Valley Christian High School (San Jose, California)

Valley Christian High School

"Quest for Excellence"
Address
100 Skyway Drive
San Jose, California, 95111
United States
Coordinates 37°16′34″N 121°49′36″W / 37.2761°N 121.8266°WCoordinates: 37°16′34″N 121°49′36″W / 37.2761°N 121.8266°W
Information
Type Private
Religious affiliation(s) non-denominational Christian
Established 1956[1]
Principal Mark A. Lodewyk[1]
President Dr. Clifford E. Daugherty, Ed.D[1]
Enrollment 1,417[1]
Student to teacher ratio 15:1[1]
Campus Urban
Color(s) Navy Blue, Columbia Blue and White             
Athletics 48 teams in 15 sports[1]
Athletics conference West Catholic Athletic League
Mascot Warrior
Average SAT scores (2011) 1680 [2]
Website www.vcs.net

Valley Christian High School is a Christian secondary school located in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1956 by Dave Wallace. As of 2011, the school principal is Mark A. Lodewyk.[1] As of the fall of 1999, the Valley Christian High School and Junior High School have been relocated to the Skyway Campus located in south San Jose after the reopening of Branham High School.[3]

With its strong foundation of Christian values, the school challenges its 2300 students from kindergarten through high school to discover their God-given talents as expressed in A3: Academic Excellence, Artistic Beauty, and Athletic Excellence. Accredited by both ACSI and WASC, Valley Christian takes pride in its top-notch facilities that are among the finest in California—two campuses, an extensive sports complex, and the new 46,000 square foot Conservatory of the Arts (music, theatre, dance and visual arts) & Student Life Center.

Academic achievements

Valley Christian Conservatory Building

In 2004, Valley Christian High School received the United States Department of Education No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon award.[1] VCHS was one of two private high schools in California to receive this award in 2004. On top of this, VCHS is one of four high schools in the United States to have received this award for that year. This award recognizes, among other accomplishments, that VCHS students test in the top 10% of the nation, and VCHS simultaneously offers appropriate courses and programs for students who are more academically challenged. Representing Valley Christian's faculty and students, Dr. Torode, Mrs. Marc and Mrs. Keleshian flew to Washington D.C. on November 2, 2004 to receive the award.

The Applied Math, Science and Engineering Institute AMSE allows students of high ability to enjoy unique challenges. An example of such an opportunity is the International Space Station project, in which Valley Christian students pioneered the first-ever high school Cube Lab™ experiment place aboard the Space Station in January, 2011.

Athletics

Sports

Since its founding, Valley Christian has offered a wide variety of sports for its students, currently with over 53 different teams. The Warriors are the only non-Catholic members of the West Catholic Athletic League, which they joined in 2003.[4]

Season Sports
Fall Cross Country, Water Polo, American football, Golf (girls), Tennis (girls)
Winter Basketball, Wrestling, Soccer
Spring Baseball, Track and Field, Golf (boys), Tennis (boys), Volleyball (boys), Badminton

Athletic Achievements

VCHS has a history of sports accomplishments and honors. As of 2013, Valley Christian has won 6 CCS/NCS championships for Varsity Football (CCS 2003–2006,2013) in the Central Coast Section and it fist such championship when it won the NCS championship in 1987.(North Coast Section) The NCS championship was the highlight of a perfect season coming only 5 years after VCS started its program. The program began when VCHS moved from its former campus in the mountains around Saratoga to the former Camden High School in 1982. They also hold the 2006 CCS Championship Title for Girls Varsity Soccer.[1] In addition, their Boys Varsity Basketball and Baseball teams were the runner-ups for the CCS Championship Title. The Girls Varsity Basketball team were CCS Champions in both 2007 and 2008, while the boys team took first place in the 36th Annual Stokes tournament in Kelseyville, California.[5] The Girls and Boys Volleyball Teams have also been successful, with the Boys winning the WCAL championship in 2003 and 2004.[1]

In 2007, the Varsity Baseball team broke numerous school records, including their first ever CCS Division-1 Championship and WCAL Championship. Their 33–4 record is the 3rd best in CCS history.[1] In 2008, the Varsity Baseball team defeated Archbishop Mitty to win the CCS Championship. Their second title in as many years.[1] In 2012, the Varsity Girls Golf team won first place in the CCS Championship taken place at Rancho Canada Golf Course in Carmel, CA. This was their first year to win CCS.[1]

Extracurricular activities

Valley Christian students also actively participate in many extra-curricular activities, many of which have require full commitment and care.[6][7]

Valley Christian High School offers a unique Conservatory of the Arts, with unique opportunities for students passionate about the arts. Students may major or minor in any of four concentrations: music, theatre, dance, visual arts. Extensive performance and portfolio offerings are directly through a highly qualified conservatory faculty.

Music Conservatory:

Dance Arts:

Theatre:

Visual Arts:

Honor/Service Societies:

Nu Delta Alpha *Math Honors Society

Clubs:

Theatre Program

The Valley Christian High School theatre program is one of the top programs in the State of California, presenting plays and musicals worthy of professional theatre. The theatre department is currently directed by Matthew Demeritt, an accomplished actor with an advanced degree in theatre. Timothy Mendolia is the theater's technical director. The theatre program puts on four shows each year including a fall play, a fall musical, a spring musical, and a student directed show in late spring. The theatre pushes its actors with complicated musicals such Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof and most recently, Into the Woods, for which the department won Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Musical at the California High School Musical Theatre awards. The recipients of the best actor and actress awards went on to compete in the Jimmy Awards in New York City, an esteemed competition where top theatre students from across the country compete for a full-ride scholarship to New York University.

From a technical perspective, the theatre program surpasses many other high school theaters, producing high quality sets that rival many professional theaters. In the 2012 production of Titanic, student technicians assembled a system of hydraulics under the stage that raised up eight feet. For their production of Singing in the Rain, a system was rigged to release water onto the stage. The technical director and teacher, Timothy Mendolia, teaches his students technical theatre in three levels, each focusing on different aspects of technical theatre. The current Assistant Technical Director is Elizabeth (Libby) Griffin.

Marching band and color guard/OAE achievements

The VCHS marching band and color guard has been selected for the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade, one of 22 marching bands selected from 475 applicants. The Valley Christian band will collaborate with one of the top marching bands in China from Beijing 57 school, to create a large band with the theme: East-West Fusion - From the Great Wall to the Golden Gate. Valley Christian's band and color guard has over nineteen years of field show competition experience. Throughout the years, they have attained several high-standing achievements. In 2011, they won Third Place in the Western Band Association's (WBA) California state competition in a field of 44 small bands (Class A/AA/AAA). In 2006, they won First place in Class AAA championships. In 2004, they won the top Sweepstakes award in the WBA competition of sixty other small bands (Class A/AA/AAA). In February 2007, the VCHS marching band and color guard was the first marching band in the world to march down Main Street in Hong Kong Disneyland for the Lunar New Year celebration. While in Asia, the team also performed at three schools and two AIDS orphanages. They again traveled to Asia in 2007, visiting orphanages in Cambodia. In 2012, the band and guard traveled to Beijing to begin rehearsals for the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade. The Valley Christian high school marching band and color guard, was renamed in 2013 to the Valley Christian Open Air Ensemble (OAE). Also in 2013, the band traveled for the first time to a BOA (Bands of America) Grand National Championship competition in Indianapolis Indiana. The competition is annually held at Lucas Oil Stadium, a state of the art professional football field with marching band compatibility.

Academic Year Show Title Best Score
2005-2006 "Dreams May Come" 89.20
2006–2007 "Luminaries" 86.45
2007–2008 "Concept Z" 91.10
2008–2009 "Ghost Train" 87.10
2009–2010 "From the Ashes" 85.15
2010–2011 "Soul of the Tango" 87.30
2011-2012 "Into the Woods" 89.20
2012-2013 "Danzón No. 2" 83.05
2013-2014 "Arabian Odyssey" 88.90*
2014-2015 "Faith Hope Love" 85.55

International Program

Valley Christian High School has an international Program. There are 97 International Students (non-English speakers) in VCHS in 2012-2013 school year. Most from China, South Korea and Vietnam. There is no ESL course in VCHS, and all international students have been taking class with other domestic American students since their first day come to school.[10]

Jazz Department achievements

The Valley Christian Jazz department[11] is a creative culture developing students through dynamic performance opportunities, curriculum activities, and a comprehensive improvisational program. The jazz department exposes students to an outstanding library of graded literature serving both sight-reading and repertoire criterion. Coaching and clinics from the finest jazz and commercial music professionals on the west coast provides practical hands on application of learned performance skills. Students absorb historical and cultural information through study and concentrated listening.

The bands and choirs of the Jazz department have won top honors at the Reno Jazz Festival, Folsom Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Campana Jazz Festival, Mount San Antonio College Jazz Festival, and Central California Jazz Festival. Bands and choirs have also been selected as National finalists for the Monterey Jazz Festival and University of Southern California jazz festivals. Students from the Jazz department have received numerous awards and scholarships including outstanding musicianship and scholarship awards from the Monterey Jazz Festival, Reno Jazz Festival, USC jazz festival, Downbeat magazine and the Grammy Foundation. Jazz department students have matriculated to the Manhattan School of Music, The New School of New York, Cal Arts, Azusa Pacific, and Cal State Northridge among other schools.

Alumni

With the school being only 55 years old, the rich history is not what some of the other private schools in the area possess. VCS started out as a very small school but has grown to have around 2400 students annually, K-12. Notable alumni include JJ Heller (1998), Jazmine Davis University of Washington Women's Basketball (2011), Shawon Dunston, Jr. Chicago Cubs Minor Leaguer (2011), Alan Ashby from Of Mice and Men (2009), Dahlys Marshall (2008), Cameron Marshall Canadian Football League Running Back (2009), Byron Marshall (2012), to name a few.

Course Information

AP and Honors courses

Valley Christian offers a total of 43 Advanced Placement and Honors Courses. In 2008, 400 students took these courses and took 800 AP exams. Of Valley Christian's 2008 Seniors, 46% passed at least one AP exam prior to graduation, whereas the California and National averages were 19.7% respectively.[12]

English language

Laboratory science

Mathematics

Foreign language

Social studies

Applied Technology

Conservatory of the Arts Program and Media http://www.valleychristianconservatory.org/ • Award-winning Instrumental and Vocal Music http://www.valleychristianconservatory.org/music/index.html • Professional Quality Theatre http://vctheatre.net/ • Extensive Art and Photography http://hsart.vcs.net/ • Premiere Dance Studio http://hsdance.vcs.net/ • Recording Studio, TV Broadcast Facilities, Film Directing http://communications.vcs.net/index.html

Applied Math, Science and Engineering Institute. http://www.vcs.net/sitemap/mathscience/index.aspx • Student-led International Space Station project http://www.vcs.net/quicklinks/mathscience/iss-project/index.aspx • LINK program of student mentoring by professionals http://www.vcs.net/quicklinks/mathscience/amse-advisory-board/index.aspx • Nationally recognized robotics program http://www.vcrobotics.net/

Warrior Athletics. www.gowarriors.net • State-of-the-art athletic facilities http://www.gowarriors.net/athletics/gallery.aspx • Complete list of sports teams http://www.gowarriors.net/athletics/teamlist.aspx • Latest VC athletes in the news www.gowarriors.net

Notable Alumni

Notable alumni of Valley Christian High School (San Jose) include:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 "Valley Christian High School Website".
  2. ↑ http://www.vcs.net
  3. ↑ "Campus Tour". Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Valley Christian Warriors Home Page".
  5. ↑ Four H-DNC teams gunning for tourney titles Redwood Times
  6. ↑ Valley Christian Conservatory website
  7. ↑ Valley Christian High School Marching Band & Color Guard Official Site
  8. ↑ Valley Christian Physics Club
  9. ↑ Valley Christian Robotics Official Site
  10. ↑ International Admissions
  11. ↑ http://www.vcjazz.org/home.htm
  12. ↑ VCHS Profile

External links