Evergreen Valley High School

Infobox high school


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name=Evergreen Valley High School
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principal = Cari Vaeth
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type = Public
established = 2002
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enrollment = approximately 2,500
address = 3300 Quimby Road
city = San Jose
state = California
country = United States
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colors = Teal, Black, Silver and, White
mascot = Cougar
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district = East Side Union High School District
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website = [http://ev.ca.campusgrid.net/ ev.ca.campusgrid.net]

Evergreen Valley High School is a comprehensive, 4 year high school located in the Evergreen area of San Jose, California, and is part of the East Side Union High School District. It is the newest high school in the district and was founded in 2002. The school held its first graduation of seniors on June 7, 2005. [cite news | last = Lam| first = Julia| title = Evergreen Valley seniors celebrate first graduation in school’s history | work = Evergreen Times | publisher = Times Media, Inc. | date = 2005-06-17 | url = http://www.evergreentimes.com/061705/evg_val.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-18] The Class of 2006, the first class of students to have attended the school since its opening year in 2002, graduated on June 7, 2006. [cite news | last = DeBolt | first = Daniel | title = Farewell to high school life | work = Evergreen Times
publisher = Times Media, Inc. | date = 2006-06-16 | url = http://www.evergreentimes.com/061606/graduation.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-18] The school's newspaper is named "The Prowler". In 2007, "U.S. News and World Report" recognized the school with a silver award in its Best High Schools 2008 list. [http://www.usnews.com/directories/high-schools/index_html/state_id+CA/page_number+1/page_size+10/sort+alpha/name+/award+/school_name+/county+Santa%20Clara/detail+less Best High Schools 2008 Search - Santa Clara County, California] . USNews.com. Accessed December 3, 2007.]

History

Evergreen Valley High School opened in 2002 on the "Small School" concept, with an emphasis on technology and the idea that every student would have a laptop to take home for doing homework. [cite web | last = Hansen | first = Evan | title = Public schools: Why Johnny can't blog | publisher = CNET | date = 2003-11-12 | url = http://www.news.com/2009-1023-5103805.html | accessdate = 2007-10-20 ] The school opened initially with only two grade levels: freshmen and sophomores. It existed as a single high school, with four mostly independent schools within it: Science & Technology, Global Economy, Human Performance, and Humanities. In Fall 2002, the campus was still unfinished, so classes took place in portables on two nearby campuses: Silver Creek High School and Mount Pleasant High School. S&T and HU were situated at Silver Creek, while HP and GE were situated in Mt. Pleasant. [http://www.esuhsd.org/Schools/documents/SARC_0304/SARC_0304_ev.pdf School Accountability Report Card for EVHS, 2003-2004] ] The EVHS campus officially was open for attendance in January 2003. cite paper | last = Boone | first = Ernie, et al. | title = WASC Report on Evergreen Valley High School | publisher = Western Association of Schools and Colleges | date = 2007-03-01 | url = http://ev.ca.campusgrid.net/home/Administration/WASC/evhs+vc+report.pdf | accessdate = 2007-08-11] Administration tended to be unhelpful in teachers' and students' requests for aid, although in fairness they themselves were also swamped with the task of managing a brand new school. [cite news | last = De Jesus | first = Chelsea | title = Guidance Counselors...Or Lack There Of | work = The Prowler (student-run newspaper at Evergreen Valley High School) | publisher = HighSchoolJournalism.org | date = 2005-11-29 | url = http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ca/sanjose/evhs/article.cfm?eid=3595&aid=63307 | accessdate = 2007-07-05 ]

Principals existed for all of the schools, and were supervised by a primary principal. However, due to change in district leadership and issues with funding and philosophy, in February 2004, the small school system was done away with, and the high school adopted a traditional format, which it has kept until the present. [cite news | last = Rosen | first = Carol | title = Evergreen Valley High School Principal Tim McDonough to retire | work = Evergreen Times | publisher = Times Media, Inc.| date = 2006-06-16| url = http://www.evergreentimes.com/061606/school_scn.htm | accessdate = 2007-07-05 ] In July 2004, the "San Jose Mercury News" profiled the use of the Xanga blog site by EVHS students. [cite news|last=Ha|first=K. Oanh|title=A new social scene|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20040913061604/http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/9083231.htm|work=San Jose Mercury News|date=2004-07-05]

Academics

Evergreen Valley High School achieved APIs of 803 in 2006 [cite web| title = 2006 Base API School Report - Evergreen Valley High | publisher = California Department of Education | date = 2006 | url = http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/AcntRpt2007/2006BaseSch.aspx?allcds=43694274330692 | accessdate = 2007-08-25 ] and 827 in 2007 [ [http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/AcntRpt2007/2007GrowthSch.aspx?allcds=43694274330692 2007 Growth API School Report - Evergreen Valley High ] ] , when also "U.S. News and World Report" recognized the school with a silver award in its Best High Schools 2008 list.

Biotech Academy

Geared towards relieving the overcrowding at Evergreen Valley High School, the Biotech Academy existed from 2004-2006 in portables at the campus of Evergreen Valley College in August 2004, offering a "small school" environment (similar to EVHS's original blueprint) as well as a focus on biotechnology and the opportunity to take more advanced classes, including college classes. [ [http://ev.ca.campusgrid.net/home/Administration/Newsletter/Archives/2004-08-23/index.html EVHS newsletter - Aug. 23, 2004] ] [cite news | last = Baechle | first = Bea | title = Looking back at 2004 from an Evergreen perspective | work = Evergreen Times | date = 2004-12-31 | url = http://www.evergreentimes.com/123104/looking.htm | accessdate = 2008-01-13] Laptops and smaller classes were also promised, and delivered after half a year. Students attending the Biotech Academy were still eligible to participate in extracurricular clubs, leadership programs, sports, and activities at Evergreen Valley High School. cite news | last = Sortor | first = Fiona | title = New BioTech Academy aims to ease EVHS overcrowding| publisher = Evergreen Times| date = 2004-07-29| url = http://www.evergreentimes.com/072904/new_bio.htm| accessdate = 2007-08-11 ] However, the academy was closed in 2006 due to budget cuts and declining interest. As soon as the Biotech Academy was closed, construction began on a new building in EVHS to handle the overcrowding due to extremely large incoming classes.

Demographics

In the 2005-06 school year, out of 2,411 students, 44.5% of all students were of Asian descent, 23.2% Hispanic, 14.3% White, 12% Filipino, 4.6% African American, and 0.3 % American Indian. As of 2004-2005, the graduation rate is 93.9%. [http://www.esuhsd.org/Schools/documents/SARC_0607/EV_SARC_0607.pdf SARC, 2005-2006] ] According to the "San Francisco Chronicle", a son of actor Don Duong once attended EVHS. [cite news|last=Estrella|first=Cicero A.|title='Vietnam's Mel Gibson' thinks 'Time' has come for new start|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/30/DDG7VCGTDB1.DTL|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=2005-04-30|page=E1]

Extracurricular Activities

Evergreen Valley has many extracurricular programs. Its musical and performing arts programs include drama, choir, marching band, concert band, Winter Percussion, and color guard. The school also has a wind ensemble that played Carnegie Hall in New York City in mid-March 2008. [cite news|last=Highlander|first=Bill|title=EVHS Wind Ensemble to perform at Carnegie Hall|url=http://www.evergreentimes.com/022208/evhs.htm|work=Evergreen Times|date=2008-02-22|accessdate=2008-03-16]

Athletics

Evergreen Valley has had a strong athletic tradition since the opening of the school. Sports that are offered are Cross Country, football, tennis, volleyball, water polo, basketball, soccer, wrestling, badminton, baseball, softball, swimming, cheerleading and track and field. The "San Francisco Chronicle" profiled an EVHS swimmer in April 2005. [cite news
last = Robertson
first = Jordan
coauthors =
title = Evergreen Valley junior overcomes asthma, swims to top
work = San Francisco Chronicle
pages = F3
language =
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date = 2005-04-15
url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/15/PNGB5C6NMD1.DTL
accessdate = 2008-01-13 ] For the 2006-2007 school year, the Blossom Valley Athletic League ranked EVHS fifth out of 22 in the league's "Best of the Best" standings. [ [http://www.bval.org/BestoftheBest/Best_Best_Archive.htm BVAL ] ] Several sports have also won championships. In the 2005-2006 year alone, the first place champion sports teams included the badminton team, which had previously won in 2005, as well as the teams for boys' tennis, track and field, and water polo, and girls' softball, volleyball, and soccer.cite news | last = Petersen | first = Justin | title = Evergreen Valley High hands out the hardware to 2006 athletes | work = Evergreen Times | publisher = Times Media, Inc. | date = 2006-06-16 | url = http://www.evergreentimes.com/061606/sports.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-18]

References

External links

* [http://ev.ca.campusgrid.net/home Official site]
* [http://www.evhsband.org E.V.H.S. Band]