Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Alhambra High School (Alhambra, California)

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Type
  
Public

Principal
  
Duane Russell

Phone
  
+1 626-943-6900

Color
  
Blue and gold

Opened
  
1898

Grades
  
9-12

Number of students
  
2,800

Founded
  
1898

Alhambra High School Home of the Moors | Alhambra, Alhambra california, Alhambra  high school

School district
  
Alhambra Unified School District

Athletics conference
  
CIF Southern SectionAlmont League

Address
  
101 S 2nd St, Alhambra, CA 91801, USA

Alhambra High School is a public high school in Alhambra, California. The school was established in 1898 and is in the Alhambra High School District. It administers one of the most extensive high school and adult education programs in California, offering hundreds of academic, cultural, and recreational courses, day and evening, many located on the Alhambra High School grounds. In 2005, it was given a California Distinguished Schools award.

Contents

The school is located on Second Street, across the street from City Hall and the Police Department, bounded by Second Street, Commonwealth Avenue, Fifth Street, and Main Street. The campus is divided into three parts, by Third and Fourth Streets.

History

Around 1884, Alhambra citizens saw the need for their own school. Two elections failed, because of the resistance of the San Gabriel School District. Alhambrans then petitioned for a partitioning of the district and agreed to placate the San Gabriel District by giving San Gabriel a school at Vega and Main. Old Mill Creek became the dividing line on the east, with a deviation that gave San Gabriel the school. Thus began the rivalry the schools hold with each other until this day.

When the petition was granted, Sebastian Shaw, the principal, and the Alhambra students set up classes in an old redwood cabin on property on South Chapel near Beacon Street. A fire hydrant across the furrowed field on Garfield Avenue provided drinking water for the school. When the roof caught fire one day, the children used their dinner pails to bring water to douse the blaze. A $10,000 bond election was passed to build a school and a site was purchased for $175 at Garfield and Alhambra Road. There a four-room, two-story frame building was constructed.

In September 1887, the school opened with 27 elementary and high school students. Mrs. E. Jones was the teacher and principal. The cornerstone for Alhambra High School was laid in April of that year. Alhambra High School opened in 1898, between Second and Third Streets, south of Main Street.

Enrollment at AHS is 3080 students, In this ethnically-mixed school district, Alhambra High School is one of the three comprehensive high schools. Curriculum offerings encompass Reading for remedial instruction, to Advanced Placement courses in six departments, including English composition, Calculus, Environmental science, Physics, American Government/Civics, United States History, World History, Art History, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, and Psychology

In early 2007, Alhambra High School hosted Hell's Kitchen. 100 members from the senior class of 2007 were invited to participate. Each chef had to prepare 100 portions of a dish for each of the seniors. It was one of a select few public high schools in California to be awarded a distinguished Great Schools Rating of 8 out of 10.

In April 2005, an article was published by The Moor, the school's biweekly newspaper, titled "Latinos Lag Behind in Academics". It discussed that Hispanic students' test scores have improved, then asked why Asian scores were noticeably higher, postulating that Asian students worked harder in academics than Hispanic students, suggesting the latter were "not pulling their weight". The Los Angeles Times discussed the achievement gap in context, noting the outrage and charges of racism towards the student author and the Latino pride response.

On October 11, 2006, a small explosive device was found on a sidewalk bordering the north end of campus. Hours later, a second similar device was found in a trash can on the south end of campus. The Los Angeles County sheriff's bomb squad safely removed and disabled both items, and the campus was searched.

Demographics

In 2009-2010, the minority population was 95.8%, 31.6% of the students were limited English proficient, and 83.7% considered economically disadvantaged, received free or reduced lunch.

As of October 2009, the Alhambra High School student population was 48.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, 43.6% Hispanic, 5.9% White, 1.3% African American, and 0.1% Native American, It is a Title I school.

They are ranked 450 on Newsweek's list of 1,000 "Best High Schools in America".

CIF championships

  • Wrestling: 2002.
  • Music

    The marching band was selected to march in the 2009 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, the first time a band from Alhambra has been in the parade in 40 years. The band that went to the Tournament consisted of members of each AUSD school.

    References

    Alhambra High School (Alhambra, California) Wikipedia