Yucca Valley High School

Infobox_School | name = Yucca Valley High School


imagesize = 78
established = 1968
type = Public
principal = Carl R. Phillips
faculty =
enrollment = 1690 [http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/navigation/fsTwoPanel.asp?bottom=/profile.asp%3Ftab%3D0%26level%3D07%26ReportNumber%3D16%26County%3D36%26District%3D67777%26School%3D3638616 Ed Data] retrieved June 6, 2008]
free_label = Mascot
free_text = Trojan
location = 7600 Sage Avenue,
Yucca Valley, California 92284
information = [phone]
website = [http://www.yvhs.net/ YVHS homepage]

Yucca Valley High School is in the town of Yucca Valley, California. The school has 1,690 students in grades 9–12. [http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/navigation/fsTwoPanel.asp?bottom=/profile.asp%3Ftab%3D0%26level%3D07%26ReportNumber%3D16%26County%3D36%26District%3D67777%26School%3D3638616 Ed Data] retrieved June 6, 2008] The principal is Carl R. Phillips. The school is part of the Morongo Unified School District. The official mascot is the Trojan and the school colors are black and gold.

Academics

A variety of academic courses are offered at YVHS, with classes such as Field Ecology and Acting. YVHS teaches Spanish, French, German, and Latin, and it is one of the few high schools in California to offer Latin as a second language.

A Career Pathways program is also in place which allows over three-hundred job shadow opportunities for students every year. Pathways students also are offered internships and they are awarded a scholarship based on the hours completed in their internship.

Extra-curricula activities

Arts

Yucca Valley High School offers opportunities for students to express themselves artistically and culturally. In addition to music classes and art classes, YVHS has a marching band and an Art Club. "Shaken not Stirred" is a improvisational comedy troupe.

Theatre Company

The YVHS Theatre Company, a theatrical organization on campus, produces three performances a year.

The YVHS Theatre Company was started in 1994. The YVHS Drama Club was officially chartered at the start of the 1996-97 school year. In 1997, the YVHS Drama Club affiliated itself with the International Thespian Society of Cincinnati, Ohio, and became I.T.S. troupe 5589.

Carpe Diem

The school offers a journalism class in which a group of twenty plus students write a monthly newsletter. The newsletter, actually a magazine, is called "". The previous incarnation of the newspaper ended circulation about 11 years ago. During the 2006-2007 school year, Carpe Diem released several issues, including a We're Back Issue, Halloween/Thanksgiving Issue, Holiday Issue, Love Issue, and Arts Issue. Yucca Valley's local newspaper "The Desert Sun" contributes to "The Carpe Diem". A program has been established since 2002 providing expertise from The Desert Sun's own editors and journalist.

Athletics

Yucca Valley High School is part of the De Anza League. Athletic programs include wrestling and cross country running.

The wrestling team hosts the annual "Trojan War" wrestling competition, for which other high school teams are invited to compete against YVHS's team. The team recently had their first two time state placers: an athlete placed 8th in the 2005–2006 season and 2nd in the 2006–2007 season.Fact|date=January 2008

The Girl's Cross Country program has qualified for the California state meet the last four years in a row (2003–2006).

English Teacher, James Ruggerio, is a contestant on American Gladiators (2008).

Administration

Trimesters

Yucca Valley High School used trimesters from the 1997-98 school year to the 2003-04 school year. Under the trimester system, there were three trimesters in a year instead of two semesters, and only five classes per day rather than six. YVHS reverted to the semester system for the 2004-2005 school year after seven years on the trimester system.

Policy Changes

Due to a lawsuit in 2006, YVHS adopted a "split" lunch policy in the second semester of the 2006-2007 school year. Under the new policy, YVHS has two lunch breaks each day. While the new system provides students with more time to receive their food in the often-crowded cafeteria, this policy has been detrimental to the many clubs on campus that meet during lunch.

Expansion and Modernization

The school board plans to construct expansion buildings by the 2010 school year.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.yvhs.net/ Yucca Valley High School homepage]
* [http://www.morongo.k12.ca.us/ Morongo Unified School District homepage]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/folk/yvhstheatreco/info.html YVHS Theatre Company]