Talk:Whitney High School (Cerritos, California)

This article has been kept following this VFD debate. Sjakkalle (Check!) 08:36, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

Contributions

I am trying to be constructive by adding to this page but you guys are just erasing it without any reason except for the fact that you didn't make it. Stop deleting other peoples contributions to the page and accept it. And when I mean you guys I mean the two or three people controlling this page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.169.100.210 (talk • contribs)

Sorry if you feel that way. The edits were actually reverted because they did not appear to constructive. Stuff about the senior prank being useless is personal opinion and doesn't help the article out. =) Jumping cheese 07:38, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

NPOV

"Incidentally, neither the hardback cover photo nor the paperback cover photo are pictures of Whitney- which might have been the author's intention, as if to portray a school where studying is hard."

As a completely objective observer (an Australian who has stumbled across this page) I'd suggest this sentence be removed. It attempts to guess the authors intentions of misrepresenting the school (a POV), but displays a lack of knowledge as to the process of cover design. As a designer, my guess would be that the cover shot was a result of either a stock photo, or photo shoot -- a much easier way of securing a cover without the necessity of attaining the schools permission to shoot on location, especially considering the divisive material within. Whatever the actual motivation for the cover, this is more of a standard practice than a interesting anomoly. I'd remove it but the page is locked. 61.69.228.89 19:06, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Actually Ed Humes idea on the front cover was to have a student obviously in to studying. But in the background he was trying for orange lockers (infamous to WHS' students as a marking of WHS) and I think the orange wood was the closest he could find. 69.230.80.165 16:01, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Notes about Whitney High

In order to get into Whitney High, students must pass a test. Whitney is somewhat of a pre-college, in which they are screened for what percentage of ethnicities get into the school. The school has made attempts to make their student population very well rounded. It is also required for students to take several AP courses and maintain a very high grade point average. Failure to keep a certain GPA results in being kicked out of the school. --AllyUnion (talk) 08:40, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

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In line with being a magnet school, the school has set extreme high standards for students. All students are very competitive and get acceptance letters from top colleges such as Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, USC and many others. All students are required to take many Advanced Placement classes. --AllyUnion (talk) 12:53, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

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Actually, being a former student of this school, I can verify that while taking some Advanced Placement classes are encouraged, it is by no means required, and in fact, taking too many is often discouraged. --Quincetessence (talk) 22:37, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

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Alumni here. Not all students in Whitney had to take an entrance exam; the ones that transfer in after 7th grade are exempt (They look at other test scores).

External resource info

http://www.greenes.com/html/whitney.html

In fact, many of the AP classes that were offered when I attended Whitney High School are not offered anymore because of low class performance. Taking AP classes are definitely NOT required by the school, however, something different may be said in regards to the parents of Whitney's students.

Whitney kids often get rejected from universities.

Being a student myself, I should know. Whitney students often apply to multiple colleges to various different schools to keep their options open (they want to make sure they get in to UCLA if not Yale or Harvard). When all (or most) of the schools accept them, they end up going to USC or UCLA because of the cost. The other schools get offeneded and are currently refusing to accept Whitney students. --Typer 525 04:27, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

Not entirely true; some schools do get peeved that Whitneyites apply and end up not going when they're accepted, and while it does strain relations a bit, I've never heard of any of them refusing to accept applications from Whitney outright.

Alma Mater

The inclusion of it doesn't seem very encyclopedic. Yid613 21:14, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

cf Raffles Junior College Konekoniku 02:06, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Images

On an other note, we should add more pics of Whitney. I could get some from my digital camera. Typer525 Contact 17:18, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Maybe we can ask some yearbook photographers to provide some pictures for the wiki? UrbenLegend 21:38, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Good idea, I will get on that. Typer525 ^Contact 22:47, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Featured Article?

Should we submit an app for the school? This is the best wiki page I seen on a high school (when not under attack by Karl) Typer525 ^Contact 20:08, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I guess it would be okay if other schools had a featured article...Jrcrisologo 01:50, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

In its current state, it's probably not enough to be a featured article. It need more pics and info. But, it's getting there. =) Jumping cheese 20:44, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and Stuyvesant High School put the Whitney page to shame...still lots of work. =( Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 10:06, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Take a look at WP:SCH#Featured article candidates to see the really good pages... *cringe Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 07:22, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

School colors

What is Whitney's school colors?!? I believe it's Gold and Black, but I'm not sure... Jumping cheese 22:39, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Goodness. I assumed they still taught you guys that. It's Brown, White, and Gold. If you've ever been to a graduation there, the robes follow the color scheme, as does the seal and most of the older signs. Quincetessence 00:24, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanxs! I found a whole mess of info at http://whitneyhs.org/students/community.jsp?rn=4869. =) Jumping cheese 00:28, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Not anymore, and even some of the teachers say it is white, gray, black, yellow (a combination of those colors) Typer525 ^Contact 00:31, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

The Whitney colors are officially brown, gold, and white, but brown is becoming harder and harder to find for sports and cheer uniforms. Because of this, most uniforms are now black, gold, and white, which has led to some confusion among students. There was talk about the colors being offically changed, but as far as I know this hasn't been done yet.

Pic of Gym

Did the picture of the gym get deleted?!? Jumping cheese ^Contact 07:26, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Looks like it...want to upload it again?Typer525 ^Talk 00:17, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Sure, but why was it deleted in the first place?!? =D Jumping cheese ^Contact 06:24, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I added the coodinates, but they don't really work when clicked. Can a HTML savvy Wikipedia fix it? Thanxs! =D Jumping cheese ^Contact 04:27, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Tabish

I think it would be interesting to add in a small blurb about tabish, considering it's one of the more colorful quirks this school has (Whether you like it or not).

Tabish words:

• jaj: to lie; to bulls___; a liar.

Tabish has kind of died down though (I haven't heard it since 06 graduated), so it might have been only a short lived fad. It might be worth mentioning, but only a brief review at most. Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 05:00, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Personally I think Tabish will die out when the class of 2009 or 2008 graduate from Whitney. It is not really widely used enough (I rarely hear anyone speak it anymore) in Whitney to be added. Typer525 ^Talk 05:01, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

I remember an article on Tabish published by Aspects (my sister was the Features editor for the section the article was published in). However, as Typer mentioned, it has died down...so it was probably a temporary fad. Anyways, I use "tfs" without even knowing it was tabish. Is it tabish?!? Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 07:10, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

In all fairness the only Tabish I use is "jaj" and "et tu". And I stopped using them sometime around October...Besides, I don't think the 7-9th graders know Tabish, I know a few of them and they don't use it. Typer525 ^Talk 07:29, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

TFS is not tabish and you guys better not put tabish on the page. Stop using our language(except for jaj; spread jaj). Yours Truly, the one and only Karl

You speak tabish?!? That frightens me... =( Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 11:10, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Running Track?

Should the page mention something about the rubber track Cerritos is building next to Whitney? I heard it'll be done before track season starts. According to my coach, the track will be shared with the Cerritos community, much like the current gym is administered. Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 04:36, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

The track opened yesterday, but I'm not sure if Whitney has an agreement on how to share it with the city. Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 20:28, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

YouTube

There videos of Whitney on YouTube (IFF, Western Day, Talent Show...). Should the videos be linked to the appropriate sections in the page? I know it's not the policy to link YouTube videos, but they do add significant content to the page. I'll add a link for Western Day and see what happens. Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 08:00, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Notable Alumni

I just noticed that the page does not have such a section. The other schools in the district have this section (I checked Cerritos and Gahr High Schools) Typer525 ^Talk 18:20, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

We ain't got any...well at least ones I know of. Maybe later? Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 19:09, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah...its a small school. But since Whitney gathered the smartest people in the district...there got to be somebody....Typer525 ^Talk 03:30, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Well...some Whitney kids do become successful (ie. doctors, lawyers), but not in ways that garner much publicity, such as becoming movie stars or all-star athletes. Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 06:18, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, I was hoping to stay out of an edit war. But the whole notable alumni section is causing problems, so I am going to step in. I am going to suggest a criteria for it. I am thinking something along the lines of at least one verifiable and credible source linking the person to Whitney. This would be all for now, if the problem persists, I might add more criteria. Or even decide to delete the whole section. Also, if somebody could find sources for the three people currently on the list, that would be great.

Take a look at Wikipedia:Notability (people). I could not find sources for the section, so I added the unsourced tag a few months ago. Jumping cheese 11:21, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

I understand what you are trying to point out but what I am suggesting is in addition to that. I specifically want to have references that show they are from Whitney. And if they really exist LOL. Typer525 ^Talk 00:52, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I've never heard of any of the people on the list and google didn't bring anything up. Highly suspicious. The criterias for notability are uniform throughout wikipedia, but I'm open for more stringent rules if you like. =) Jumping cheese 06:06, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Also one more thing, should I take out the IFF section? Or should I wait until next school year in case people plan to restart it again. Typer525 ^Talk 22:36, 23 July 2007 (UTC) (arg forgot to sign... X.X)

The notable alumni section has been plagued with vandalism, addition of non-notable people, and lack of sources. After a few months of dealing with the mess, I agree with Typer 525 that the section should be removed altogether. If any sourced notable alumni comes up, then the section will be reinstituted. Section removed. Jumping cheese 07:43, 3 January 2008 (UTC) I will like to also report that there is WikiProject: Schools set guidelines for school alumni. So when a verifiable alumni does comes up, please use this guideline. Typer525 ^Talk 02:18, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

US Service Academies

Should there be mention about the large number of Whitney graduates that attend US Service Academies? Last year, I know one person that went to West Point (I'm sure there's more that went to other academies, but I can't remember who they are). The year before that, one went to West Point, another to Naval, and another to Air Force. I heard from somewhere that Whitney has the highest ratio of graduates that attend US Service Academies. Can someone get a source or verify this? Jumping cheese ^Cont@ct 07:45, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Best high school in California?

The attribution for the statement "In 2005, the Associated Press rated Whitney High the best high school in California,[4] based on its API score" (under "Media coverage") is older than stated. If you go to the following page, which is also accessible from the link at the bottom of the page, you can see that it hasn't been updated since 2000. The link to the California Department of Education even gives a 404 error. --Kshieh 23:38, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Interesting. I know it was a fact a few years ago when I started to attend Whitney. I will try to get to the bottom of this, when I am not busy with school of course. Typer525 ^Talk 02:12, 3 April 2008 (UTC)