Westmoor High School

History

Westmoor High School was established in 1956 as the primary high school to serve the new Westlake neighborhood on the west side of Daly City.

In the school years of 2004, 2005, and 2006 Westmoor became eligible for California Distinguished School status, but was not awarded the designation until 2009. However, in recent years, its California Standardized Test scores have risen to an 8/10.

Throughout the years, numerous individuals, such as participants in the Civil Rights Movement and numerous California politicians, have visited Westmoor. In 2004, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry made a campaign stop at Westmoor, speaking publicly in the main gymnasium.

Campus

The original campus building, designed by architect Mario J. Ciampi, attracted national acclaim due to its modern design elements. The building was sometimes called the "Glass Palace" due to the extensive use of architectural glass in its design. Ciampi received an honor award from the American Institute of Architects in 1959 for his work on Westmoor. The campus is built on what was previously a pig farm and ranch.

Westmoor's main building was renovated and extended during the 2000-2001 school year, and most of its original architectural and glass features were destroyed.

Demographics

According to US News and World Report, 95% of Westmoor's student body is "of color," with 36% of the student body coming from economically disadvantaged households, determined by student eligibility for California's Reduced-price meal program.

Curriculum

In addition to offering the standard English, science, social science and mathematics courses, Westmoor offers Advanced Placement courses: English Language, English Literature, U.S. History, Statistics, Calculus AB, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Studio Art, Spanish, American Government, Macroeconomics, Law & Public Policy Psychology, and European History. Westmoor's curriculum includes a variety of art and music programs such as fabric arts, ceramics, drawing and painting, general art, graphic design, as well as band, chorus, and theater arts. The foreign language department offers Spanish and French. In addition, Westmoor offers several elective courses in business, computer, and industrial art fields. The AVID program serves to assist students, where they prepare for college and learn fundamental skills that will guide them to academic success.

Semester grading system

In the 2004-2005 school year, Westmoor and other schools in the Jefferson Union High School District changed their grading periods from four quarters in two semesters per year to simply two semesters. Student progress reports are issued each third of a semester.

Sustained Silent Reading

Westmoor began the Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) program in 2001. On a normal schedule, a twenty-minute period is designated for SSR on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Starting in the 2005-2006 school year, this period recurs on a rotating basis at the beginning of the 1st - 6th periods. During SSR, all students and teachers are excluded from classwork, reading textbooks, or writing.

Clubs and organizations

Westmoor is home to these following student clubs and organizations:

Theater program

Westmoor High School's Drama Program puts on four productions every year; a fall medley production, a spring musical, a student written and directed health production, and a spring play. The program director is Peter Panagopoulos. All productions are performed for the community in the Betty Schultz Theatre at Westmoor High School. The Drama Program recently won recognition from the Ohlone College High School Theatre Festival for their productions of Les Misérables, The King & I, In the Heights, and Miss Saigon by placing in the top three musicals. The Drama Program focuses on teaching the basic elements to stage performance in acting, vocal technique, and choreography.

Recent productions at Westmoor High School include:

International Foods Day

About three times a year, ASB organizes an International Foods Day (IFD), both as an opportunity for students to eat different food outside of the standard cafeteria offerings, and (primarily) as a fundraising event during which clubs sell food. IFDs are held during special Friday extended lunch periods, and club members who are selling food are released early from their 4th period classes to help prepare. The funds are temporarily held by the school's cashier; however, if not used by a certain time period, the funds are assimilated by the school. On October 6, 2011 that the Foods Director of the Jefferson Union High School officially stated that students are not allowed to cook any of the food for IFD. If the club wants to participate, then it must purchase it from a person or people licensed to cook and resell the food they purchased.

Rally and Spirit Week

Several rallies are held throughout the year, usually on Fridays after school in the main gym. The rallies usually consist of numerous acts by both students and teachers, the majority of which involve vocal performances, instrumental performances, dance performances (mostly break-dancing), or a combination of all three. Most rallies also include some sort of contest between the different classes, involving either a dancing act or a type of game. The rallies are often followed by a scheduled school dance, although these are almost always cancelled due to the lack of ticket sales and interest.

Although many students participate in organizing the rallies, individual rallies usually have an official "sponsor", which is usually one of the class clubs, or the ASB.

The week preceding the rally on Friday is usually known as "Spirit Week". During this week, and preceding weeks (especially after school on the Friday before Spirit Week), the class clubs design various posters, often asserting the superiority of the designers' class, the inferiority of the other classes, or both simultaneously. These posters are taken and placed throughout the schools, often on walls, over windows, and hanging from hallway entrances. Students are also encouraged to participate in motif days, of which there is a different one each day of Spirit Week. Monday through Thursday usually consists of a theme decided by the ASB and the class clubs, such as a "super hero day" (on which students must dress as super heroes) or "OC day" (on which students had to wear clothes related to the television show, The OC). Each Friday is a "class color day", designed to coincide with the day of the rally. Students are encouraged to wear their class color (grey for freshmen, yellow for sophomores, green for juniors, and white for seniors). Both the poster art and individual spirit days are part of a "Spirit Contest" between the classes, who are graded on the quality of the posters and the number of students who participate.

Tsunami fundraising

In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, many clubs, led by the AVID class, Muslim Student Association and Social Activist Youth, organized fundraisers to raise money for the victims of the disaster. They raised over $1000.

Student journalism

The Rampage is the official school-sponsored newspaper at Westmoor. It is written and published by the students of the Publications class, which also works on the school yearbook. It is generally regarded as a high-quality publication with engaging articles and interviews with Westmoor staff and students. Articles often include relevant topics, such as recent school events and world news, as well as pieces on pop culture and debate topics in which two writers with differing opinions on certain subject matters write side by side opinion pieces. It is published on the school website. The Rampage produced its first and only issue of the 2004-2005 school year in October 2004, although it had several more issues planned that were never published before the end of the school year. In the 2013-2014 year, however, it published five issues, more than any years previous, due to a change in editing staff.

Athletics

Westmoor is a member of the Central Coast Section (CCS) and competes in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL). The school was a member of the North Coast Section from 1957 to 1965, when the Central Coast Section was created. They competed in the Peninsula League from 1957 to 1961, along with more established schools in San Mateo County such as Aragon, Burlingame, Capuchino, Hillsdale, Mills, Jefferson, San Mateo, and South San Francisco. From 1961 to 1995, Westmoor competed in the North Peninsula League (NPL), along with El Camino, Half Moon Bay, Jefferson, Oceana, Serramonte, South San Francisco, and Terra Nova. In 1996, the NPL and PAL merged, making the PAL a super-league. However, PAL is split into two divisions: Bay and Ocean.

Fall sports

Winter sports

Spring sports

Year-round sports

The school once fielded boys' football, girls' softball, boys' wrestling, girls' gymnastics, and boys' golf.

Football

The football program at Westmoor was dropped in April 1996 by then Principal Gary Johnson due to financial hardships and low participation. At the end of the 1995 season, the team did not have a winning season in 10 years and had not beaten their rival, Jefferson High, in 13 years. The team made two CCS playoff appearances in 1972 and 1982, and won the league title in 1972.

The team played its last season in the 1995 and finished 2-7 overall, 1-5 in league play. Throughout the season, the team struggled, losing players due to injuries and grades, resulting in an average of 20 players suiting up each game.

Westmoor's football team had only four coaches in its history. Pete Matisi coached the team from its beginning from 1957–1981, when he retired. Ken Cook took over the program from 1982–1988, coming over from the closure of Serramonte High School. Dan Ramirez coached the team in 1989 and Mike Williams coached the team in 1990 and 1991. Darryl Kennedy coached the last three years of the program from 1992-1995.

Westmoor's main rival was Jefferson High School. The game was dubbed by newspapers as the Daly City Bowl or the Greater Daly City-Colma Chamber of Commerce Trophy Game. Jefferson won the first meeting between the two teams in 1957, 32-12. Westmoor took the trophy from 1958–1967 and from 1969-1977. Jefferson won the annual game from 1978–1981, 1983–1986, and 1988-1995. There were two ties in the 39-year history: in 1968 and 1987. Westmoor still holds the overall lead in the rivalry with a record of 20-17-2.

Notable alumni