Independence High School (San Jose, California)
37°22′20.79″N 121°51′32.71″W / 37.3724417°N 121.8590861°W
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2009) |
| Independence High School | |
|---|---|
| File:Independence High School SJ Logo.jpg | |
| Address | |
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1776 Educational Park Drive , 95133 | |
| Information | |
| School type | Public, magnet high school |
| Founded | 1976 |
| School district | East Side Union High School District |
| Principal | Grettel Castro-Stanley |
| Staff | 166 [1] |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 3436 [1] (2009) |
| Language | English |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Red, white and blue |
| Mascot | 76er |
| Athletic conferences | California Interscholastic Federation Central Coast Section |
| Website | http://ih.ca.campusgrid.net/home |
Independence High School (IHS, Indy) is a public high school located in the Berryessa district of Santa Clara County, California, United States. The school is operated by the East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD), and is so-named due to its founding in 1976 and its location at 1776 Educational Park Dr.—alluding to the year the United States Declaration of Independence was signed.
Established in 1976, Independence is considered a magnet school, with three specialized programs, called "academies", delving into electronics, finance, and education. By 2009, however, prior programs, including ones nurturing the performing arts and space technology, were cut due to budget constraints.[citation needed]
Independence's mascot is the 76er, represented by a character named Sammy the Sixer, who in turn is an interpretation of an American founding father; as such, Sammy is usually depicted as a caricature of George Washington.
Population
Demographics
Out of the sixteen high schools ESUHSD operates, Independence services the largest student population[1], with 3436 students as of the 2008-2009 school year[1]. Out of these, 3.0% identified as African-American, 0.3% identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, 36.6% identified as Asian, 19.8% identified as Filipino, 34.8% identified as Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% identified as Pacific Islander, 4.3% identified as White, and 0.2% gave either mixed or no response. 20.1% of the student population are considered English learners.[1]
Class Size
As of the 2008-2009 school year, the pupil-teacher ratio is 21.8 to 1, with 94.4% of teachers being fully credentialed; as of the same time, the full-time equivalent of Independence's teachers is 157.4. Class size at Independence is an average of 26.8 students.[1]
Campus
Independence High School consists of over fifty buildings, each labeled with a specific letter. The four primary groups of buildings are referred to as the villas, including A-Villa (American Hall), which includes the school bank, B-Villa (Bicentennial Hall), C-Villa (Constitution Hall) which includes the disciplinary committee, and D-Villa (Democracy Hall). During the fall of 2005, E-Villa (Eagle Hall) was removed indefinitely, only to be used as the name place for all music rooms. All villas are architecturally identical and surround a concrete clock tower in the middle of the school.
Other academic structures include complexes also labeled with letters, including the G-Complex, housing art classes, H-Complex, housing the main office, K-Complex, housing the science courses, L-Complex, housing business and home economics courses, M-Complex, housing industrial classes, N-Complex, housing foreign language courses, and the P-Complex, which are portable buildings currently in use by the Mexican-American Community Services Agency, which runs a charter school on campus.
Along with a now-defunct planetarium[2] and the Luis Valdez Center for the Performing Arts, the school also houses Olympic-sized racing and diving pools, as well as as an Olympic-regulation track. Independence also contains seven tennis courts, four baseball fields, and two gymnasiums.
As of Fall of 2009, Independence will be taking back the building housing the San Jose Educational Park Public Library, and turning it into its own campus library, forcing the public library to find a new home, located directly down the street.[citation needed]
Extracurricular Activities
Yearbook
The American was Independence High School's Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold- and Silver Crown-winning yearbook.[3], though it was not printed entirely in color until the 2006-2007 school year. In 2008, Independence High School confirmed that The American would cease publication due to debt accumulation and budget problems.[citation needed]
Newspapers
Until the late 1980s, a student newspaper titled the Declaration of Independence was distributed throughout the school, though it eventually ceased publication.[citation needed] In 2004, three student papers—including The Independent Voice, The Independent Times, and a revived Declaration of Independence—were almost simultaneously founded, though by 2006 only The Independent Voice had any significant representation in the school. As of the 2009-2010 school year, the Voice continues to be the school's sole student-run, monthly newspaper, distributed throughout the school to selected classrooms and villas. All publication and equipment costs are funded solely through fundraisers and advertisement sales.
Band
Independence High School's band program, led by Dr. Kenneth Ponticelli, includes Symphony Orchestra, String Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble. (A fifth offering, Concert Band, was discontinued in 2007 due to low enrollment of freshmen music students.)
The school's marching band and color guard, the 76th Cavalry Marching Band and Color Guard, has an award-winning history, beginning with its crowning as World Champion in 1981.[citation needed] In 2006, the 76th Cavalry became Class AA Champion with a performance of Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony, garnering 85.85 points at preliminaries and 87.69 at the finals—the first championships the Cavalry had won since 1981. The 76th Cavalry placed fourth in the overall A/AA/AAA classification. In 2007, the 76th Cavalry became Class AA Champion once again with a score of 82.5. This allowed them to advance into finals with all other A, AA, and AAA bands, where they placed fifth overall with a score of 84.1. In 2008, the 76th Cavalry placed second in Class A with a score of 80.40, clinching High General Effect and High Auxiliary captions with their show entitled "The Gathering, Selection by Rachmaninoff". The 76th Cavalry has also been invited to London in Winter 2009 to play in a New Year's parade.
The Wind Ensemble have placed first in their division in many Heritage Festivals.[citation needed] During spring break of 2007, the Wind Ensemble went to the New York Heritage Festival and took first in their division, along with winning an Adjudicator's Award for a score over 92, and another award for receiving the highest score of all the instrumental groups at the festival. They brought home two trophies and a plaque, along with an invitation to the 2008 Gold Festival in Boston. They have also been invited to play in many places around the world, including Britain, Australia, and China.
Choir
Independence High School offers two choirs for student enrollment: Concert Choir and Chamber Choir. Chamber Choir is audition-only, and holds auditions during May/June. Both choirs present concerts in December and May, as well as a fundraising one in mid-January.
Theatre
Independence High School's drama department annually produces a fall play and a spring musical. The productions are currently under the direction of Pamela S. Douglas-Melvin, along with a student director of her discretion. Past plays have included Bus Stop (2005), The Miracle Worker (2006), A Midsummer's Night Dream (2007), and Marisol (2008); past musicals have included Guys and Dolls (2004), Godspell (2005), Bat Boy: The Musical (2006), Little Shop of Horrors (2007), Footloose (2008), and Starmites (2009). The productions are held at Independence's on-campus theatre, the Luis Valdez Center of Performing Arts.
Dance
Dance classes offered at Independence include Jazz Dance, Ballet, Modern Dance, Theatre Dance (also known as IndepenDANCE, Independence's student-run audition-only dance company). Ballet is taught by Cristina McClelland, Modern Dance is taught by Kellye Dodd, and Jazz and Theatre Dance are joint efforts. Each year, the Jazz Dance classes perform at a school rally, while IndepenDANCE performs several rallies throughout the year, as well as an annual concert. Originally, Jazz Dance 1 was offered as PE credit for students who had passed swim tests; however, Independence High School discontinued this practice in fall 2006, though Jazz Dance 1 may still be taken for the East Side Union High School District's performing arts graduation requirement.
Athletics
Most sports teams are divided among a junior varsity (JV) team and a varsity team, though Independence is one of the schools in the BVAL that does not offer a men's volleyball team, a golf team, or a field hockey team. The girls' cross country and track and field varsity team captain Amanda Nguyen has held a shocking record throughout the whole district when running the 5k. [citation needed]
Notable alumni
- Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns[4]
- Sandra McCoy, actress/dancer
- Matt Sanchez, war correspondent/journalist
- Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, heralded UFC and ex-Pride MMA fighter. Currently resides on Story Road.
- Brian Nixon, author, journalist, and broadcaster.