Amador Valley High School

Infobox School
name = Amador Valley High School


imagesize = 140px
established = 1923
type = Public high school
district = Pleasanton Unified School District
grades = 9-12
principal = Bill Coupe
enrollment = 2,597 (as of 2007-08) [ [http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/SchEnr.asp?TheName=Amador+Valley&cSelect=AMADOR%5EVALLEY%5EHIGH--PLEASANTON%5EUNIF--0175101-0130583&cChoice=SchEnrEth&cYear=2007-08&cLevel=School&cTopic=Enrollment&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=Submit DataQuest-School Level Enrollment Reports ] ]
faculty = 109.4 (on FTE basis)
ratio = 22.4
mascot = The Don
colors = Purple and Gold
motto = Working Together to Make a Difference
location = 1155 Santa Rita Road
Pleasanton, CA 94566
country = USA
information = 925-461-6600
website = [http://pleasanton.k12.ca.us/amador/ School web site]

Amador Valley High School (AVHS) is a public high school located in city-state|Pleasanton|California, a suburban town east of San Francisco, California. Amador is a part of the Pleasanton Unified School District which also includes Foothill High School, Village High School, and Horizon High School. Amador Valley and Foothill High are known for their school rivalry. Newsweek ranked Amador Valley High School 317th in its 2008 list of the 1300 Best High Schools in America. [ [http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?q=2008/rank/301/ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com ] ]

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,450 students and 109.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 22.4. [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=0600020&ID=060002009282 Amador Valley High School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 23, 2008.]

History

Named after the Amador Valley (part of the Tri-Valley area of the San Francisco East Bay), which in turn is named after Jose Maria Amador, Amador Valley High School had its first class of eight students graduate in 1923. During this time, most of the city of Pleasanton was a rural community. Forty-seven years later, however, Amador was at its maximum capacity level; as a result, Dublin High School was founded in order to alleviate the overflow of students. As more people came to the Pleasanton region, Foothill High School was formed in 1973. In 1988, the Pleasanton Unified School district was created and it combined both the Amador Valley Joint High School District and the Pleasanton Joint School District. Following the 1996-1997 school year, a major renovation process was conducted to bring the school to the modernized conditions of today; many new building structures were built and the school grounds were refurbished. Nevertheless, the school was able to revive one of the last original structures that date back to the original creation of the school: The Amador Valley Theater. The school has won awards including the National Blue Ribbon School (2002, [cite web|url=http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/br/awards0102.asp|title=www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/br/awards0102.asp ] 2006 [cite web|url=http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr06/yr06rel107.asp|title=www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr06/yr06rel107.asp ] ) and the National School of Character (2004 [cite web|url=http://www.character.org/site/c.gwKUJhNYJrF/b.995285/k.B780/2004_National_Schools_of_Character_Winners.htm|title=www.character.org/site/c.gwKUJhNYJrF/b.995285/k.B780/2004_National_Schools_of_Character_Winners.htm ] ). Amador was a California Distinguished School in 1994, 2001, and 2005. [cite web|url=http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/ap/distingcounty.asp?county=01|title=www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/ap/distingcounty.asp?county=01 ]

Demographics

As of 2007-2008, Amador is 69.8% White, 16.5% Asian, 7.6% Hispanic, 2.1% African American, 2.1% Filipino, and 0.9% Other. It is also 47.8% female and 52.2% male. [cite web|url=http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/SchEnr.asp?TheName=Amador+Valley&cSelect=AMADOR%5EVALLEY%5EHIGH--PLEASANTON%5EUNIF--0175101-0130583&cChoice=SchEnrEth&cYear=2007-08&cLevel=School&cTopic=Enrollment&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=Submit|title=data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/SchEnr.asp?TheName=Amador+Valley&cSelect=AMADOR%5EVALLEY%5EHIGH--PLEASANTON%5EUNIF--0175101-0130583&cChoice=SchEnrEth&cYear=2006-07&cLevel=School&cTopic=Enrollment&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=Submit ]

Extracurricular activities

Amador's school yearbook is entitled "Don Days", and the monthly school newspaper is entitled "Amadon". [cite web|url=http://www.amadorvalleyptsa.org/AVExpress/15DEC.html|title=www.amadorvalleyptsa.org/AVExpress/15DEC.html ]

Band and color guard

The marching band competes in the Western Band Association (WBA) circuit. The band focuses on a competitive field show, performed at football halftime shows and competitions. The Marching Dons are classified into WBA Class AAAAA. [cite web|url=http://www.westernbands.org/bands/bands.cfm?band_id=d83d8b53-1503-4ad3-ae30-28b781a6c497|title=www.westernbands.org/bands/bands.cfm?band_id=d83d8b53-1503-4ad3-ae30-28b781a6c497 ]

In 2006 the marching band competed in the Bands of America Regional Competition for the first time, and placed 4th in the 2007 Bands of America Regional Competition.The Amador Valley Marching Dons have received sweepstakes and first place awards and, in 2007, earned fifth place at WBA Championships with a score of 88.50. [cite web|url=http://amadorband.org/marching_awards.htm|title=amadorband.org/marching_awards.htm ]

The marching band staff includes several members of the Blue Devils, as well as RCC, Sacramento Freelancers, and the Santa Clara Vanguard. [cite web|url=http://amadorband.org/staff_info.htm|title=amadorband.org/staff_info.htm ]

At the California Music Educators Association Band Festival on April 27-April 28 2007, Amador Valley was the only high school to have all of its concert bands (Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, and Symphonic Band) receive the rating of "Unanimous Superior". [cite web|url=http://amadorband.org/faq/5.1.htm|title=amadorband.org/faq/5.1.htm ]

Amador Valley's band program, starting from the 2007-2008 school year, consists of four different concert bands: Wind Ensemble I, Wind Ensemble II, Wind Symphony, and Symphonic Band. [ [http://www.amadorvalleyptsa.org/AVExpress/2008/01FEB08.html Amador Valley Express - February 1, 2008 ] ]

We the People

The Amador Valley "We The People" team took second place nationally in the competitions in both 2006 and 2007 and earned the national title in 1995. [ [http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=516 Pleasanton Weekly : Amador tops in state's 'We the People' competition ] ] They placed fourth in the 2008 competition.

Notable alumni

*Actor Paul Korver [cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/paul-korver/person/132338/summary.html|title=www.tv.com/paul-korver/person/132338/summary.html ]
*Former NFL Player Greg Kragen [cite web|url=http://www.elivermore.com/calendar/evnt_0701.htm|title=www.elivermore.com/calendar/evnt_0701.htm ]
*Professional golfer Joel Kribel [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060129/ai_n16036985|title=findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060129/ai_n16036985 ]
*Emmy Award winner Brett Larson
*Musician Roger Manning
*NFL Player Scott Peters [cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/players/scottpeters/profile?id=PET162651|title=www.nfl.com/players/scottpeters/profile?id=PET162651 ]
*Former Professional soccer player Kevin Crow [cite web|url=http://www.busc.org/player-alumni.htm|title=www.busc.org/player-alumni.htm ]
*Musicians Neil & Zack Mulgrew [cite web|url=http://www.perfectpitchonline.com/v01i03/mc_pigeon.php|title=http://www.perfectpitchonline.com/v01i03/mc_pigeon.php ]

References

External links

* [http://www.amadordons.com Amador Valley High School Website]
* [http://amadorband.org/ Amador Valley Band/Music Website]
* [http://avbotz.net/ Amador Valley Robotics Club (AVBotz) Website]
* [http://avmocktrial.us.to/ Amador Valley Mock Trial Website]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&layer=&sll=42.252675,-71.790703&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=37.668858,-121.874321&spn=0.00569,0.010042&t=k Google Maps Satellite View of School]