Mountain View High School (Mountain View, California)

For other schools named "Mountain View High School", see Mountain View High School (disambiguation).

Mountain View High School
Type	Public
Principal	Keith Moody
Students	1,789 (November 2005)
Grades	9–12
Location	Mountain View, California, USA
District	MVLA
Campus	Open
Colors	Gold and black
Mascot	Spartan
Newspaper	'The Oracle'
National ranking	224th (as of 2007)
Website	Mountain View High School

Mountain View High School (MVHS or just MV), one of three Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District public high schools, is located in at 3535 Truman Avenue, Mountain View, California, 94040. Mountain View High School serves a diverse student body of over 1750 students from the cities of Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. As of 2008, the student body is 54% White, 22% Asian, 16% Hispanic, 6% other, 2% African-American. In the heart of the Silicon Valley, MVHS' neighbors include technology giants Google, Intuit, AOL, Adobe, Microsoft and NASA-Ames. As a college preparatory high school, MVHS responds to the community’s demand for rigor, relevance and excellence by offering open access to all 23 Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses across the curriculum. The school earned the distinction of California Distinguished High School in 1994 and 2003. In 2000 and 2007, MVHS received a full 6 year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The school sent 92% of its of graduates to post-secondary schools in the graduating class of 2005. Newsweek ranked Mountain View High School as the 224th best high school in the nation in 2007. ^[1]

MVHS Theater and entrance

History

Before Mountain View High School was created in 1902, students living within the town’s limits would take the train from Castro Street to attend either Palo Alto or Santa Clara High Schools. In August 1902, the town of Mountain View opened their first school at the corner of El Camino Real and Calderon Streets, naming it Mountain View Union High School. Since the student body at the time was mostly descendents of Civil War veterans^{[citation needed]}, blue and gray were selected as school colors, and since the nation’s mascot is the eagle, it would also become the official mascot of the school. By the dawn of the 1920’s, the high school's student body was increasing to the point where the campus was unable to accommodate any more students. In 1922, the school district decided to build a brand new campus at a new location on Castro Street. In 1924, the new campus first opened its doors in late August. By 1933, the opening of Moffett Field would force the school to add new buildings to the campus in order to accommodate both the locals and the military children who would be transferred in and out every year.

By the 1950’s, Mountain View Union High School would again reach the point where the school could no longer accommodate the increasing student body on its campus. In order to fix this issue, the school district added another school, Los Altos High, to the district in the small rural town of Los Altos.

By 1961, the district added another school near Grant Road at the corner of Truman and Bryant. This would be named Chester F. Awalt High School until its renaming in 1981. By 1980, Mountain View Union High School began to see a decline in enrollment to where the school would have to be shut down. Mountain View School District (known today as MVLA) decided to shut down the original school and sell it back to the city. Awalt High School decided to adopt the name Mountain View, while Los Altos decided to adopt the school colors and mascot. Thus, Mountain View became the black and gold Spartans and Los Altos dropped the Knights and became the blue and gray Eagles. Mountain View citizens and former students of Awalt High School and Mountain View Union High School were unhappy with the decision to close down Mountain View Union High School and rename Awalt High School.^{[citation needed]}

Classes

Mountain View High School offers a wide variety of classes, and in the 2008–2009 academic year additional courses were added, such as Photography II. The high school holds an open enrollment policy: any student may register for any class being offered at the school, regardless of the student's grade. In addition, Mountain View High School is one of few public high schools to have Chemistry in the 9th Grade.

Performing Arts

Mountain View High School's music department includes a Symphonic Band (Open), Wind Ensemble (Audition), String Orchestra (Open), Chamber Orchestra (Audition), Jazz Ensemble (Audition), Studio 501 Big Band (Audition), Marching Band (Open), as well as a Color Guard and Winter Guard. The Winter Guard competes in CCGC, in Scholastic A. Both the Color and Winter Guard are by audition. The department also contains a notable choral program consisting of three choirs: Chamber Choir, and two auditioned choirs, A Cappella and Madrigals.

Demographics

As of November 2005, the enrollment at Mountain View High School was 1,789. During the 2005-2006 school year, the students were 52% Caucasian, 15% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 3% Filipino, 3% African American, <1% Pacific Islander, <1% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 10% multi-racial and other.

MVHS Library

Academics

Eighteen students from the class of 2008 were named National Merit Scholar semifinalists.^[2] The classroom student:teacher ratio is 29:1, and there are 95 certified teachers, of which 56% hold advanced degrees. Newsweek ranked Mountain View High School as the 224th best high school in the nation in 2007. ^[3]

Mountain View also has high statewide test scores. In 2009, MVHS achieved an Academic Performance Index (API) score of 865.

Athletics

MVHS Athletics is part of Central Coast Section (CCS), which governs High School Athletics from San Francisco to King City, and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). The school sponsors the following interscholastic teams for young men and women: basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, badminton, and water polo. Young men may compete in baseball, football, and lacrosse, while young women may compete in softball.

Mountain View competes in the regional SCVAL League. It consists of 13 other schools in the area.

The rival school for the Spartans are the Los Altos High School Eagles, just 4 miles away.

In the fall of 2009, the Men's Cross Country team won the only athletic state title in the school.

Notable alumni

• Alan Cranston, U.S. senator
• Charles Huang, co-founder of RedOctane
• Kai Huang, co-founder of RedOctane
• Adam Krikorian, head coach of the UCLA water polo team, has won 14 NCAA championships
• J.D. Nelson, football player for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Jose Antonio Vargas, Washington Post reporter and 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner

References

1. ^ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Los Altos Town Crier-Issue 46 dead link 2007-11-14 MVLA Students named national merit scholar semifinalists^{[dead link]}
3. ^ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com^{[dead link]}

See also

• Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District
• List of closed secondary schools in California

External links

Coordinates: 37°21′36″N 122°04′03″W / 37.36°N 122.0675°W / 37.36; -122.0675

• Official website
• The Oracle, MVHS school newspaper