- Mission Viejo High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Mission Viejo, California, United States, as part of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. The school has served the area since 1966. Students within its attendance boundaries live in western Mission Viejo, southwest Lake Forest, Trabuco Canyon, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Laguna Hills. Its mascot is Pablo the Diablo and its colors are scarlet and gold. 230 credits are required to graduate from Mission Viejo High School.As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,997 students and 110.0 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis, for a student-teacher ratio of 27.2.
- Awards and Recognition
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Their mascot is a diablo, ths spanish word for Devil.Mission Viejo High School has been awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education on three separate occasions, in 1988-89, 1994-96 and 2001-02, the highest award an American school can receive.
- Mission Viejo High School has been recognized three times as a California Distinguished School, in 1988, 1994 and 2001.
- Academics
- International Baccalaureate
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Mission Viejo has been an International Baccalaureate school since July 1985. This program, taught to 132 students, is for academically talented and highly motivated students sponsored and administered by the I.B. Organization. The students who meet the I.B. requirements are eligible for the International Baccalaureate Diploma. This school received 57 diplomas in the 2005-2006 school year. Owing to the recently proposed statewide budget cuts, the future of Mission Viejo High School's International Baccalaureate program has come into question.
- Advanced Placement and Honors courses
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The school offers Advanced Placement and Honor Courses at all grade levels. Advanced Placement Program (AP) classes are offered in AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Language and Composition, AP French Language, AP European History, AP German Language, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics B, Mechanics, AP Psychology, AP Spanish Language, AP United States Government and Politics and AP United States History.
- Accreditation
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Mission Viejo High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The school received its most recent 6-year renewal of its full accreditation in the 2004-05 school year.
- Athletics
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The Diablo sports teams compete in the South Coast League of CIF Southern Section
- Football
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The school has fielded one of the best football records in the country over the past three decades, and at one time in 2005 were ranked number 2 in the nation by USA Today. Mark Sanchez (USC), Nick Reed (Oregon), Gregg Peat (Oregon State), Chase Moline, and Chane Moline (UCLA), Konrad Reuland (Notre Dame / Stanford), and Kevin Bemoll (CAL) were the key ingredients to one of the best high school football teams ever to come from MVHS. The school finished the 2004 season ranked third in the nation by USA Today, and was one of only ten schools that appeared in the paper's Top 25 during every week of the season. In the fall of 2005, however, they finished with a 12-1 record and were ranked 20th in the country by USA Today, due to their loss against Hart High School.
- The Diablos play their home games at Mike Rush Stadium. Within recent years, ethics have been called into question. As reported in the Orange County Register on May 29, 2003, Coach Johnson and his Diablos were barred from hosting CIFSS playoff games for one season due to a controversial incident. CIFSS had mandated Spalding footballs for use in playoff games, but the Diablos had used Wilson footballs all season; the MVHS staff then painted their Wilson footballs with the Spalding logo in an attempt to deceive CIF officials. In addition to the ban on playoff home games, Coach Johnson and his staff were ordered to take classes in sportsmanship. Many critics felt the Diablos were punished lightly, compared to some other schools who were caught cheating and forced to forfeit games or relinquish titles.
- 2006 was considered a rebuilding year, as the Diablos were defeated by solid teams in the Southern California area as well as De La Salle of Concord. They won the league title, and reached the second round of the CIF-SS Pac-5 playoffs before being eliminated by Santa Margarita Catholic High School in a close game.
- Swimming
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Mission Viejo's swimming program is one of the strongest in the region, and has dominated Orange County for decades.They are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation by several polls.
- Boys Cross Country
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Mission's cross country program has been relatively successful in past years, most notably under the coaching program of Gene Gurule. In recent years, the team has produced several outstanding athletes and teams.
- In 2005, Michael Wolde-Yohannes claimed the title of South Coast League Champion, though the team did not advance to CIF prelims.
- The 2006 year saw the addition of coach Chris Jones to the team staff, as well as a host of new varsity athletes. The team had very few returning varsity runners, and no seniors, making it easily the youngest team in the South Coast League and perhaps in the county. Led by sophomore James Cameron(beast) and junior Troy Torrez, the Mission team placed second in league and advanced to CIF prelims.
- Because of the youth of the 2006 team, the 2007 varsity team is composed entirely of returning varsity athletes, and predictions for the season are optimistic. In a dual meet versus Capistrano Valley High School, James Cameron ran a 15:04 3-mile, making him one of the leading contenders for league champion alongside Dana Hills' Tyler Valdes.
- The 2007 varsity team was James Cameron, Troy Torrez, Jake Hartwell, Weston Cole, Brent Trombley, Victor Ray and J.P. Allport. The boys went on to win third in the South Coast League, next to Dana Hills High School and Aliso Niguel High School.
- Boys' track
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Mission Viejo Track has been extremely successful in the South Coast League since its founding. Since 1973, the team has won its league 24 times. It also boasts an impressive four county wins, three C.I.F. wins and one state win.
- The current head coach of the Mission team is Michael Hoffman, who has led the boys to several league and county victories after taking over a very successful winning streak led by Gene Gurule. The school also currently employs several other coaches, including distance coach Gene Gurule and pole vault coach John White.
- In the 2007 season, Mission Viejo finished second in both league and county, next to Dana Hills High School. The team's best varsity athletes included distance runner James Cameron, hurdlers Devalle Pedrogo and Sean Schuster, sprinter Andrew Connell, and shotputter Jeff Baca. Out of these five, only Jeff Baca and Sean Schuster graduated in 2008, so the other three will return for the 2009 track season.
- Girl's Track & Field
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Mission Viejo girls track and field has also been extremely successful in the South Coast League, founded in 1975. The team won 20 consecutive SCL Championships from 1983-2002. Mission Viejo girls teams have won a record 8 Orange County Championships including 5 in a row from 1988-1992. The girls are also 4-time CIF-SS runner-up in track & field. Fred Almond has been the head coach 29 years, 1981-2009.
- Performing Arts
- Wind Ensemble
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The wind ensemble is the most advanced class in all of Mission Viejo High School's band and orchestra classes. These students learn sophisticated understanding of music such as rhythms, key signatures, accents, and terminology. These students represented their high school and nicely reflected their entire band program by having such prestigious performances to various audiences. The students in wind ensemble may also enroll in marching band for P.E. (physical education) credits that are needed to graduate.
- Concert Band
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The concert band, also known as the symphonic band, is another type of band class for the students who have intermediate experience with their instrument. They learn the basic skills of music during the beginning of the school years. These skills include, but are not limited to, flexibility, endurance, and tone qualities. As the school year progresses, music difficulty becomes increasingly harder, thus motivating students to acquire more skills of music. They perform various pieces of music from many types of backgrounds. Along with wind ensemble, the concert band may also enroll in marching band for P.E. credits needed to graduate. Those highly competent enough can audition, and if they qualify they can go into wind ensemble.
- Marching Band
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The school's marching band, as part of the Western Band Association, is a military-like band that usually rehearses outdoors, performs in parades, festivals, and of course, creates their own marching show. Marching band takes place in the first semester of the school year. The band ranges from freshmen to senior students. They have professional instructors in their marching band as well as their entire music program. Their program coordinator and music arranger is Jim Wunderlich.
- In 1998 and 2003, the marching band were the WBA State Champions.
- Additionally, the drumline is very successful, winning High Percussion at WBA State Championships each year from 1997 to 2003, excluding 2000.
- Also the drumline were the 2001 & 2007 WGI World Champions!
- "The 150-member band also won High Percussion and High General Effect awards. It's the third consecutive year the drum line has won the High Percussion award", 2004 and 2006. Both the drumline and color guard compete in WGI.
- In 2006, the marching band won 2nd place in the WBA State Finals in their 5A Class.
- With over 150 members, the marching band is one of the largest marching bands in the Western Band Association.
- Indoor Percussion
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Since 1998, the Mission Viejo Indoor Percussion Ensemble has won two Gold Medals and several silver medals at the annual Winter Guard InternationalFinals Competition at Dayton, Ohio. Mission is hailed as one of the most prestigious drumlines in the country, and has a reputation for avant garde show design.
- Drama
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The MVHS Drama Team recently finished the 2009 spring musical, Singin' in the Rain. MVHS Drama has 5 levels Drama1, Drama 2, Drama 3 & 4 are combined classes known as Advanced Drama, and finally I.B. Drama. Mission's Drama Director is Kathleen Cannarozzi-Harris. Mrs. Harris is the Performing Arts chair person at Mission Viejo. She has also started the first Cappie association in the west coast. Among her recognitions, she has received the honors of 2009 Orange County Secondary Theater Arts Teacher of the Year, 2008 SVUSD Teacher of the Year, and the 2007-08 California Educational Theatre Leadership Award. In a recent interview of MVHS's "Diablo Heat," Mrs. Harris stated, "If I wasn't devoting eight hours of my day here (MVHS Performing Arts Department) I would probably be at a professional Theater devoting eight hours of my day there." This is probably in reference to her several positions she holds at various Orange County Theaters. In Mrs. Harris's playbill bio, it states "KC Harris has been teaching drama and dance since 1978 in her native state of Pennsylvania on the high school, university and community theater levels. She has directed over 150 productions, received her Master's degree in theater from Penn State University, and began her Doctoral study at Northwestern University in children's theater. She served for six years as the Pennsylvania State Director for the International Thespian Society and was awarded the city and county teacher of the year in 1988 and 1990. Mrs. Harris is the chairperson of the MVHS Performing and Visual Arts and the mentor teacher for Performing Arts for SVUSD. She was the 1997 Los Angeles County Music Center's Bravo Finalist for Arts Excellence in Drama and was recognized as a 1997 Distinguished Woman of Orange County. She was awarded the Arts Educator of the Year 2002 from Arts Orange County and the 2007 California Educational Leadership Award. She is the 2008 SVUSD Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Harris is also an adjunct faculty member at Cal State Fullerton, UCI, and Saddleback College and is a member of the teaching staff at the Laguna Playhouse." In the words of most of her students, "She's pretty much amazing." like an old person!
- Choir
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Mission Viejo High School is well known throughout the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, as well as throughout Orange County, for its Choral Arts program. Under the direction of John Elg, the program consists of the beginning level Concert Choir, the intermediate, all girls Treble Choir, and the advanced Chamber Choir. Every year, all three choirs perform at the fall, winter, and spring concerts held in the school's Performing Arts Theater. Additionally, for the past ten years all three choirs have participated annually in the Disneyland Community Arts Showcase held each February in the Carnation Plaza at Disneyland. Furthermore, Chamber Choir regularly attends and performs in festivals and competitions throughout Orange County. One of these festivals is the annual California State University Fullerton Choir Festival, in which the Mission Viejo Chamber Singers took home a Superior rating, the highest achievement at the festival, in 2006. The 2007-08 Chamber Choir was one of three high school choirs in the country invited to perform at the American Choral Director's Association National Choir Convention. One of the program's most famous traditions is the performance of G.F. Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" at the Winter concert, and Willhousky's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at the Spring concert. These two pieces are performed every year at the end of the respective concert by all three choirs, as well as choir alumni who are invited to come up on stage and sing with the choir.
- Student Tech
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Mission Viejo High School is well known throughout the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, as well as throughout Orange County, for its Student Tech program. Under the direction of Daryl Fukuda, the program consists of beginning level tech support, and the advanced Senior tech. Every year, these student techs break down and set up many library computers, flip power switches in many rooms, plug in power cables, and reformat computers, as well as install printers. On of the program's most famous traditions is the memorization of a serial code to Office XP. Knowing this is very crucial to the reformatting of computers.
- Student Ethnicity
- Notable alumni
- Joe DeRenzo, Musician and Bandleader. Class of 1976.
- Julie Foudy, Midfielder for the United States women's national soccer team from 1987 through 2004. Won two Olympic gold medals.
- Brianna Keilar - CNN correspondent.
- Michael Lopez-Alegria, An American astronaut and a veteran of three space shuttle missions and one International Space Station mission.
- Major Megan McClung, the first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War.
- Joe-Max Moore- former professional soccer player.
- Mark O'Meara - PGA Golfer, class of 1975. Won the Masters Tournament and the British Open in 1998.
- Ryan Powdrell, American football fullback graduate of the University of Southern California and currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Mark Sanchez, college football quarterback attending the University of Southern California, NY Jets]
- Sabrina Sloan, Former American Idol contestant in Season 6 who was a top 24 finalist.
- External links
- Mission Viejo High School official website
- School Accountability Report Card for 2003-04: Saddleback Valley Unified School District - Mission Viejo High School
- National Center for Education Statistics data for Mission Viejo High School
- Music Program
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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