Los Amigos High School

Los Amigos High School, located in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California, is one of seven high-schools of the Garden Grove Unified School District - recipient of the 2004 Broad Prize for Excellence in Urban Education. Los Amigos High School is located at the southeast corner of Newhope St. and Heil Ave. - one block east of Mile Square Park.

School history

Los Amigos High School first opened its doors to students in the late 1960s. Conceived at a time when "open education" was the movement of the day in public education, Los Amigos was constructed in a rather unconventional manner for the warm climate of Southern California. Not only were both of the school's primary classroom buildings - the "L" and "M" buildings - built with interior corridors, all classrooms were built without doors! It would not be until the late 1990s before all classrooms at Los Amigos were provided with doors. Recently the school installed several new classrooms the "A","B","C" and "D" portables to accommodate the increasing number of freshmen each year.

Since 1998, the principal of Los Amigos has been Ms. Connie Van Luit. During the 2005-2006 school year, 2,182 students were served by 89 teachers.

Academics

Los Amigos is a Title 1 School. Los Amigos' base Academic Performance Index (API) score for the 2006-2007 school year is 678. 2007 LAHS WASC Report]

In 2006, 436 Advanced Placement (AP) exams were taken by Los Amigos Students. Of Los Amigos' graduation class of 2006, 23.1% had passed at least one AP exam. AP courses are offered in the following subjects: Biology, Chemistry, English Literature & Composition, European History, French, Macroeconomics, Physics, Spanish, Studio Art - Drawing, United States Government & Politics, and United States History. By special arrangement with California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), students enrolled in Los Amigos High School's Calculus course - taught by a CSUF professor - may earn CSUF credits.

Student body

As of school year 2005-2006, the ethnic makeup of the Los Amigos student-body was: Hispanic - 70.2%, Asian (primarily Vietnamese) - 22.1%, Caucasian - 5.2%, African-American - 0.9%, Pacific Islander - 0.9%, Other - 0.6%. 2007 LAHS WASC Report] The vast majority of the Los Amigos student body is drawn from the communities of Fountain Valley and Santa Ana.

Some facts about the Los Amigos student body as of school year 2005-2006:
* 43% of students are designated as English Language Learners. 2007 LAHS WASC Report]
* 73% of students receive federal assistance through the U.S. government's free and reduced-fee lunch program. 2007 LAHS WASC Report]
* 37% of students' parents did not graduate from high-school. [2007 California STAR Testing]

Student activities

, Peer Court, and Visual Arts.

Some of the student clubs at Los Amigos include: African-American Club, American-Cancer Society, Amnesty International, Anime Club, Art Club, Asian Student Union, Bowling Club, Career Explorers Club, Drama Club, European History Club, French Club, Impact Club, Junior Statesmen of America Club, Key Club, KIWIN'S, Model United Nations Club, Marine Biology Club, Not-of-this-World Club, Red Cross Club, Rock-n-Roll Club, Science Olympiad, Surf Club, Tree Huggers Club, Human Relations Club, and the Gay/Straight Alliance Club .

Some of the notable achievements of Los Amigos' co-curricular and extracurricular programs include:
* 1990 - Paw Prints Newspaper won the $1000 first place prize in the first Los Angeles Times contest for Best Issue in O.C.
* 1998 - "Ever 15 minutes", a drinking and driving awareness program, sponsored by the Fountain Valley Police Department, is held every two years for juniors and seniors.
* 2000 - 2nd place finish in the Constitutional Rights Foundation's Mock Trial competition for Orange County high-schools.
* 2002 - The debate team competed in Atlanta, Georgia.
* 2003 - Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), is offered on campus.
* 2007 - Silver Medal Winner in the first annual Americas Best High School's in the Nation sponsored by U.S. News and World Report magazine, it placed Los Amigos in the top two percent of high schools nationally.
* 2008 - 15 Advanced Placement classes currently being taught on campus.

Athletic programs

Los Amigos athletic teams are known as the Lobos, while the school itself is known as the Den of the Lobos. Los Amigos' athletic teams compete in the Garden Grove League in the following sports:
* Fall: Boys & Girls Cross-Country, Football, Girls Tennis, Girls Volleyball, Boys Water Polo, Cheerleading
* Winter: Boys & Girls Basketball, Boys & Girls Soccer, Girls Water Polo, Wrestling
* Spring: Baseball, Softball, Boys & Girls Swimming, Boys Tennis, Boys & Girls Track and Field, Boys Volleyball

In the Spring of 2006, the Los Amigos Boys Soccer team won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division IX title. This was the school's second CIF title, having won a Boys Water Polo title in the mid-1990s.

Regional Occupation Program

Los Amigos offers Regional Occupation Program (ROP) courses in the following disciplines: Art of Animation, Automotive Careers, Business Applications, Computer Aided Drafting, Construction Technology, Dance, General Office Clerk, Restaurant Careers, and Software Specialist.

Notable alumni

- Pablo Cerda, the fifth and last fire fighter to perish in the Esperanza Fire of October, 2006.

- Clayton Olivier, drafted out of the University of Southern California in the 5th round of the 1985 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs.

-Erin Hay (Class of 88) - Country Music Singer [http://www.ErinHay.com]

References

External links

* [http://www.losamigoshs.com Los Amigos High School Official Home Page]