Los Osos High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Los Osos High School

principal = Chris Hollister
type = Public Secondary
established= 2002
grades = 9–12
enrollment = 4,161
mascot = Grizzly
colors = Blue/Gold
newspaper = The Grizzly Gazette" (official)
"The Alternative" (independent)
yearbook = Montivagus
broadcast = Bear Facts
website = [http://cjuhsd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/showPage.plx?catid=88&chain=15 Los Osos High School]
city = Rancho Cucamonga
state = California
country = USA

Los Osos High School is one of eight public schools in the Chaffey Joint Union High School District. LOHS is located in the city of Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California's Inland Empire in the United States. LOHS opened in 2002 and finished its 2006-2007 school year with a student body of 3,260 and a graduating class of around 750.

The mission of LOHS is to actively engage in the learning process and provide all students with opportunities to reach their highest academic potential, to develop abilities to think critically, creatively, communicate effectively, and graduate as confident, self-directed, and life-long learners in society.

Demographics

As of 2007, the racial makeup of the school is approximately 65% White American, with the second and third largest minority population being Hispanic and African-American, respectively.

Academics

Students graduating from Los Osos have gone on to attend some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country, including but not limited to: Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, University of California, Berkeley, Brown University, Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, UCLA, UC San Diego, University of Notre Dame, University of Southern California, Bowdoin College, and the Claremont Colleges.

In 2007, Los Osos earned an Academic Performance Index of 826, the highest score out of all high schools in San Bernardino County and the Inland Empire. [http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2007/2007GrowthSch.aspx?allcds=36676523631058]

In November 2007, US News & World Report's newly installed "Best High Schools 2008" ranking awarded Los Osos a Silver Medal, the equivalent of Top 500 in the nation out of a selection pool of roughly 18,790 public institutions. [ [http://www.usnews.com/listings/high-schools/california/los_osos_high Los Osos High: Best High Schools - USNews.com ] ] Los Osos was the only comprehensive high school in San Bernardino County to receive such an honor. The selection criteria was based on a combination of promise and challenge, overall academic quality, and college readiness. [ [http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2007/11/29/what-matters-most-in-measuring.html What Matters Most in Measuring - US News and World Report ] ]

The 2007-08 school year featured three National Merit Scholars amongst the class of 2008.

Performing Arts

Los Osos is home to a variety of performing arts.

Band and Colorguard

The Los Osos High School Band & Colorguard, under the direction of Sam Andress, has set a hig standard of excellence like no other. The marching band, a.k.a The Los Osos Regiment, has, even in its brief existence, built a reputation as one of the finest marching band organizations of its kind in Southern California. The 2007 edition of the Regiment has earned a special place of distinction, having taken nothing less than first place at five consecutive marching band tournaments throughout Southern California and 2nd place finalist at the Fiesta Bowl National Band Tournament, and the Fiesta Bowl Parade in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to this honor the 2007 Regiment secured the schools first state title, in earning the gold-medal, 5A division placement at the 2007 Southern California Band & Orchestra Association (SCSBOA) field show championships. Past Field Shows have included: 2008- The Storm by Steven Schmidt 2007- Wild Things! by Steven Schmidt and Louie (DJ Louie) 2006- The Planets (Mars, Venus, & Jupiter) by Gustav Holst 2005- Prism (Teardrop) by Jay C. Reese 2004- Carmina Burana by Carl Orff 2003- Escorpion

Wind Ensemble

The Los Osos Wind Ensemble is an outstanding auditioned group of approximately 40 student musicians. Members of the Wind Ensemble are highly select and versatile musicians who are challenged to create music at the highest artistic level. The Wind Ensemble performs superb band literature suited to the group's high level of ability and select instrumentation. The select group of musicians in the Wind Ensemble have gone on to be accepted at some of the nation's top music conservatories, for example: the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, New York), the Juilliard School of Music (New York, New York), the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA.

Recent performances have included "superior" ratings at several music festivals throughout Southern California, including top honors at the 2004 and 2007 San Francisco Heritage Festival with the presentation of the Adjudicator's Award on both occasions. The Los Osos Wind Ensemble was also invited to participate in Chicago, Illinois to perform at the Chicago Heritage Festival amongst the nation's top ranked music oraganizations. Aside from this honorable distinction, the Wind Ensemble's accomplishments and remarkable talent have enabled it to have been invited to perform at Mt. San Antonio College's exqusite acoustic theater during the spring of '07, where they performed Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Jesters".

Jazz Ensembles

The Jazz Ensembles at LOHS are 2 big bands performing a varietey of genres from swing, latin, rock, and funk. Recent performances have included appearances at the Reno Jazz Festival in Reno, Nevada, and the bands have also been recently hired to perform at the conferences of the California Association of School Administrators, the American Institute of Architecture, and the grand opening of Trader Joe's in Rancho Cucamonga.

Theatre Department

Led by Mr. Michael Kremer, Los Osos High School has one of the best theatre departments in Southern California. The Los Osos Theatre Department won SCETA Area 3 in 2006 with its enactment of Michael Frayn's "Noises Off" and also, in 2007, was a part of the SCETA Festival of Scenes and performed a part of Tina Howe's "The Art of Dining" to 1300 people at Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, California.

The theatre department was nominated by the American High School Theatre Festival to represent the United States in Scotland at the world renowned Fringe Festival, the second consecutive nomination for Los Osos after its selection as one of 30 representatives to the prestigious festival in 2007.

Extracurricular Activities

Los Osos features many different extracurricular activities.

Future Business Leaders of America

Los Osos is home to a Future Business Leaders of America chapter. This FBLA chapter strives to give the members a broad understanding the business world, as well as allow members to compete in business competitions in various levels. A few members have been recognized at the state level [ [http://www.cafbla.org/Library%20Documents/2008%20SLC/SLC%202008%20Results%20Spreadsheet.pdf] Retrieved on 2008-07-31] , and many have been recognized at the section level [http://www.cafbla.org/Library%20Documents/2007-2008%20Inland%20Section/2008%20ISLC%20Results.pdf] Retrieved on 2008-07-31] .In 2008, this chapter won second in sweepstakes in the Inland Section Conference.

Key Club

With over 100 members, the Los Osos Key Club is one of its largest clubs on campus. This Los Osos club offers community service projects for members to be more involved in the community.

Model United Nations

Model United Nations (or known as MUN to Los Osos students) compels members to educate themselves of current world events. Los Osos' team frequently competes in regional MUN conferences; in Tustin, San Diego, and at UCLA for example.

The Alternative

The Alternative is a monthly newspaper at Los Osos, not sanctioned by the school administration. Its first issue was released on March 20, 2008. The Alternative encourages reader submissions for articles, shout-outs, editorials, etc. It is considered a democratized media form through which students at the school can receive their news. The paper focuses on current events as well as school happenings.

Though the newspaper is open to any student who wishes to participate, the lack of responses has led to a monthly board of writers.For the first issue, for fear of possible backlash, all of the writers printed under pseudonyms.

Issues

First Issue

Planning for a March 20, release the first issue was completed during the second week of March 2008. Five-hundred copies were subsequently printed and distributed to specific classrooms. The initial response from students was generally positive.

The first issue focused on the founding of the newspaper and its revolutionary format. In addition, it contained articles, to name a few, on the importance of the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the Persian new year Nowruz, and album reviews on Serj Tankian's "Elect The Dead" and Flogging Molly's "Float".

econd Issue

The second issue of The Alternative was released on May 7, 2008; three-hundred copies of this issue were printed. Again, this issue was heralded as being an outstanding paper. The distributors of the paper issued out only few copies at a time to prevent possible loss. Though the response from administration was much less aggressive, security guards confiscated a small amount of papers.

This issue was also landmark in that it was the first issue in which the writers printed using their real names rather than the previously used pseudonyms.

This issue covered topics ranging from Tibetan Independence Movement protests during the 2008 Olympic torch relay, to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to cut $4.8 billion from the state budget. In addition, it contained articles about the U.S. military's stop-loss policy, and the final round of college basketball's March Madness tournament.

Third Issue

The third issue, the first issue of the 2008-2009 school year, was released on September 9, 2008.

Controversy

Upon the release of the first issue, the school administration took swift action against the paper. Immediate confiscation followed, as ordered by Los Osos Principal Chris Hollister. Despite this, The Alternative's steadfast support among students and teachers prevented a small percentage of papers from being taken. Unfortunately, at least 250 of the newspapers were expropriated, even out of students' hands.

This action angered many students as well as teachers. Several claimed these actions to be "fascist" in nature. With the help of some students, The Alternative was capable of preparing a possible legal defense. Section 48907 of the California Education Code allows for the free distribution of printed materials on high school campuses so long as it did not contain libel or slander. [California Education Code] [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&group=48001-49000&file=48900-48927]

However, Principal Hollister's actions may have been justifiable. In one article, the paper expresses discontent with the legitimate newspaper of Los Osos, The Grizzly Gazette. The wording within the article could possibly be classified as libel.

The writers of The Grizzly Gazette were polarized with their views of The Alternative. Though many wished to remain loyal to The Gazette, some offered to even write for The Alternative.

Advanced Placement

Los Osos currently supports Advanced Placement courses in 18 subjects:

* AP Art History
* AP Biology
* AP Calculus AB & BC
* AP Chemistry
* AP Economics (Micro)
* AP English Language & Composition
* AP English Literature & Composition
* AP French Language
* AP U.S. Government
* AP Latin Literature
* AP Latin Vergil
* AP Physics B
* AP Spanish Language
* AP Spanish Literature
* AP Statistics
* AP Studio Art
* AP U.S. History
* AP World History

In the 2006-07 school year, 770 exams were administered and 463 students received scores of 3, 4, or 5 - a 60% pass rate, the highest in the school's five-year history.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://cjuhsd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/showPage.plx?catid=88&chain=15 Los Osos High School]
* [http://cjuhsd.k12.ca.us/ Chaffey Joint Union High School District]