Leland High School (San Jose, California)

Infobox School
name=Leland High School


caption=Leland High School's Quad
type=Public
streetaddress=6677 Camden Ave
city=San Jose
state=California
country=USA
information=[phone]
established=1967
grades= 9, 10, 11, 12
faculty = 72.2 (on FTE basis) [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=0634590&SchoolPageNum=2&ID=063459005725 Leland High School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 8, 2007.]
ratio = 25.2
enrollment=1,900
principal=Liz Chamberlin
mascot=Chargers
colors=Blue and gold
district=San Jose Unified School District
website=http://www.lelandhigh.org/

Leland High School is a public high school located in the Almaden Valley in San Jose, California, USA in the San Jose Unified School District. Leland is well known for its nationally ranked Speech and Debate team. [ [http://www.almadentimes.com/032306/schools.htm Leland’s award-winning speech, debate team talks fund-raising] , "Almaden Times", March 23, 2006]

Awards and recognition

During the 2004-05 school year, Leland High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education [ [http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-2003.pdf U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 through 2006 (PDF)] , United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.] , the highest award an American school can receive. [ [http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17475750&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6 CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department] , "Journal Inquirer", November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."]

Extra-curricular activities

* Speech and Debate - Leland's Speech and Debate team is ranked second in the nation by the National Forensic League [ [http://leland.sjusd.org/information.html Leland High School - Exemplary Programs] ] and has over 300 members. Students compete in tournaments on the local level, as well as travel to other locations for invitationals, state tournaments, and national tournaments.
* Robotics - Team 604, otherwise known as Quixilver, is part of FIRST. The team is composed of about 40 members. In the past three years since it was restarted, the team has been very successful, winning the 2005 Pacific Northwest Regional, several safety awards, and the Chairman's Award at the 2007 and 2008 Silicon Valley Regional. Their website is http://www.lelandrobotics.com

* EPACT- The Environmental Protection Agency of California Teens (founded by Leland graduates Yong Ra, Darwin Moosavi, and Alex Powell) is Lelands environmental club that has setup a recycling program at Leland that earns over $2,000 a year, which funds the club's numerous activities and projects such as their newly constructed garden on campus.
* Water Polo - Coached currently by Mike Monsees and Eric Rise Leland Water Polo has had outstanding records and results despite being desperately under-funded and with a pool that is of ill dimensions. League Champions in fall of 2007 with a 3rd place CCS finish puts Leland Water Polo up at the top with the best.

Notable alumni and staff

* Brent Jones - Former American football player and Pro Bowl tight end for the San Francisco 49ers.
* Gay Brasher - Award-winning forensics coach who has been inducted into the National Forensic League Hall of Fame. [cite web |url=http://www.nflonline.org/AboutNFL/HallofFame|title=National Forensic League, Speech & Debate Honor Society - Hall of Fame |accessdate=2008-05-03]
* Dan Lloyd - Former linebacker for the New York Giants. [Petersen, Justin. [http://www.almadentimes.com/012005/sports.htm "Pioneer, Leland wrestle issues to the ground"] , "Almaden Times Weekly", January 20, 2005. Accessed November 8, 2007. "In a somewhat unprecedented decision and in an attempt to build strong bonds between students and a sport that he credits to a large degree for his success as an athlete, (Lloyd spent seven years with the New York Giants) coach and as a human being, Charger lead coach Dan Lloyd has strayed from the typical high school ideal."]
* Joe Murray - Creator of TV animated series Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Lazlo.
* Steve Smith - Astronaut, holds all-time second place for cumulative spacewalk time.
* Pat Tillman - former American football player, notable for turning down a multi-million dollar contract and enlisting as a United States Army Ranger in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks; killed in Afghanistan in 2004 by friendly fire. [Knight, Dennis. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1062D1EA10E2DD5F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "PREGAME CEREMONY TO HONOR LOCAL HERO"] , "San Jose Mercury News", November 4, 2004. Accessed November 8, 2007. "When Pat Tillman was a freshman at Leland High School, he didn't make the varsity baseball team, despite being one of the best players his age in the South Bay."]
* Jerry Hsu - professional skateboarder

References

External links

* [http://www.lelandhigh.org/ Official website]