Point Loma High School
Coordinates: 32°44′23.83″N 117°13′31.25″W / 32.7399528°N 117.2253472°W
Point Loma High School | |
---|---|
Address | |
2335 Chatsworth Boulevard Point Loma San Diego, California, 92106 United States | |
Information | |
School type | Public high school |
Opened | 1925 |
School district | San Diego Unified School District |
Principal | Hans Becker |
Grades | 9-12 |
Enrollment | 2100 |
Color(s) | maroon and gold |
Mascot | Pointer Dog |
Nickname | Pointers |
Newspaper | Pointer Press |
Yearbook | El Portal |
Website | http://www.pointlomahigh.com/ |
Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and Ocean Beach. In addition, students who live in Mission Hills may choose to attend Point Loma High School as their neighborhood school.[1] Point Loma is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).[2]
History
PLHS is the third oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District. It was dedicated in 1925 as Point Loma Junior-Senior High school, serving grades 7 through 12. There were 386 students at its opening on September 22, 1925. The first principal was Pete Ross and there were 30 teachers. Some San Diegans opposed creating a school in Point Loma, contending it was too far away from town, but school board member Edgar F. Hastings pushed the proposal through. In its early days the school was sometimes referred to as "Hastings' folly".[3]
The original three-story high school building was torn down in the 1970s as part of a statewide requirement to make all schools earthquake-safe. It was replaced by a number of two-story buildings.[4]
During the 1950s it was converted to a three-year high school with the opening of Richard Henry Dana Junior High School. In 1983 it became a four-year high school. PLHS now draws from six elementary schools serving grades kindergarten through 4, and two middle schools: Dana Middle for grades 5 and 6, and Correia Middle for grades 7 and 8.
The school also holds the distinction of having produced two major-league baseball pitchers who threw perfect games -- David Wells and Don Larsen. Only 21 pitchers have thrown perfect games in Major League Baseball history. On June 17, 2014, PLHS announced that Wells will be the school's head baseball coach, starting with the 2014-2015 school year. Wells had been volunteering as an assistant coach for several years, and the team's home field was named David Wells Field in 2010.[5]
Demographics
Point Loma High School is the third largest of 16 high schools in the San Diego Unified School District. It is a four-year, comprehensive high school serving grades 9–12. It houses a student population of approximately 2000 students who come primarily from the local community. Approximately 35 percent of the student body participates in specialized programs, such as the Voluntary Ethnic Enrollment Program (VEEP), the Choice Program, the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program, or the Seminar Program.
Academics
Point Loma High School is a leader in the number and variety of AP classes offered, ranging from Music Theory to Physics.
Athletics
The school's colors are maroon and gold, although football uniform colors are typically unconforming with their traditional colors of a main maroon with an accented gold. The mascot is the Pointer Dog. The school offers a variety of both men's and women's competitive sports:[6]
Offered
Fall
- Cross Country (men & women)
- Field Hockey (women)
- Football (men)
- Golf (women)
- Tennis (women)
- Volleyball (women)
- Water Polo (men)
Winter
- Basketball (men & women)
- Soccer (men & women)
- Water Polo (women)
- Wrestling (men & women)
Spring
- Badminton (men & women)
- Baseball (men)
- Golf (men)
- Lacrosse (men & women)
- Softball (women)
- Swim (men & women)
- Tennis (men)
- Track & Field (men & women)
- Volleyball (men)
Awards & Championships
Football
The Point Loma "Pointers" Football team has won or shared the CIF championship five times in the past fifty years, all under head coach Bennie Edens. 2005-2006, under head coach Mike Hastings, the Pointers reached the championship game but lost to Saint Augustine High School both times. They reached the championship game again in 2007 and 2009 but lost to Cathedral Catholic High School both times again led by 1st team All-C.I.F. selection Anthony Joyner and 2nd team All-C.I.F. selection Jordan Sparkman. In the last 4 years the Pointers have had 7 Division 1 football athletes.
Women's Soccer
The Lady Pointers soccer team has done almost the same (in terms of winning) each year. However in 2009, they made more progress than usual and went to the CIF Champoiship game defeating many higher seeded teams to get there. The game ended in a tie, with Point Loma winning it in PK's.
Women's Basketball
The "Lady Pointers" basketball team was a powerhouse at the state level during the late 1980s, capturing the state championship and inspiring a graffiti-style mural that endures at the athletic field to this day. Under legendary women's basketball coach Lee Trepanier, known as "Coach T", the Lady Pointers posted an astonishing record of 335 wins and 51 losses between 1977 and 1990.[7]
Men's Water Polo
The Point Loma High water polo team had the distinction of making it to the CIF tournament seeded eighth in 2007 and most recently seeded fifteenth.
Men's Tennis
The Point Loma High Men's Tennis team has won C.I.F two years running now, in 2008 and 2009. Their strongest team rivaled teams from all divisions losing only one match, to Torrey Pines.
Sailing
In 2010 the PLHS Sailing Team won the Baker Trophy, the national team-racing championship of the Interscholastic Sailing Association, making them the national champions in the sport of sailing. The team was as follows: Skippers were Kevin Laube '10, Jake LaDow '11, Olin Paine '12, Shone Bowman '10, and Jake Reynolds '12; Crews were Claire Bagg '10, Will Herrin '12, Reece Bernet '10, and Kyle Sutter '12. PLHS sailing teams also won the national championship in 2003, 2004, and 2005.[8]
Alumni
Some famous alumni include:
- Ryan Bowers, Rapper, and skateboarder
- Eric Allen, 6 time NFL Pro bowler, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, ESPN Analyst
- Margaret Avery, actress, nominated for an Academy Award as Shug Avery in the Steven Spielberg film "The Color Purple"
- Todd Benjamin, CNN business reporter
- Graham Biehl, 2008 and 2012 Olympian in the men's 470 sailboat.
- Florence Chadwick, Swimmer
- Bill Cleator, former San Diego City Councilmember, District 2
- Dennis Conner, sailor, four-time winner of the America's Cup
- John deBeck, former San Diego Unified School Board Member
- La'Roi Glover, NFL Defensive Tackle, St Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints
- Sandra Good, Manson Family member
- Justin Halpern, writer
- Robert "Rocky" Higgins, economics professor and author [9]
- Ben Hueso, California state legislator
- Joe Hutshing, Academy Award-winning film editor
- Don Larsen, major league baseball pitcher, pitched the only perfect game in a World Series (1956)
- Bill Lowery, former Congressman
- Mark Reynolds, 4 time Olympian in sailing with 2 gold medals and 1 silver. 2 time Star World champion.
- Marion Ross, actress, best known as Marion Cunningham on Happy Days
- Musician Jason Scheff, member of the rock band Chicago
- Suzy Spafford, creator of the Suzy's Zoo line of greeting cards, calendars and cartoons]
- Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald, founders of Slightly Stoopid, band
- JJ Stokes, NFL Wide Receiver, San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Musician Nathan Williams, of the rock band Wavves
- Byron Wear, former San Diego City Councilmember, District 2
- David Wells, major league baseball pitcher, pitched a perfect game in 1998
- Dan White, football player
- Jimmy Wilson, Defensive Back, Miami Dolphins
- JC F Yost, SEAL Team 6
- Aaron Zigman, songwriter and Hollywood film score composer
- Waad Hirmez, 6 times Pro.soccer champion with the San Diego Sockers and 1981 CIF player of the year.
Leap of Faith
The school became known among skateboarders for an infamous drop called the "Leap of Faith". This was an 18-foot 8 inch drop, consisting of 27 stairs, that had to be approached by an ollie over a railing. Professional skateboarder Jamie Thomas made this spot famous in his filmed attempt to land it; he landed without injury, but his board snapped upon impact.[10] His attempt was included in the Zero video Thrill Of It All.[11] Another skateboarder named Richard King[12] and several rollerbladers attempted it, among them Ian Brown,[13][14] Brian Shima,[15][16] and Chris Haffey,[17] but no one was successful at landing it completely, and several people broke their leg or ankle in the attempt. In 2005 the drop was blocked when the school installed a new elevator.[18] The PLHS Leap of Faith was included as part of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, a skateboarding-based video game.
See also
- Primary and secondary schools in San Diego, California
- List of high schools in San Diego County, California
References
- ↑ San Diego Unified School District website
- ↑ PLHS letter to parents, November 4, 2009
- ↑ Held, Ruth Varney, "Beach Town", privately published, San Diego, 1975, page 109
- ↑ San Diego Union-Tribune, November 11, 2005
- ↑ Hopkins, Scott (June 19, 2014). "MLB All-Star David Wells to helm PLHS baseball". Peninsula Beacon.
- ↑ PLHS Website
- ↑ San Diego Union-Tribune, January 18, 2005
- ↑ Baker Trophy results
- ↑ Washington University Faculty Listing
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj6GUl6ZM0Y#t=103s
- ↑ "Jamie Thomas". modernskate.com. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwPD9nVJ490
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETTR5s6ppKQ
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIKjEaJIISY
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8URn9aXJHdc#t=419s
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orKpkxxq6Mc#t=353s
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIAuueRCepQ#t=41s
- ↑ http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1057/1186630942_93b19b4edc.jpg