- Oak Park High School (California)
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This article is about the secondary school in Oak Park, CA, USA. For the secondary school in Kansas City, MO, USA, see Oak Park High School (Kansas City).
Oak Park High School Established 1978 Type Public Secondary Principal Kevin Buchanan Asst. Principal Jerry Block, Ian "Stewart" McGugan Students c. 1360 students Grades 9-12 Location 899 N. Kanan Road,
Oak Park, CA, USADistrict Oak Park Unified Colors Black, White, and Gold Mascot Eagle Website http://www.oakparkusd.org/ophs/site/default.asp Oak Park High School is the main secondary school in the Oak Park Unified School District, taking ninth through twelfth grade students. It is a National Blue Ribbon School, with 2010-2011 enrollment of 1360 students.
Contents
History
As the construction of subdivisions proceeded in Oak Park during the 1970's and the population increased, schooling arrangements became increasingly frustrating for residents. Students had to be bused to high schools in Simi Valley, 23 miles away by road, and back again each day - this despite the fact that the schools of the nearby Las Virgenes Unified School District stood in proximity. With Oak Park lying in Ventura County, California and Las Virgenes in Los Angeles County, though, Oak Park students were not allowed to attend.
Seeking to deal with the problem, Oak Park residents petitioned for annexation to Las Virgenes and were flatly rejected in 1974. Smarting from the blow, they created the Oak Park Unified School District in 1977 and broke ground for the high school in 1978. Students were housed in trailers from 1979 to 1980 until the school began admitting students at its present site in 1981. It functioned as both middle and high school until 1992, when nearby Medea Creek Middle School began educating sixth through eighth grade students.
Campus expansion has continued in recent years with the addition of a library, a performing arts center, and a new rubberized track.
Academics
Advanced Placement Program
OPHS offers the following courses in their Advanced Placement Program
- Biology
- Calculus AB
- Calculus BC
- Chemistry
- Chinese Language
- Econ - Macro
- English Language
- English Literature
- Environmental Science
- European History
- French Language
- Government - US
- Physics B
- Psychology
- Spanish Language
- Statistics
- Studio Art - Drawing
- US History
Oak Park High School's Advanced Placement Program is generally considered very strong; according to the OPHS website, of the 547 AP tests taken in 2006, 5% of them received a score of 3 or lower. Particularly strong courses - those with a pass rate above 90% - include Biology (96%), Calculus AB (90%), English Literature and Composition (91%), European History (96.6%), French Language (100%), Government-US (92.5%), Physics B (92.6%), Spanish Language (100%), and US History (94.4%).
In 2003, Oak Park's AP program placed it at 100th in Newsweek's Top High Schools.[1]
(2001-2005) Senior Exit Survey
Each year, OPHS faculty conduct a senior exit survey which keeps track of what each matriculating student plans on doing after high school. The following are the (2001-2005) cumulative statistics compiled into a single list.[2]
- Out of a total of 1102 graduating seniors, 703 reported that they had been accepted to at least one four-year college/university. This is 64.24% of these OPHS graduates.
- A total of 648 chose to attend four-year colleges/universities, or 59.00% of these OPHS graduates.
- A total of 408 chose to attend junior/community colleges, or 37.02% of these OPHS graduates.
- A total of 1052 chose to attend four-year colleges/universities or junior/community colleges, this is 95.46% of these OPHS graduates.
- 17 students reported that they would go to work full time immediately after high school; 19 reported that they would be attending trade schools; 1 student entered the military; 1 foreign exchange student returned to his home country; 2 went on LDS Mormon Missions immediately after high school; and 2 students were undecided. The total for this group is 42, which represents 4.00% of these OPHS graduates.
- A total of 806 (of those attending either four-year colleges/universities or junior/community colleges) chose to stay in California, this is 73.14% of these OPHS graduates.
- A total of 134 (of those attending either four-year colleges/universities or junior/community colleges) reported that they were attending schools out-of-state, this is 12.20% of these OPHS graduates.
School Facilities
Oak Park High School added a two story bungalow-style set of classrooms in 2005. The school has a Pavilion area that contains a large stage, several classrooms, high-ceiling band and choir rooms with acoustic paneling, and the school's lunch area. In the summer of 2010, several old classrooms were destroyed and replaced with new bungalow-style buildings.
Sports
For all sports except football and lacrosse, Oak Park High School competes in the Tri-Valley League with Fillmore High School, Carpinteria High School, Saint Bonaventure High School, Bishop Diego High School and La Reina High School. For Football only, Oak Park competes in a league that combines some teams from the Tri-Valley League and some teams from the Frontier League. The league teams for football include Carpinteria High School, Bishop Diego High School, Fillmore High School, Grace Brethren High School, Nordhoff High School, and Santa Paula High School.
Oak Park High School's Cross Country Team placed third in the CIF-SS Finals in 2007 and second at the CIF State Meet for Division 3. In 2005, the cross-country team attended the Nike Team Nationals in Eugene, Oregon.
Oak Park High School also plans on fielding a JV boys lacrosse team and a girls team along with the boys Varsity team for the 2011 season. The Varsity team went undefeated during the regular season, 17-0, the only Oak Park team to ever do so.
References
- Pool, Bob (April 2, 2006). "Rebuffed, Then Polished". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oak2apr02,1,3966721,full.story. Retrieved 2006-04-09.[dead link]
External links
Coordinates: 34°10′48″N 118°45′56″W / 34.180131°N 118.765619°W
Categories:- Educational institutions established in 1978
- High schools in Ventura County, California
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