La Serna High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = La Serna High School

motto = Be Your Best! [http://www.wuhsd.k12.ca.us/whittierlshs/site/default.asp La Serna High School official website] . Retrieved on 2008-05-12.]
established = 1960
type = Public secondary
principal = Martin J. Plourde
faculty =
students = 2,074–2,410 [http://schools.publicschoolsreport.com/California/Whittier/LaSernaHigh.html La Serna High School] at PublicSchoolsReport.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.] [http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/ca/3062 La Serna High School] at GreatSchools.net. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.]
mascot = Lancer
colors = color box|red Crimson
color box|gold Gold
color box|white White
district = Whittier Union High School District
city = Whittier
state = California
country = USA
website = [http://www.wuhsd.k12.ca.us/whittierlshs/site/default.asp www.wuhsd.k12.ca.us]
grades = 9–12
address = 15301 E. Youngwood Drive
newspaper = The Freelancer
yearbook = The Pennon
nickname = La Serna

La Serna High School (abbreviated LSHS) is a public high school in Whittier, California that was founded in 1960 and is part of the Whittier Union High School District. The school's colors are Crimson, Gold, and White.

History

La Serna High School was founded in 1960. The school has been a California Distinguished School three times, in 1990, 1996, and 2003.

Students

At La Serna High School, every Senior is required to complete the Senior Project in order to pass high school. The average class size at La Serna varies per grade level. For 9th graders, the average class size is 26, 31 for both 10th and 11th graders, and 28 for 12th graders. La Serna has an average rating of 8 out of 10 from parents and students, making it a "great school".

The students 2006 school year API score was 742, and improved to 777 at the end of 2007 school year. Every year, 10th graders must take the High School exit exam, known as CAHSEE. In 2006, approximately 84 percent of 10th graders passed the English/Language Arts portion of CAHSEE, and in 2007 it was improved to 85 percent. However, only 83 percent of 10th graders passed the Math portion of CAHSEE in 2007, compared to the 86 percent from 2006.

Approximately 59 percent of the enrolled at La Serna are of Latino or Hispanic origin, followed close behind by Caucasians with a percentage of 39. Asians make up 3 percent of the student population, and every other ethnicity only makes up 1 percent or less.

For the 2007-2008 school year, there are approximately 2,410 students enrolled at La Serna. 585 students are freshman, 543 are sophomores, 514 are juniors, and 392 are seniors.

"The Freelancer"

"The Freelancer" is the name of La Serna High School's newspaper, which has one issue released each month during the regular school year. "The Freelancer" is created and written by the students, who also allow feedback mail to which they respond. One teacher oversees the production of each newspaper per year.

In 2006, English teacher Holly Vance was demoted from her position as the adviser of the newspaper's production, due to the controversial [cite web
url=http://www.splc.org/pdf/laserna4.pdf
title=Letters
accessdate=2008-03-03
author=Sergio Hernandez
date=2006-06-09
format=PDF
publisher= "The Freelancer"] penultimate issue on May 10 of the 2006 school year entitled "The ‘S’ Word", which the topic discussed was sex amongst teenagers. [cite web
url= http://www.splc.org/pdf/laserna1.pdf
title= The 'S' Word
accessdate=2008-03-03
author= Claire Webster
date= 2006-05-10
format= PDF
publisher= "The Freelancer"
quote= ] Also due to this, the final edition of the year for the month of June was banned and the student body was unsuccessful in overturning the decision.Cite web|url=http://www.highschooljournalism.org/Content.cfm?mode=1&newsid=425&id=65|date=2006-06-27|author=Pam Wight|accessdate=2008-09-06|title=Campus paper hot topic: Sexual content prompts censorship, possible lawsuit|publisher=Star-News]

"The Pennon"

La Serna High School's yearbook is called "The Pennon", which, like "The Freelancer", is created by the student body and a teacher adviser.

Athletics

La Serna High has a large athletics program. Their sports include football, Powder Puff, track and field, cross country, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, wrestling, and basketball. [http://www.maxpreps.com/FanPages/HomeSchool.mxp/SchoolID-9c6d339e-fd0c-41a3-b656-afce2152e606 MaxPreps.com] . Retrieved on 2007-10-22.] Boys football and girls volleyball are held in the Autumn; boys and girls basketball, soccer are held in the Winter; and boys baseball and girls softball are held in the Spring every school year.

Notable alumni

* Dave Dalby,Cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=DALBYDAV01|title=Dave Dalby|publisher=Database Football|accessdate=2008-03-03] 1968 – former center for the Oakland Raiders from 1972 until 1985.
* Andrea Barber,Cite web|accessdate=2008-09-06|title=Youth Forum|url=http://www.siwhittier.org/YouthForum.html|publisher=Soroptimist International of Whittier|quote=Andrea is also an alumni of La Serna High School here in Whittier.] 1994 – American actress most notable for her role as Kimmy Gibbler on "Full House".
* Tupe Peko,Cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=PEKOTUP01|title=Tupe Peko|publisher=Database Football|accessdate=2008-03-03] 1996 – former offensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts from 2002 until 2004.
* Adam Snyder,Cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SNYDEADA01|title=Adam Snyder|publisher=Database Football|accessdate=2008-03-03] 2000 – current offensive guard for the San Francisco 49ers.

Notes and references