball, choreo, crew, cross country, equestrian, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, marching band, pep squad, roller hockey, rowing, soccer, softball, surfing, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, wrestling, and robotics.
Academics
PVPHS has been designated within the state a California Distinguished School, and nationally a New American High School. It has a blue ribbon from the United States Department of Education.
Awards:
- Ranked 89 by U.S. News & World Report out of 18,500
- Distinguished California School – four times
- National Blue Ribbon School (35 schools named of 18,500)
- New American High School (one of ten named out of 18,500 schools)
- Siemens Foundation Science Winner (one of four schools of over 27,000)
- Newsweek recognition (#15 of 18,500 schools)
- Wall Street Journal (top ten of 27,000 schools)
- California Junior Classical League (several times)
In the 2010–11 SAT II Tests (out of 800), the average score at PVPHS is 706 in Chemistry, 754 in Chinese, 669 in Math Level II, and 768 in Japanese. The average SAT scores are 578 reading, 634 math, and 605 writing. The average composite ACT score at PVPHS is 27.2, significantly higher than in the state overall (22.2) or the country (21.0).[3]
In May 2010, 907 PVPHS students took 2,076 Advanced Placement examinations in 30 subjects. 83% of the scores were 3 or above. 39% of the student body was enrolled in Advanced Placement classes.[3]
Extracurricular activities
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School has received national, state, and local recognition competing in the areas of mathematics, science, career technical arts, visual arts, dance, drama, student publications, Academic Decathlon, Model United Nations, Speech and Debate, and Mock Trial.
The Speech and Debate Team qualified 13 students to the CHSSA State Championship in 2010 and 18 in 2011, and has over 70 members who participate in Public Forum, Parliamentary, and Lincoln Douglas Debate as well as in many Individual Events such as Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Advocacy, and Humorous Interpretation.[4]
For the first time in its history, PVPHS qualified two students to the National Tournament of Champions, both of whom took spots in the top 30 nationally.
Model United Nations (or MUN) is a club consisting of approximately 100 students of all grade levels.
The school yearbook, "La Pantera," the 2010 Yearbook was honored by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association with the Gold Medal, receiving 973 out of 1000 possible points. The school newspaper, “The Pen,“ has been honored with first place recognition through the Southwest Journalism Education Association. In addition “The Pen” won first place with special merit in the American Scholastic Press Association’s national competition for the 2008–09 school year. "Eye of the Panther News", (EOP) the schools broadcast journalism program was created in 2007, and continues today.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School research students have obtained finalist status for Siemens-Westinghouse and INTEL Talent Search scholarships. A Peninsula research student in 2008 won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, the highest level international high school competition for water based projects.
The school has been awarded the National Schools of Distinction Award from the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School was awarded the National Schools of Distinction Award from the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education. Awards include the Bravo Award for the Outstanding Performing Arts Department in Southern California.
The PVPHS Robotics team (FRC Team 2637), founded in 2008, competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition, and is a part of the school's SMERT program. Team 2637 has been a perennial eliminations competitor at regional competitions throughout California, as the top rookie in 2008, and Creativity Award winners in 2014. The PVPHS Solar Boat team, also a part of SMERT, was placed in the Top 10 at the Metropolitan Water District Solar Cup.
Demographics
As of the 2009–10 school year, PVPHS students were 43% White, 40% Asian, 8% Hispanic, 4% Filipino, and 3% African American.[5]
Sports
PVPHS has 180 league titles, 40 CIF titles, 8 state titles, 4 national titles.
Palos Verdes Peninsula Panthers Sports
Notable alumni
- Clark Haggans, NFL football player
- Erik Lorig, NFL football player
- Kyle Nakazawa, soccer player
- Petros Papadakis, radio/television personality[6]
- Shawn Weinstein, Filipino-American professional basketball player
- John Welbourn, NFL football player
- Yoko Yazawa, Japanese singer-songwriter
References
- ↑ "Palos Verdes Peninsula High School – School Profile". Pvphs.com. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ↑ "2010 Growth API School Report – Palos Verdes Peninsula High". Api.cde.ca.gov. December 16, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Palos Verdes Peninsula High School – School Profile". Pvphs.com. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ↑ ".". Pantherdebate.org. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ↑ "2010 API Growth School Report". Api.cde.ca.gov. December 16, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/31/sports/sp-40460 articles.latimes.com. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
External links
Coordinates: 33°46′41″N 118°22′25″W / 33.77801°N 118.37353°W