La Quinta High School (Westminster, California)

La Quinta High School is a high school in Westminster, California and is a member of the Garden Grove Unified School District. It has the highest API score for a public school in Orange County (score 849), as well as one of the highest percentages of students attending college in the whole county Fact|date=February 2007. It also participates in most of the district's sports (excluding wrestling, which was removed from the school's schedules at the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year but may resume at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year). La Quinta has won many league championships for the past couple decades in sports such as boys and girls tennis. La Quinta also has the largest Business department in the district; it offers classes to obtain either an Accounting Certificate or Business Ownership Certificate as a supplement to college applications or resumes. It was founded in 1963, and recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. Its mascot is an Aztec. La Quinta's current principal is Louise Milner.

The structure of the school is divided into three main buildings. The 200 building to the east specializes in language and social science courses, whereas the 300 building to the west features classes in the scientific and mathematical fields. The 400 building to the south houses weight rooms and classrooms for miscellaneous subjects, such as health/drivers ed and computer graphics. Students must daily crisscross back and forth across the intervening space between buildings, known as the quad.

There are two primary parking lots, the junior parking lot and senior parking lot. The senior lot is reserved for seniors only who have a permit, whereas the junior parking lot encompasses all other students. The field south and west of the main campus has courts for sports such as basketball, soccer, track and field, tennis, football, etc. Surrounding the campus lie suburban neighborhoods typical of the Westminster area, with a primarily Vietnamese citizenship , reflecting and lending cause to the primarily Vietnamese ethnic makeup of the student body.

Notable alumni

* Bobby Crosby, shortstop for the MLB Oakland Athletics [Yamamura, Kevin, [http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/8282254p-9212827c.html "Being himself is good way to start: A's prospect Bobby Crosby will face the pressure of replacing an All-Star."] , "The Sacramento Bee", February 17, 2004]
* Brent Kutzle, bass guitar and cello player for the band, One Republic [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Kutzle] ]
*Gerald Laird, catcher for the MLB Texas Rangers [Preszler, David, [http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/98/jun98/6398s2.htm "With No. 2 pick in draft, A's select Mulder: The thought had to be at least tempting for the Oakland Athletics."] , "The Mail Tribune", June 1998.]
*Ian Kennedy, starting pitcher for the New York Yankees of the American League
*Ian Stewart, Third Baseman for the MLB Colorado Rockies
* Park Joon Hyung(Class of 1987). South Korean singer/rapper and a former member of defunct group, g.o.d.

References

External links

* [http://www.laquintahs.org/ Official site of school]