Yosemite High School

Yosemite High School is a secondary school in the Yosemite Unified School District in Oakhurst, California.

Facilities

YHS occupies a rolling, wooded convert|100|acre|km2|sing=on site in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. It boasts a number of impressive facilities:

* Performing arts center
* Baker swim complex
* Football stadium with all-weather track
* Library and computer center
* Two gymnasiums
* Numerous athletic fields (soccer, baseball and softball)
* Tennis courts

Feeder schools

Yosemite has nine major feeder schools, including eight elementary schools and one middle school:

* Bass Lake Elementary
* Coarsegold Elementary
* North Fork Elementary
* Oak Creek Intermediate
* Raymond-Knowles Elementary
* Rivergold Elementary
* Spring Valley Elementary
* Wasuma Elementary
* Wawona Elementary

Current enrollment is approximately 1,200 students.

Test scores and honors

YHS was named a California Distinguished School in 2001 and 2005. Its 2005 Academic Performance Index (API) score was 749, which places it in the upper tier of California high schools. At least one alumnus has been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship.

YHS teams traditionally excel in the Academic Decathlon (AD) competition, having won fifteen consecutive Madera County titles as of 2008 in addition to having taken first place twice in 2000 and 2001 and second place at the state level multiple times, most recently in 2006 and 2007. Prior to the 2007-2008 season, the team competed in Division III (USAD uses divisions by student population for the sake of fair competition, where third is the lowest and first the highest in terms of population). It currently competes in Division II.

Music Department

Yosemite High School's Music Department consists of Choirs, Bands, and a History of Rock Class. The Band is directed by Randy Hyatt, former YHS assistant Principal. Mr. Hyatt teaches 4 classes including: Beginning Percussion, Concert Band, Advanced Percussion, and Wind Ensemble. During football and basketball season the Advanced Percussion, Concert Band, and Wind Ensemble combine to form a pep band. In the spring the bands perform at CMEA (California Music Educators Association) Festivals and the Heritage Festivals in Anaheim, California. Through the year the bands perform a variety of concerts at the YHS Theater and various events through out the community.

Athletics

Yosemite fields interscholastic teams in seventeen sports. It is a member of the North Sequoia League in the Central Section of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). YHS teams (known as the "Badgers") have won scores of league championships and a number of section titles. The most noteworthy recent success belongs to the girls basketball team, which won its fourth consecutive section title in March 2007. Other consistently successful programs include football, girls volleyball, and cross country. The most well-known YHS athletic alumnus is probably Major League Baseball pitcher Ted Lilly, currently starting for the Chicago Cubs.

History

Founded September 9, 1976 to relieve district travel times (often in excess of 4 hours), YHS became a site of constant controversy. The matter of greatest contention was its unorthodox education methods, ranging from laissez-faire scheduling to counterproductive class organization. Students (referred to as “learners”) chose their own classes, handled their own attendance, and gave themselves their grades, much to the chagrin of parents, who “…were worried that the students {were} running the school and that there {was} a lack of supervised instruction…”

Teachers (referred to as “learning facilitators”) were also given free rein -- with the classes they taught, resulting in such classes as skateboarding and rock climbing. They taught in a single large building with simultaneous classes operating without walls, leading to a good deal of confusion and distraction. Some time into the first year, convert|6|ft|m|sing=on tall partitions were set up, but they did little to reduce the strength of the din.

In recent years, YHS has returned to more traditional academic practices, including fixed schedules, standard classrooms, state-mandated coursework and grading criteria, and referring to "teachers" and "students."

The school began relatively under funded; “learning facilitators” were paid a $4-6,000 lower salary than the state average for that time. By the turn of the twenty-first century, however, the budget has expanded and the campus has become a showpiece.o

Famous alumni

* Chynna Clugston-Flores (Comic Book Writer/Artist)
* Ted Lilly (Major League Baseball pitcher)
* Guy Major (Artist/Comic Book Colourist)
* Bobby Skillman (Epic Records Music Producer)

Notable alumni accomplishments

* Virginia Corless (Marshall Scholarship recipient, 2005)
* Elisha Peterson (Rhodes Scholarship recipient, 2000)

External links

* http://www.yosemitehs.com/
* http://www.fresnobee.com/
* http://www.sierrastar.com/

References

*Turcsanyi, Melinda. "YHS: Full circle in 25 Years", "The Sierra Star", November 9 2001.
*Ward, Earlene. "A long, difficult road to the first diploma", "The Sierra Star", March 13 1997.
*Ward, Earlene. "YHS at 30", "The Sierra Star", September 1 2006.