Granada Hills Charter High School

Infobox_School
name =Granada Hills Charter High School
motto =Motto: An Independent Public School


imagesize =220px
established =1960
type =Public
affiliation =
district =Charter
grades =9-12
head of school =Brian Bauer
faculty =
staff =
students =
enrollment =
athletics =
conference =
colors =green, black, white
mascot =The Highlander
free_label =
free_text =
free_label2 =
free_text2 =
location =10535 Zelzah Ave Granada Hills, CA, 91344
country =USA
information =
website =http://www.ghchs.com/

Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. The school colors are green, black, and white.

It is located in the Granada Hills neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was previously directly administered by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), but is currently independent as the school was granted charter status in 2003. It is commonly known as "GHHS", "GHCHS", "G-HOUSE", or simply "Granada".

Granada serves Granada Hills, portions of Northridge, and Porter Ranch.

History

The school is a comprehensive public high school and was founded in 1960. In 1994, the school opened on its campus an LAUSD magnet school with an emphasis in math, science and technology in conjunction with the California State University at Northridge. The school also maintains a highly successful program for the deaf and hard of hearing. In 2003, the school was awarded charter status to increase student achievement.

Funding

As an independent public school, GHCHS generates approximately $35 million based on student enrollment and specific programs, all of which is overseen by a locally determined Board of Directors or Governing Board. As an independent, directly funded charter school, the majority of the funding is sent directly to the school.

Accreditation and Certification

The school currently holds a six-year (without a midterm review) accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the highest accreditation term available and one only a small handful of schools in the state receive. In addition, based on its high standards of leadership, instruction, student performance and fiscal responsibility, the School was awarded Certified Membership with the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA), one of a small group of charter schools statewide to receive such a status. During the 2007-08 school year, GHCHS was also awarded the Cambridge Certification after undergoing an exhaustive review of the instructional program, governance, student performance, operations, and fiscal viability.

Achievements

Academics

In 2007, Granada won the Los Angeles City Academic Decathlon and its Science Bowl team placed second at the Los Angeles regional competition. In 2005, its Science Bowl teams took fourth and fifth place at the regional competition, and its Academic Decathlon team ranked third in the nation. Currently, Granada, is the 379th best high school in the nation, according to Newsweek.

The school has a team that participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition every year, Team #599 the RoboDox. In 2006, they were finalists at the Southern California Regional Competition. They were also the champions of the Los Angeles VEX Regional Competition held in December 2006 at CSUN.

It became a Title I school in 2003-2004 and operates in terms of student performance through its charter, Local Education Agency Plan (Single Plan for Student Achievement), School Technology Plan, Governing Board policies and memorandums of understanding with LAUSD. In the last 3 years as a charter school, GHCHS has become a laboratory for educational reform while maintaining the highest-ranking Academic Performance Index (API) and attendance of any comprehensive high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Athletics

In the 1978 L.A. City Championship Baseball game, John Elway led Granada to the title over Crenshaw High, which featured future major leaguers Chris Brown and Darryl Strawberry.

Granada Hills Girls Golf team is 6-0 for LA City Championship titles since the program started in 2001.

Partial list of Granada Hills L.A. City Championship teams:
*Baseball: 1975 (4A Division), 1976 (4A Division), 1978 (4A Division), 1979 (4A Division), 1984 (4A Division), 2002 (Invitational), 2003 (Invitational), 2004 (Invitational), 2006 (Invitational)
*Basketball: 1976 (3A Division), 1987 (3A Division), 2006 (City Champions)
*Football: 1970, 1987
*Boys Golf: 19 of 24 City or League Championships between 1965 and 1988.
*Girls Golf: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
*Volleyball: 1986 (3A Division), 1987 (3A Division), 1997 (4A Division), 2006, 2007
*Swimming: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

Forensics

The Granada Hills Charter High School Speech & Debate Team competes in Forensics annually at various locations in California. The speech team is coached by Ali Taylor, while the debate team is coached by Jerome Robinson [cite web|title=GHCHS Novice IE Results|url=http://www.ghchs.com/s/379/index.aspx?sid=379&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=644&ecid=1238&sparam=Jerome%20Robinson&scontid=585|accessdate=2008-07-21] . The Forensics team participates in the Tri-Valley Forensics League [cite web|title=TVFL List of Members|url=http://welcome.to/tvfl|accessdate=2008-07-21] (TVFL) as its district sponsor, and is currently the district champion, winning the TVFL State Qualifiers [cite web|title=GHCHS Daily Newsletter|url=http://www.ghchs.com/s/379/images/editor_documents/Daily%20Bulletins/03-05-08.pdf|accessdate=2008=07-21] . They are also members to the California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) [cite web|title=CHSSA|url=http://www.nflonline.org/uploads/Main/nt2006_results.pdf|accessdate+2008-07-21] .

A list of accomplishments for the Lincoln-Douglas Debate team at GHCHS:
*2008 CHSSA State Champion in Thematic Interpretation [cite web|title=CHHSA State Results For Members of the TVFL|url=http://welcome.to/tvfl|accessdate=2008-07-21]
*2007 JV Champion at Stanford University [cite web
title = Stanford Nat'l. Invitational-J.V.L-D Results
url=http://www.joyoftournaments.com/ca/stanford/2007/SI%202007%20JV%20LD.pdf
accessdate = 2008-07-21 ]
*2007 Open LD Champion at California State University, Fullerton
*Qualifiers to the Tournament of Champions [cite web|title=Ryan Lawrence-VBI Bio|url=http://www.victorybriefs.com/institute/?p=101|accessdate=2008-07-21]
*Qualifiers to the National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tournament in Extemporaneous Speaking [ cite web|title=NFL N.S.D.T. 2006 Results|url=http://www.nflonline.org/uploads/Main/nt2006_results.pdf|page=32|accessdate=2008-07-21]
*2007 Novice Champions at Pepperdine University
*2006 Top Speaker in JVLD at Stanford [cite web|title=2006 Stanford Invitational: JVLD Results|url=http://www.joyoftournaments.com/ca/stanford/2006/jldspeakers.pdf|accessdate=2008-07-21]
*1st seed, 2nd seed, and 3rd seed in JVLD at the 2006 Stanford Invitational [cite web|title=JVLD 2006 Stanford Invite. Seedings|url=http://www.joyoftournaments.com/ca/stanford/2006/jldcontestants.pdf|accessdate=2008-07-21]

Highlander Band

*11 Time Los Angeles City Champions

Television

*2007 Live Performance with MyFox L.A. Hilites with Elizibeth Espinosa
*2005 & 2006 Frito-Lay presents Mexican National Soccer team U.S. tour halftime extravaganza
*- Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
*- Dieste Harmel & Partners Agency, Dallas, Texas
*- National/International television broadcast
*2005 Round Table Pizza Commercial –National Television advertising campaign
*- Japanese Monster Productions
*2005 Comedy Central Holiday Parade promotion
*- World Wide television broadcast
*- Riverfron Productions-(Alumni Band)
*2005 Will Smith at the Kids Choice Awards on Nickelodeon - National Television audience
*2004 ABC - "Extreme Makeover Home Edition"
*2004 Warner Brothers - "Gilmore Girls"
*2004 Kelloggs National Advertising Campaign – National Television Commercial, RADICAL MEDIA PRODUCTION, CENTRAL CASTING CO.
*2004 "Dateline NBC" – National Television Broadcast
*2002 7-UP National Advertising Campaign – National Television Commercial -HEADQUARTERS PRODUCTIONS
*2002 Winter Olympics - Salt Lake City, Utah – (only high school band invited) - INTERNATIONAL Television Broadcast and Coverage
*2002 World’s Largest Digital Image Commercial – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - Hewlett-Packard Corporation-DOGMATIC PROD
*2001 Cal Florida All-Star Football Classic – National Broadcast – FOX SPORTS
*2000 MTV’s "Rock Your World" – Nationally Broadcast MTV series
*1998 The American Teacher Awards - National Television Broadcast
*The Walt Disney Company (Performing original composition by and rehearsing under Tony Award Winning composer Harold Wheeler)
*1996 KCET, California Gold, Huell Howser. Angels Flight Re-dedication - NATIONAL PUBLIC TELEVISION AUDIENCE

Film

*2003 Ben Stiller's ""
*1999 "The Michael Jordan Story" – International Movie Release – HBO PRODUCTIONS
*1998 Adam Sandler’s "The Waterboy" – Soundtrack Work – Touchstone Pictures

Live Performances

*2006 Hollywood Bowl - Hector Berlioz - "Grand Symphony" - Two performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
*2004 Hollywood Bowl - "Leonard Bernstein's Mass" - Los Angeles Philharmonic
*2004 Live performance with Debra Harry and Blondie at Warner Brothers Studio International Television Division
*2003 KIIS FM Wango Tango Performance – Live on stage performance with JC Chasez of NSYNC – Rose Bowl (Featured music from 20th Century Fox production of “Drumline”)
*2002 Los Angeles Philharmonic Summer Season 2002 Inaugural Performance – Hollywood Bowl – L.A. PHILHARMONIC ASSOC.
*2000 Democratic National Convention Command Performance – L.A., CA PARAMOUNT STUDIOS
*1997 Command Performance for Hillary Clinton
*1994 Filmex International Film Exhibition. Opening night, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.
*Performing original composition by Grammy and Tony award winning composer Stephan Sondheim

Notable alumni

* Doug Baker, professional baseball playercite web |url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/high-schools/granada-hills-1725.shtml |title=Granada Hills: High School Alumni |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=The Baseball Cube]
* Valerie Bertinelli, actress
* Ryan Braun, professional baseball player
* Jamal Brooks, professional football player
* John Elway, professional football player
* Robert Englund, actor
* Shin Hyesung, Korean pop star
* Joan Jett, singer
* Kameron Loe, professional baseball player
* Gary Matthews, Jr., professional baseball player
* Blanchard Montgomery, professional football player [cite web |url=http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=MONTGBLA01|title=Blanchard Montgomery |accessdate=2007-08-29 |format= |work=DatabaseFootball.com]
* Dave Schmidt, professional baseball player
* Tamlyn Tomita, actress
* Lisa Wilhoit, actress

Trivia

In early 2006, the alternative/rock band Boys Like Girls filmed portions of their music video, "The Great Escape", on Granada's campus.fact|date=June 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.ghchs.com Granada Hills Charter High School official website]