Superintendent Marvin Biasotti Grades 9–12 Phone +1 831-624-1821 Colors Gray, Red | Principal Rick Lopez Enrollment 856 (2014–2015) Founded 1940 | |
School type comprehensive high school Oversight Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Schools Address 3600 Ocean Ave, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923, USA District Carmel Unified School District | ||
Carmel High School is a school of 856 students and 50-plus faculty members, situated directly off of Highway 1 within the city of Carmel, California. Carmel High is known for its lovely view of the Santa Lucia Mountains with a peek of Point Lobos and the Pacific Ocean. It is in one of the most affluent school districts in California, due to a state law which allows the school to opt out of ADA (average daily attendance) funding, choosing instead to receive revenue from local property taxes, which in Carmel's case, are quite high. As a result, Carmel High School salary schedules for teachers, counselors, and administrators are amongst some of the highest in the state of California. Carmel Unified Schools District is the second largest geographical district in the state of California enrolling students as far as 40 miles south of Carmel and 20 miles east. Cities represented by Carmel High School students include Carmel-by-the-Sea, Carmel, Big Sur, Pebble Beach, and Carmel Valley. Built in 1940, the school has recently made significant capital improvements including a new performing arts theater, math wing, science wing, and library with plans to renovate the current administration building. Both the theater and science wing utilized "green" construction practices, such as solar panels and energy efficient lights and appliances. The library has approximately 16,000 volumes and is equipped with wireless communication.
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Academics
Carmel High School offers an extensive Advanced Placement curriculum including: AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Chinese, AP Computer Science, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Environmental Science, AP French, AP Government & Politics, AP Human Geography, AP Language & Composition, AP Literature & Composition, AP Spanish, AP Statistics, AP Studio Art 2D, AP United States History, and AP World History. Due to an open-enrollment program, Carmel High School has strong participation in the AP Program with over 396 students (46%) completing at least one AP Exam. Over 72% of students earn a passing score (3 or higher) with a 66% overall pass rate.
Over 74% of students from the Class of 2013 completed the A-G requirements with 96% of students directly entering either a 4-year or 2-year university.
As of 2014, the average ACT score for CHS students was a 26.4 while the average SAT score was a 1767.
Valedictorians at Carmel High School are required to have taken a minimum of 13 Honors or Advanced Placement courses (earning nothing below an A-) in order to be considered in the valedictorian running. The single valedictorian is chosen by a committee of counselors, teachers, and administrators who evaluate rigor of coursework, standardized testing scores, extracurricular involvement, and contributions to both the school and community when determining the valedictorian. Recent valedictorians of Carmel High School are currently enrolled at Harvard (CHS Class of 2011), Westmont (CHS Class of 2012), Stanford (CHS Class of 2013), and UC Berkeley (CHS Class of 2014).
Rankings
Newsweek ranked Carmel High School #191 in their America's Best High School public school rankings (2013). US News & World Reports ranked Carmel High #286 in their ranking of best high schools (2014). The Daily Beast ranked Carmel High School #247 in the nation (2014).
Athletics
Carmel High shares a cross town rivalry with Pacific Grove High School, wherein every year the two teams compete in "The Shoe Game", so named after a shoe that was bronzed and made into a trophy by Carmel High students in an attempt to start the rivalry. In 2014, Pacific Grove ended Carmel's six-game winning streak in the series; Carmel leads the all-time series 34–33–2. The school's mascot is the Padre, which pays homage to the peninsula's history with the Spanish missionaries, specifically Father Junipero Serra, with the Carmel Mission located just over a mile from the campus. There is a weight room, theater, dance room, computer room, gym and locker rooms, and pool. The school is known for its water polo, football, baseball, cross country/track and field teams. The golf program's home course is located at Pebble Beach.
Extracurricular activities
Since 2007, the school has a team that participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition – Team 2035 – aptly named "The Robo-Rockin' Bots", which is headed by teachers Paul McFarlin and Tom Clifford. It has excelled since its inception. During its first year (2007), Carmel was a finalist at the U.C. Davis Regional Competition. The team was awarded the Motorola Quality Award in 2008, was a finalist at the U.C. Davis Regional Competition in 2010, won the Xerox Creativity Award in 2012, the Rockwell Automation Innovation in Control Award in 2013, Inspiration in Engineering award in 2014, and the Chairman's Award at the Silicon Valley regional in 2016. It has also built a state-of-the-art robotics lab equipped with CAD software and CNC machines to support the robotics class. It is one of the most advanced workshops on the peninsula and the team has helped mentor four new teams on the peninsula. Monterey High and Seaside High started teams in 2012 and in 2014 Pacific Grove High and York School joined the high schools on the peninsula that Carmel helps in their lab.
The school also has a mock trial team, a model UN program, and a mathletics team.
Staff
Principal: Rick Lopez
Assistant Principals: Craig Tijuana, Thomas Parry
Counselors: Jennifer Goodbody, Jeff Schatz, Darren Johnston, Alison Francis
Athletic Director: Golden Anderson (alumnus of CHS)
In June 2009, Karl Pallastrini, a Carmel High graduate, retired from his position as principal. He now serves on the Carmel Unified School District Board of Education. He was one of many faculty members who were once students at Carmel High School.