Andrew Hill High School

Andrew P. Hill
Address
3200 Senter Road San Jose, California, Santa Clara County, 95111-1399 United States
Coordinates	37°17′32″N 121°49′49″W / 37.2921°N 121.8303°W / 37.2921; -121.8303Coordinates: 37°17′32″N 121°49′49″W / 37.2921°N 121.8303°W / 37.2921; -121.8303
Information
School type	Public, Title I, High School
Established	1956
School district	East Side Union High School District
Superintendent	Chris D. Funk
Principal	Jose Hernandez
Assistant principals	Gilbert Rodriguez, Bjorn Berg
Grades	9–12
Age range	13–18
Enrollment	(approx) 2,173
Average class size	28
Student to teacher ratio	22:1[1]
Language	English
Hours in school day	8[2]
Campus type	Closed
Color(s)	Black, Gold, white
Athletics conference	California Interscholastic Federation
Sports	Football, soccer, badminton, tennis, golf, track and field, cross country, baseball, softball, swimming, basketball, wrestling, volleyball, cheerleading[3]
Mascot	Falcon
Nickname	AH, AHHS, Hill, A Hill
Rival	Yerba Buena High School
Newspaper	The Talon
Activities director	Athena Miramontes
Athletics director	Joanne Winterstein
IB school code	001430
Website	http://andrewphill.esuhsd.org/

Andrew Putnam Hill High School is a public secondary school, magnet, International Baccalaureate World School, and located in San Jose, California, United States. The school opened in 1956, and educates approximately 2,173 students in grades 9–12. It is one of eighteen schools of the East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD). As of 2014, the school principal is Mr. Jose Hernandez, the Activities Director is Athena Miramontes, and the Athletics Director is Joanne Winterstein. It is named after notable Californian painter, photographer and preservationist Andrew P. Hill whose efforts saved the redwood forest in Big Basin.

Demographics

As of 2012, Andrew Hill High's demographics is close to that of Yerba Buena High School's,^[4] and is roughly 60% Mexican American, 30% Asian American, 3.0% Filipino American, 2.9% White, 2.3% African American and 1.4% other (Native American and Pacific Islander).

As of the 2011-2012 school year, Andrew Hill High School had a 73.4% graduation rate amongst its senior class. This number is up from the 2010-2011 graduation rate of 72.7%, but still a two year low from the 2009-2010 graduation rate of 78.3%. Of these students, 30.6% who graduated, or 131 of 585 of the senior class students, graduated having met the requirements to admission to the University of California and/or California State University campuses.^[5]

In 2007, 45% of the school's students qualified for the free lunch program, compared to the district average of 25%. In 2010, 55% of the school's students qualified for the federally subsidized lunches, the best measure of the percentage of low-income students at each school.^[6] Andrew Hill receives Title I low income funding under the No Child Left Behind Act.^[7]

History

There was a movement to make the school a charter school. However, this push was rejected by district trustees,^[8] though the effort continued. If the effort succeeded, Andrew Hill would have become the largest charter school in Northern California.

On September 19, 2014 at 1:28pm, Andrew P. Hill was placed on lockdown following a bomb threat made to the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) by a "strange man" demanding a ransom. Students were evacuated to nearby Sylvandale Middle School at around 2:20pm. After investigation by the SJPD bomb squad, no bomb was found on campus, and the school was reopened at 4:40pm.^[9]

Curriculum

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at Andrew Hill. As of 2011, 33% of students participated in at least one AP course and/or exam. The average number of tests per students taking the AP exams was 2.4.^[10]

The school has the Medical MAGNET program for students to begin in grade 10 until graduation. The Medical MAGNET is designed to further educate participating high school students with a focus on medicine, and involves further science classes and education in medical literature. The current coordinator of the MAGNET is Mary Metz.^[11]

The Biotech Academy is also available, and is coordinated by Paul Moradkhan. It is a California Partnership Academy (CPA), similar to the MAGNET programs, designed for participating high school students as a career focused education in the field of biotechnology. Students are enrolled in the academy from grade 10 through 12.^[12]

An Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AJROTC) program also exists at Andrew Hill, and is instructed by Lt. Col. Corbett.^[13] Members of JROTC have attended national competitions to showcase their abilities, such as the Junior Leadership and Academic Bowl.^[14]

IB

Andrew Hill is well known for its International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, which has been offered at Andrew Hill since February 2003. Students may take the entire Diploma Programme, or single IB courses stand alone for certificates, only during grades 11 and 12. The current IB Programme coordinator at the school is Michael Winsatt.^[15]

In the 2012–2013 school year, Andrew Hill students took IB courses at both the higher and standard levels in English, mathematics, music, Spanish, theatre and visual arts, only at the higher level in history, and only at the standard level in chemistry, biology, French, physics, sports science and Vietnamese. Students in the full IB Diploma Programme are required to take history (Group 3) and English (Group 1) at the higher level both Diploma years at Andrew Hill, as well as Theory of Knowledge. Students may decide to take their third higher level in the remaining subjects: the sciences (Group 4), the arts (Group 6), foreign languages (Group 2) and mathematics (Group 5). In addition to taking seven IB classes during the two years, Andrew Hill Diploma candidates must also complete the Extended Essay (EE), a 4,000-word report, and the Creativity, action, service (CAS) profile.^[16]

Of the student population, 20% partake in at least one IB class in the school during their enrollment. Of those, 10.8% are full IB Diploma candidates, and 2.2% of the grade 12 students are IB Diploma candidates. On average, each student participating in IB from Andrew Hill takes 4.8 subject tests during their enrollment.^[17]

Campus

The campus of Andrew Hill High School consists primarily of seven buildings of classrooms, two groups of portables, two gyms and locker rooms, a cafeteria attached to the music hall, and an administrative building attached to the library. The classroom buildings are named the "200", "300", "400", "500", "600", "C" and "S" buildings,^[18] with the "100" building having been torn down in 2013 in order to construct a replacement.^[19] The portables are named the "B" and "C" portables, with the "A" portables taken down in the same construction as the "100" building. There are two gyms, one larger and one smaller, respectively named the "Large Gym" and "Small Gym".^[20] The music hall is known as the "M Hall".

Notable alumni

• George Achica, former lineman in the USFL and NFL
• Steve Caballero, professional skateboarder.^[21]
• Captain Jason M. Dahl, pilot of United Airlines Flight 93; Hillsdale Elementary School was renamed Captain Jason M. Dahl Elementary School in his honor^[22][23]
• Mervyn Fernandez, former wide receiver in the CFL and NFL
• Mike Honda, congressman for California's 15th congressional district
• Jim McMahon, former NFL quarterback (attended 1973–1975)^[24]
• Jayson Obazuaye, basketball player
• Miguel Perez, actor and writer
• Andrew X. Pham, author of Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam
• Skip Spence, drummer on the first Jefferson Airplane album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, and co-founder of the band Moby Grape; He attended Andrew P. Hill his freshman year (1962) before dropping out of high school in his sophomore year

See also

• Santa Clara County high schools

References

External links

• Andrew Hill Wiki (no longer maintained)
• Andrew P. Hill High School website
• Andrew P. Hill High School profile provided by schooltree.org
• East Side Union High School District website