San Marino High School

San Marino High School
Address
2701 Huntington Drive
San Marino, CA
USA
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1955
School district San Marino Unified School District
Principal Mary Johnson
Faculty 56 (on FTE basis)
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1,135 (as of 2010-11)
Student to teacher ratio 20.42 (lots of asians)
Color(s) blue     
Mascot Titans
Newspaper Eaves Dropper
Yearbook Titanian
Website sanmarinohs.org

San Marino High School (SMHS) is a public high school in San Marino, California, United States, and the only high school in the San Marino Unified School District, Los Angeles County. According to the 2013 California Academic Performance Index Survey, the district was the highest-performing unified school district for the eleventh consecutive year, with a score of 953 points out of 1,000 possible.[1][2]

Achievements

Alma mater

Music by Oscar Rasbach
Words by Cheryl Foote '57

'Neath the blue majestic mountains,
Fine and strong she proudly stands.
San Marino Alma Mater,
We pledge our hearts and hands.
Symbol of a higher purpose,
Blue and white her banners fly.
Long may voices praise her glory,
Hail, Hail, Hail.
Long may voices praise her glory,
San Marino High!

History

San Marino High School was founded in 1955 after 50 years of utilizing South Pasadena High School in nearby South Pasadena. The high school is situated on the former site of Carver Elementary School. School reconstruction began in 1996 and is now complete. The school is equipped with newer laboratories, classrooms, and ethernet connections, supported mostly by bond issues and rigorous fund-raising by the San Marino Schools Endowment. The new buildings include a brand new cafeteria, orchestra and band room, dance studio, journalism lab, and renovated auditoriums, as well as a renovated baseball field and a brand new football field/track.

San Marino High School is part of the San Marino Unified School District. Its public funding is supplemented by private donations raised through the San Marino Schools Foundation.

San Marino High School's upper football practice field was the location of where Kathy Fiscus fell into an abandoned water well in 1949. It was subsequently capped and covered by the local water district.[5]

Student population

As of the 2008-09 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,096 students (276 seniors) and 59 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 18.6.[6] The school's racial composition is 67% Asian, 30% Caucasian, 1% Hispanic, 0.2% African American, and 1.4% other.[7]

Classes

San Marino High School currently has a 59 member teaching faculty. SMHS offers a variety of AP Classes in mathematics (Calculus AB and BC, Statistics), science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science), foreign languages (Spanish, Japanese (non-AP), Mandarin (non-AP)), English (Language and Literature), social science (Government), and music theory/art.

Extracurricular classes include: the school newspaper Titan Shield, the school yearbook Titanian, Speech and Debate, Robotics, Indoor Winter Drumline, Winter Color Guard, Marching Band, Chamber Choir, Boys and Girls Choirs, orchestra, concert band, and wind ensemble, small business, fashion merchandising, computer graphics, three courses in media arts (digital film making, animation, and field work), three levels of drama, stagecraft, and dance.

Athletics

San Marino has a history of athletic rivalry with South Pasadena High School, a high school in the neighboring city. Due to tradition, games against South Pasadena tend to have a larger crowd and hold more significance versus games against other schools.

The school's most recent C.I.F. title was C.I.F Girl's Tennis Champions of Southern Division in November 2012. In 1998, the school won five straight CIF boys tennis titles and was ranked number one in USA Today's High School Tennis Teams.

School events

The high school holds events several events, including sports, theater, and others. The Associated Student Body puts on the Coronation Ball, a dance held to crown the Homecoming Queen, King and the Princesses and Princes. They will then be honored throughout Homecoming. The ball is held on the Saturday directly before the Homecoming game, takes place in the home of a student, and also features an annual theme. During the week before the homecoming game, the ASB usually holds lunch- and snack-time rallies to boost school spirit. Finally on the Thursday night before homecoming day, the ASB will stay overnight at school to decorate the campus. In the afternoon of Homecoming day, students hold a homecoming parade with the assistance of the San Marino Police Department and Fire Department. The parade is attended by community figures such as the mayor, the principal, and San Marino Unified School District Board members. Floats include each class' advisory board and community service clubs. The Marching Band usually leads the parade. The homecoming game takes place that night, with the marching band and color guard performing during half-time.

Retired events

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "SMUSD Is Top In State for Eleventh Consecutive Year, According to API". sanmarinotribune.com. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "2012-13 Accountability Progress Reporting (APR)". api.cde.ca.gov. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  3. ↑ US News and World Report Best High Schools and High School Rankings – US News Best High Schools
  4. ↑ http://www.jftk-ca.org/index.php?file=honorroll08/list.html
  5. ↑ http://community.myfoxla.com/blogs/Tony_Valdez/2008/03/31/Kathy_Fiscus_A_Fox_Flashback
  6. ↑ San Marino High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed May 22, 2008.
  7. ↑ San Marino High School
  8. ↑ Jim Gott, The Baseball Cube. Accessed November 18, 2007.
  9. ↑ Pearls Before Swine (comic strip)
  10. ↑ Dorman, Stephen. "Man behind the machine : OCHS coach Bill Redell enjoys Lions' share of national spotlight", Thousand Oaks Acorn, September 14, 2006. Accessed December 6, 2007. "Growing up in Pasadena, Redell was a three-sport star at San Marino High, where he earned All-CIF honors on five occasions-three times in baseball and twice in football."

External links

Coordinates: 34°07′35″N 118°05′57″W / 34.12646°N 118.09908°W