Monta Vista High School

Monta Vista High School
Address
21840 McClellan Road Cupertino, California, 95014 USA
Coordinates	37°18′52″N 122°03′24″W / 37.3145°N 122.0567°W / 37.3145; -122.0567Coordinates: 37°18′52″N 122°03′24″W / 37.3145°N 122.0567°W / 37.3145; -122.0567
Information
Type	Public 4-year
Established	1969
School district	Fremont Union High School District
Principal	April Scott
Staff	162 (2010-2011)
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	2,573 (2006–2007)
Color(s)	Purple and Gold
Mascot	Matador
Information	[phone]
Website	www.mvhs.fuhsd.org

Front of the high school.

Monta Vista academic court, December 1971.

Monta Vista academic court, August 2006

Monta Vista academic court and renovated library, June 2006.

Auditorium with mural.

Monta Vista High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino, California, USA. Part of the Fremont Union High School District, the school serves most of the suburban residential and industrial technology enriched area of western Cupertino. Monta Vista opened in 1969, offering only freshman and sophomore classes; the first class graduated in 1972. Since then, its student body size has averaged about 2400 students. Monta Vista is regarded as one of the top high schools in California located in one of the most affluent cities in the country with recorded average income of more than $100,000 per household.

Demographics

As of the 2006-2007 school year, Monta Vista has a student body of 2,450 students, of which 72% are Asian, 25% are White and 3% are Other (African American,Latino,Native American). 5% are limited English.^[1] Monta Vista has the largest student body in the district. Starting in the 1990s, Monta Vista was heavily Chinese though recently, there has been a significant influx of South Asians beginning in the 2000s. A 2005 Wall Street Journal article claimed that Monta Vista was experiencing a "white flight" caused by White American families feeling overwhelmed by the academic focus of the school's majority Asian American students.^[2]

Academics

With an API score of 949 points out of 1000,^[3] In the class of 2009, there are 42 National Merit Semi-finalists and 84 National Merit Commended students. After analyzing 21,069 public high schools in America, US News & World Report issued America's Best High Schools in 2009 which ranked Monta Vista #73. In 2007, Newsweek's 1,200 top U.S. schools ranked Monta Vista #85, the 7th Californian high school. The highest ranked school in the Fremont Union High School District, The Washington Post magazine ranked Monta Vista as the 57th best high school in the United States, the fourth highest academically performing high school in all of California,^[4] and the highest academically ranked school in the Fremont Union High School District in 2005. Though these rankings exclude private schools, many have selective admission policies, whereas schools like Monta Vista and Lynbrook do not; however, proof of residency is required for enrollment. For this reason, these rankings do not necessarily provide accurate results for all high schools.^[5]

Monta Vista Students are encouraged to take a challenging curriculum, offering up to seven classes a day. The school offers eight honors classes and fifteen Advanced Placement classes.^[6] By sophomore year, students are already taking honors-level classes, with some already taking AP-level courses such as Music Theory or Computer Science. Students are required to take two science classes, however most choose to take all three major offerings at the school (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics). Monta Vista's science offerings are particularly strong, with its Physics program known for being more challenging than entry-level college courses. In the 2010-2011 school year, Monta Vista produced four Intel International Science and Engineering Fair semi-finalists.

During students' junior and senior years, they can choose to participate in one of the alternative programs offered through De Anza College. The Middle College Program is available to juniors and seniors, while College Now is offered exclusively to members of the senior class. These programs allow students to explore interests with classes that aren't always offered at high school and build up college credits while completing the requirements for a diploma.^[7]

Student activities

Monta Vista High School's mascot is the Matador, with purple and gold as its official school colors. The school mascot's uniform, however, is that of a purple bull. Monta Vista High School rivals nearby Lynbrook High School and Cupertino High School and competes in the SCVAL of the Central Coast Section. The girl's swim team were CCS champions in 2008. The girl's soccer team were CCS champions in 1979 and 2009.^[8][9]

The school's campus consists of a large baseball field, an unlit American football field, and tennis courts. Due to neighborhood complaints about noise levels, as well as a lack of lighting on the field, Monta Vista holds most of their home football games at Cupertino High School. In 2007, the school completed construction of the new lighted pool, which is host to several water polo and swimming competitions per year.

The Class of 2011 began a tradition where students would camp out at school the day and night before orientation to change their courses and schedules, in order to have teachers of their choice. As a result of their actions, the administration took teacher names off of preliminary schedules to curb the camp outs, however students reverse-engineered teacher names from class section numbers. For the 2011-2012 school year, all section numbers have been removed and it was made impossible for future classes to know their teachers ahead of time. Police patrols were set up to curb any attempts to camp out.

Monta Vista High School has a school-wide acclaimed leadership class that is ranked from ASB Officers (usually seniors that have been class officers for the majority of their school experience, class officers for each grade (that plan their class's events, fundraisers and proms are elected through weeks of competitive campaigning) and commissions (groups of students that focus on a specific goal to help the school.) Due to budget cuts and district changes, the class consists of two advisors and the combination of Community Leadership, so the class now includes a Board.

Other activities

• Monta Vista's DECA chapter continues to be ranked first in the state after the California Career Development Conference in Santa Clara, CA and second in the world after the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) held in Orlando, FL. For four consecutive years, Monta Vista DECA has placed top 3 in at least one of the three finance competitive events.
• Monta Vista's chapter of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is ranked second in the world after the 2011 National Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL. It holds two conseuctive national championships in Management Information Systems, and has placed top 3 in a variety of other competitions ranging from technology to business.^[10]
• Monta Vista's Girls Tennis Team is consistently one of the top teams in the state, winning CCS and the California Classic many times in he past ten years.
• The school is a member of the California Color Guard Circuit.
• Monta Vista's Dance Team has won a State Title every year from 2001–2010, and National Titles in both 2005 and 2006. The dance team won 1st place in the championship kick division at Nationals in 2010. Outside of competitions, the team performs at rallies, football games, and their annual Winter and Spring Shows.
• Monta Vista's Cheer Team placed first in the 2007 USA Spirit Nationals held in Anaheim, California in the Super Varsity Show Cheer Novice Division. In the 2010 season, the squad took home 1st place in the Northern California Championships, competing in the Super Varsity Show Cheer Intermediate Division. Outside of competitions, the team performs at rallies, at the Spring Show, and at every football and basketball game.
• In 2008 and 2009, Monta Vista hosted the United Spirit Association's Cal State Dance Competition.
• As of the start of the 2006–2007 school year, Monta Vista has the largest band program in the Fremont Union High School District.
• Monta Vista's audition choir, Variations, has participated in the Heritage Festivals and Festival of Gold. They mostly perform outside of competitions, at their own concerts, the first football game of the year, singing valentines, and the graduation ceremony.
• In its first year of Quiz Bowl Competition, Monta Vista High School captured the 2006 Northern California NAQT Championship, and placed 54th out of 128 in the National Championship.
• In 2009, the Monta Vista girls' soccer team defeated Palo Alto to win their first CCS title in 30 years.
• Starting with the class of 2009, Monta Vista has participated in We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution. Both in 2009 and 2010, the Monta Vista Team has reached the California State Finals.
• In 2000, Monta Vista hosted the National Association of Student Councils conference.
• In 2001, Monta Vista's Math and Science Club won 2nd place in the USAMO represented by Stephen Guo.
• In April 2011, Monta Vista's newspaper El Estoque won two Best of Show awards and an Online Pacemaker Award at the National Scholastic Press Association Spring Journalism Convention at Anaheim, California.

Architecture

The majority of the school's buildings are built in the Spanish Mission architectural style. The school has been undergoing a multi-million dollar facilities modernization, with a new library, completed in late 2005, showcased in the center of campus. Small renovations, such as the fitting of metal doors in place of old wooden ones, were completed over the summer of 2006. The athletic facilities, such as the gym, swimming pool and locker rooms, have now completed renovation. A new school office has also been constructed.

Monta Vista is divided into four major structures. A Building holds most of the foreign languages. B Building has many science classrooms and language arts, with C Building holding many social sciences. D Building is a relatively new building, and has math and science classrooms and the Monta Vista Linux Lab, where computer programming classes are held. The F building is located on the opposite side of the campus, and has arts, performing arts, and industrial technology classes.

The Fremont Union High School District was given bond money from a county measure to undergo renovatons and improvements, including the installation of solar panels above the student parking lot and planting of AstroTurf on the football field.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Monta Vista High School include:

• Matthew Axelson, Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan and was awarded the Navy Cross for courage in the face of the enemy.
• Brian Hall, World Cup and MLS soccer referee
• Daniel Puder, professional wrestler New Japan Pro Wrestling
• Dennis Fong, former professional computer game player and gaming site webmaster. Co-founder of the Xfire online messenger
• Dylan Fergus, actor
• Justina Chen Headley, writer
• Paul Kim , contestant on season 6 of American Idol
• Robert Rothbart, professional basketball player
• Ron Reis, former WCW wrestler
• Ryan Hancock, professional baseball player for the California Angels
• Sheryl Johnson, former Stanford field hockey coach and USA Field Hockey player of the year
• Stephanie Sheh, notable voice actor
• Vance Walberg, Pepperdine University men's basketball coach
• Andrew Martinez, "The Naked Guy" at UC Berkeley
• Kyle Kingsbury, UFC fighter
• Han Kim, friendly neighborhood Korean

Notable staff

• Petri Hawkins-Byrd, bailiff on the Judge Judy television program, was a student counselor in the 1990s.^[11]

References

1. ^ http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/page=sp/sid=84427
2. ^ Hwang, Suein (2005-11-19). "The New White Flight". The Wall Street Journal: p. A1. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113236377590902105.html?mod=OHP2MP. 
3. ^ 2007 Growth API School Report - Monta Vista High
4. ^ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com
5. ^ The 1,200 Top U.S. Schools - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - MSNBC.com
6. ^ http://mvhs.fuhsd.org/content/SchoolProfile/SchoolProfile0809.pdf
7. ^ http://www.deanza.edu/gettingstarted/middle.html
8. ^ http://www.mercurynews.com/portal/ci_11811093?source=most_emailed&_loopback=1
9. ^ http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=11394
10. ^ http://www.mvfbla.org/comps.php#comps_history.php
11. ^ "Petri Hawkins Byrd". CBS. 2008-09-15. http://www.cbspressexpress.com/div.php/cbs_tvdg/original/bio?id=370&bid=666&dpid=71. Retrieved 2009-03-28. 

External links

• Monta Vista High School website
• Monta Vista DECA Chapter
• Monta Vista FBLA Chapter
• Monta Vista Online Newspaper

Fremont Union High School District
Cupertino | Fremont | Homestead | Lynbrook | Monta Vista