Type Public Principal Rebecca Cook Color(s) Burgundy and Navy Number of students 3,400 | Opened 1994 Grades 9-12 Phone +1 760-772-4150 Mascot Blackhawk | |
Rival Palm Desert High School Address 79255 Blackhawk Way, La Quinta, CA 92253, USA District Desert Sands Unified School District Profiles | ||
La Quinta High School is one of six public high schools, grades 9-12, in the Desert Sands Unified School District. It is located in the La Quinta, California. The school was a California Distinguished Schools award winner in 1999, 2003 and 2011.
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History
La Quinta High School was built in 1994 but fully completed by 1996. In its first year it had an enrollment of approximately 600 students with only grades 9-10 and in 1998, with grades 9-12, it now exceeds 3,000 students making it the largest high school in the Coachella Valley. The campus is crowded and there used to be portable classrooms which got replaced with new state of the art classrooms for Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, as well as new buildings for the other academic courses offered at this school.
La Quinta High has obtained award, in 1999, 2003, 2011, and 2015. Since the 2001-2002 academic year it has also been an International Baccalaureate School.
It is the home of the award winning La Quinta Blackhawk Brigade Marching Band and Colorguard.
In 2010, La Quinta High School's Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps(AFJROTC CA-951) received the Distinguished Unit(with Merit) award. Making the unit part of the top 5% of JROTC units worldwide.
In 2016, The Clinton Foundation brought their Clinton Day of Action to La Quinta High School, and provided them with a new greenhouse, campus cleanup, and a new desert landscape in the front of the school.
Academics
In 2006, the school was ranked 614th in Newsweek's "The Complete List: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools". In the most recent available API index (2013) LQHS had the highest growth API score in the Coachella Valley with an 842.
Career Technical Education (CTE) Programs/Academies
La Quinta High School has four academies for students that have a feel of what they want to do once they get older. These academies educates them about the field they would want to get in to and prepares them to be able to continue their education after graduation.
Medical Health Academy (MHA)
The Medical Health Academy (MHA) is a California Partnership Academy (CPA), grant funded program for students interested in pursuing a career and college in the medical field medical field. This is a Career Technical Program (CTE) and it combines technical skills, real world application of skills and rigorous academics and is for college bound students. Our program offers certification in CPR/AED Pro for the Healthcare Provider and First Aid and Teen CERT training.
Occupations students enrolled in the academy get a feel on include nurses, doctors, Sports Medicine/athletic trainers, Physical Therapy, Chiropractors, lab technicians, psychologists, X-ray/Imaging, pharmacy, Dental, EMT’s, veterinarians, speech therapy only to name a few. Most seniors are placed, by staff, into a medical, volunteer internship the duration of their senior year. Some accumulate up to 500 hours of clinical experience. The average is 350 hours. Several students end up getting paid and a few get hired by their sites.
This program can be taken by any student interested starting their sophomore year.
Public Service Academy (PSA)
The PSA program has grown from 100 students 10 years ago to over 260 students today. Once PSA students complete the 3-year program, they are able to move into productive jobs in law enforcement, fire fighting, military and related fields.
The three-year program provides students with a strong base to make positive life decisions which lead to positive, productive and rewarding jobs.
Culinary Arts
The Culinary Arts program is for students that want to pursue a career in the kitchen. It is a 4-year program where they get to meet chefs from around the Coachella Valley, create Culinary Showdowns much like in the television show Chopped, and cater meals to events valley wide as well as provide some of the food for La Quinta High Schools' events.
In 2016, The Clinton Foundation brought their Clinton Day of Action to La Quinta High School and built a greenhouse for the culinary arts students to use in their state of the art kitchen.
Information & Communications Technology Academy (ICTA)
Added in the 2015-2016 school year, the ICTA academy is the newest academy in La Quinta High School.
ICTA is the Information & Communications Technology Academy. This academy is for anyone who is interested in technology. The Information Technology Academy is a dynamic program set up to give interested students the opportunity to be exposed to fields related to Information Support and Services, Networking, Software and Systems Development, and Games and Simulation. The program is a 3-year course and offers students technical training as well as educational core classes.
Athletics
La Quinta High's mascot is the "Blackhawk", they participate in the Desert Valley League(DVL) and their main rival is Palm Desert High School. La Quinta High is the only school in the Coachella Valley with a rugby union program. It was the first school in the Coachella Valley to win two consecutive CIF football championships. The school has also won three consecutive CIF wrestling championships in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The Schools Water Polo team has also to win the CIF water polo championships in 2012 to become the first team to win CIF in the Coachella Valley.as well, the boys soccer team won CIF Division 2 in 2015.