School type Public Principal Kenneth Gardner Enrollment 2,721 Mascot Deer Valley Wolverine | Established 1996 Grades 9–12 Phone +1 925-779-7570 Number of students 2,721 | |
Color(s) Teal, black, and silver District | ||
Deer Valley High School in Antioch, California, is a public secondary school serving southeast Antioch in Contra Costa County, California. It opened in 1996.
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In 2007, the Antioch Unified School District named Scott Bergerhouse and Clarence Isadore co-principals. The co-principal model has previously been implemented in some larger schools in southern California.
In February 2010, Deer Valley and the rest of the AUSD schools were informed that they would issue a uniform policy in the second semester of the 2010-2011 school year. This policy proved to be a failure for the school, partly due to the policy taking effect halfway through the year. The policy was discontinued by its second month.
School Site Council
The Deer Valley School Site Council is a group of parents, teachers, students and other school employees elected by their peers to meet with the school co-principals in order to:
Academics
The school is divided into four "houses", each of which has its own vice-principal and secretary. At the freshman and sophomore levels Deer Valley uses a teaming concept, where groups of students share the same English, math, science, and history teacher. In addition to core classes, a wide variety of elective classes are offered to students. In addition to instrumental and choral music, foreign language, drama, automotive, culinary, and art classes, students may also enroll in electives including video production, digital art, web design, animation, law, manufacturing, photography, and careers with children.
Deer Valley also houses academies: Antioch Unified School District has four Linked Learning academies in place throughout the district. There are four academies on the campus of Deer Valley High School, a Law Academy, a Performing Arts Academy, a Business Academy, and an ACE Academy.
The process for attending an academy begins in the second half of the eighth grade, when students and their parents have opportunities to attend presentations by each of the Learning Link academies. Students can apply for one or more by completing an application. The selection is by lottery; it is open to all district students without pre-testing; however, there is a 3.0 GPA requirement.
Each of the linked learning academies incorporates career preparation into the four-year curriculum. These academies' goals are to allow students to receive a well-rounded education while preparing for their chosen careers. The academies create a school-within-a-school themed education to help bridge the achievement gap and increasing high graduation and college-going rates.
The Deer Valley Academy of Performing Arts is a pathway academy within Deer Valley High School. Our vision is to provide students with an immersion in the performing arts while maintaining a rigorous academic curriculum. The academy of Performing Arts offers their students many opportunities: To assemble with other creative and talented students and teachers; To learn ALL disciplines of the performing arts, across various cultures; To build confidence and to elevate communication skills; To collaborate with the civic and artistic communities. What the Academy of Performing Arts Expects from you: To DEVOTE yourself to learning through performing arts; To maintain a respectful attitude to teachers and fellow students; To always STRIVE for academic and artistic excellence. Students will follow the four year course sequence for the Performing Arts Academy. As freshman you will take classes that include drama, choir or Instrumental Music, dance, and stage tech skills. The Academy of performing arts is looking for students with a PASSION for the performing arts.
Vision
The Deer Valley Academy of Performing Arts is a part of Deer Valley High School whose vision is to provide an immersion in the performing arts; that, in concert with a rigorous academic curriculum produces students who are well-prepared for further studies in a two or four year college or for employment in their chosen field.
Mission
Our curriculum exposes students to a wide range of performing arts traditions from throughout the world and across many cultures. Our students see themselves as members of a civic and artistic community through performances and collaborations with other groups and community organizations. Used effectively, a performing arts curriculum requires students to think independently and critically, work cooperatively, and become lifelong learners and patrons of the arts.
Motto
DVAPA...
...where ordinary moments become extraordinary experiencesLocated in House 2 of DVHS, the Law Academy curriculum includes three elements: law-related content embedded in required courses in English, social studies, math and science, law-specific elective courses such as Constitutional Law and Criminal Justice, and work-based learning throughout the four years of study. The Law Academy provides a positive understanding of the legal system and its role in society, enhancing civic education for citizenship and enhancing community service. The academy provides students with lawyer role models and mentors who can teach, inspire, and support students to college and career pathways.
The law academy also provides students with opportunities to compete in various competitions such as Mock Trial and Model United Nations. The Mock Trial team of 2014-2015 placed fifth in the county competition and the Model United Nations team has had great success at conferences at DVC and Santa Teresa High School. Also, students are able to obtain internships with businesses which are not limited to the field of law. The students take multiple field trips per year to places such as the FBI buildings in Oakland, Alcatraz, and the local police station.
Students enrolled in the Deer Valley Law Academy must take a fundamental criminal justice class in 9th grade, with the curriculum continuing on to the next year, and psychology in 11th grade. Deer Valley is also one of the few high schools in California with the option to take Philosophy; the Law students are placed as top priority in the enrollment process.
High-tech classrooms are the foundation of the Deer Valley High School Business-Tech Academy, a California Partnership Academy, since 1998. Tenth to Twelfth grade students will be afforded the opportunity to use a computer in the classroom when they need one, which in the 21st century, is every day, and essentially every hour in the rapidly changing world of technology.
Students in the Academy will be provided a curriculum focused on a business theme with related standards-based academic classes and career-technical classes implementing supplemental technology. Increased communication between teachers, students, and parents; increased student engagement; increased frequency of writing and revisions; and increased individualized instruction are all goals of The Business-Tech Academy.
Students in English classes will create personal educational blogs and place their documents in digital lockers using various computer programs and software applications.
In their social studies classes, students will also use innovative ways to infuse technology into the curriculum. The Internet provides a way for students to get information in mere seconds rather than searching through printed materials.
Math instructors in the Business-Tech Academy using Inter-write Boards and Pads along with student response systems providing instant feedback will bring technology to the math classes.
Combining academic classes with career- technology classes such as Computer Applications, Marketing, Web Design, and Introduction to Business with workplace learning opportunities including job shadowing, internships, and work experience will better prepare Academy students for their future.
ACE stands for ACADEMIC CHALLENGE AND ENRICHMENT. We provide students with opportunities to become expert in a STEAM field of their choice. What is STEAM? STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. ACE believes in educating students in a liberal arts tradition, bringing skills from all areas to bear on learning. ACE’s Mission is to make students college and career ready by providing pathways and opportunities for students to investigate and explore their field of study. mentor our students to make informed decisions regarding their future. give our students opportunities to become independent, creative, self-motivated, life-long learners and critical thinkers.
The ESPACE academy (Earth, Space, Astronomy Center for Education) has one of the few planetariums on a high school campus in the state of California. Students from DVHS have used space probes to investigate a number of questions for school projects, most notably the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Mars Global Surveyor. In addition, Deer Valley held, for nine consecutive years, the highest API scores in the area (some the highest in the East Bay).
DVHS Planetarium
Deer Valley High School is one of the few high schools in the Bay Area to have a planetarium. The planetarium has been in operation since 2004 and hosts biweekly shows for the community. It is open to the public. The current shows start at 8 pm and has star observing at 9 pm on alternating Thursdays when school is in session.
Departments
Incidents
Deer Valley High has had its share of incidents over the years.
2009 shooting
On 16 September 2009, at about 8:29 am, a 16-year-old student of Deer Valley High School was shot in the arm and chest near the school. The shots were fired from a vehicle, which then drove off. The victim was lifted by air to John Muir Medical Center and underwent surgery. The school, along with all other schools in the district, then went into lockdown later that morning. 19-year-old Yousuf Mohammad Aziz and another person were arrested in connection with the shooting. In 2011, Aziz was convicted of charges of premeditated attempted murder, assault with a firearm, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and two counts of street terrorism, and was sentenced to 7 years to life in prison.
2013 bomb threats
In April 2013, a 16-year-old student made bomb threats at the school for four days. The students were evacuated. The AUSD, along with the police, searched around the school building, but found no bombs. Eventually, the student was charged with threats to the school. He had also sent three bomb threats to this school and one to Black Diamond Middle School. He was expelled from the school and district.