Mark Keppel High School - Alhambra, California/CA

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Mark Keppel High School

501 E. Hellman Ave., Alhambra, CA, 91803 -

tel: (626)572-2242
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Definition of Terms

Mark Keppel High School

School Level

High school

Grades Offered

Grades 9 - 12

County

Los Angeles County, CA

Students & Faculty

Total Students

2260 students

% Male / % Female

52% / 48%

Total Classroom Teachers

85 teachers

Students by Grade

Grade 9 - 617 students

Grade 10 - 640 students

Grade 11 - 511 students

Grade 12 - 462 students

Grade Not Listed - 30 students

This School

( CA ) School Average

Teacher : Student Ratio

1:27

1:20

Students by Ethnicity

This School

( CA ) School Average

% American Indian	n/a	n/a
% Asian	72%	11%
% Hispanic	23%	50%
% Black	1%	7%
% White	4%	28%

Additional Student Information

This School

( CA ) School Average

% Eligible for Free Lunch

45%

44%

% Eligible for Reduced Lunch

12%

10%

% Migrant Students Enrolled

( CA ) Statewide Testing Performance

School Statewide Performance

View Education Department Test Scores

School District Name

Alhambra City High School District

This School's Agency

( CA ) District Average

Number of Schools Managed	n/a	4
Number of Students Managed	n/a	1,760 students
District Total Revenue	n/a	$14,612,000
District Expenditure	n/a	$15,326,000
District Revenue / Student	n/a	$7,880
District Expenditure / Student	n/a	$7,807
District Graduation Rates	n/a	n/a

Mark Keppel High School is a California Distinguished School in the Alhambra Unified School District, located at 501 E. Hellman Ave., Alhambra, California, 91801.
History: Mark Keppel High School is named for Dr. Mark Keppel, Superintendent of Los Angeles County Schools from 1902 to 1928.
Construction of Mark Keppel High School started December 19, 1938, three days after the ground-breaking ceremonies. The school was just one of thousands of projects built by the Public Works Administration during the Great Depression, but this was one that the cities of Monterey Park, Alhambra, the Alhambra High School District, and the �Wilmar� section of unincorporated Los Angeles County would be proud to call their own.
The Mark Keppel student body has long been characterized as a harmonious, hard working group of multi-cultural and multi-racial students from the surrounding communities. Since its inception, Mark Keppel High has been in competition with cross-town rival Alhambra High, which always seemed to enjoy �favorite-son� status with the Alhambra community and school district.
Mark Keppel High has been through it all: the austerity and uncertainty of the Great Depression and World War II, the prosperity, hot rods and slicked back hair of the 1950s, the civil unrest and Counterculture of the 1960s, the globalization and self-absorption of the 1970s, the White Flight in the 1980s, and a redrawing of the feeder-school lines in the mid-1990s.
The redrawing of the feeder-school lines has had a profound effect on MKHS; the elementary school students of the Highlands area of Monterey Park were re-routed from Alhambra High to Mark Keppel High. Some concerned parents banded together and formed the Mark Keppel High School Alliance to lobby the Alhambra School District to improve conditions, renovate the aging campus, and to advocate for the school community.
Architecture: Mark Keppel High School is designed in the Streamline Moderne architectural style, a variant of the Art Deco, and a product of the Great Depression. While the Art Deco celebrated the mechanization of the Jazz Age with big, bold, vertical designs, exotic materials, and elaborate decorations, the Streamline Moderne was a more reserved and utilitarian style. The Streamline Moderne mimicked the fast, dynamic look of machines with sleek, aerodynamic and nautical forms, low horizontal designs, rounded corners, and shiny materials.
The architecture of Mark Keppel High School features rounded corners in and outside the auditorium, on the staircase leading up to the front entrance, and in all the interior stairwells. Incised horizontal lines cut through the brick stringcourse which wraps the lower part of the building and the brick pillars between the windows. The stucco texture coat of the facade features designs that emphasize horizontal shapes; blocks between the windows on both floors and along the top of the building contribute to the geometric, yet sleek look of the building. The uppermost block is bounded by a horizontal brick band, and the building is crowned with a small inset ledge. Extra handrails are found in front of the windows in the second floor hallways, in front of the display cases around the administration offices, and on the north wing exterior staircase.
Murals: Mark Keppel High School features three bas relief murals made by native Southern California artist, Millard Sheets.
The three enamel on stainless steel murals entitled "Early California" decorate the exterior of the auditorium, and depict the founding of California as well as the regional features of Los Angeles County.
The largest mural crowns the entrance to the auditorium and depicts the three main groups that colonized and populated California: the Spanish Conquistadors, the Catholic Missionaries, and American Pioneers. The mural features a golden California on a backdrop of green mountain ranges, dotted with golden Redwood trees, and capped with a large reflective stainless steel sun wrapped with a sunburst decoration. On the left, the Conquistador goes before his ship, claiming the new land in the name of Spain. In the center, a Missionary kneels down, gingerly placing a mission in Southern California. On the right, a Miner 49�er pans for gold while his wife holds their child and rifle, their covered wagons behind them.
The two smaller murals are located on the southern facade of the auditorium, facing toward Hellman Ave. The mural on the left depicts early Los Angeles County with the San Gabriel Mountains to the north, the San Gabriel Mission surrounded by orange groves in the center, a dairy farm with Cowboy below, and the Long Beach Harbor in the south.
The mural on the right showcases the entire state of California. From north to south, a lumberjack cuts down a Redwood tree, two miners pan for gold, and a farmer harvests oranges from his orange grove. A cowboy gallops in on a white horse from the east, while a large ship sails in majestically from the west.
Mascot: Mark Keppel High School's official symbol and mascot is the Aztec.
Awards and Accreditations: Western Association of Schools and Colleges six-year accreditation: 1996.
California Distinguished School Award: 2005.
Exemplary Career Technical Education Award: 2005.
Title I Academic Achievement Award: 2004, 2005, 2006.
Governor�s Performance Award: 2001, 2002, 2003.
Ranked 451 on Newsweek's 1,000 "Best High Schools in America": 2004.
Notable Alumni: John Kimbro, class of 1948: Prolific author of over eighty books, including forty gothic romance novels.
Paul Noll, winter class 1949: Author.
Hank Aguirre, class of 1950: Major League Baseball Pitcher with the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs.
Victor Vurpillat, class of 1950: Mathematician, entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has launched several successful high tech firms, including Novell and Span Works.
Bradley Wayne Hughes, class of 1952: Founder and director of Public Storage, a self-storage company.
Dee Pollock, class of 1955: Actor who appeared in many Television shows, including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Outer Limits, and Rawhide.
Dan Vadis, class of 1955: Actor who appeared in sword and sandal films such as The Triumph of Hercules, and Clint Eastwood westerns such as High Plains Drifter.
Larry Burright, class of 1956: Major League Baseball Second baseman.
Mike McCormick, class of 1956: Major League Baseball Pitcher with the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, and the Kansas City Athletics.
Pete Mikkelson, class of 1957: Major League Baseball Pitcher.
Foster Hirsch, class of 1961: Professor of film studies at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York; Author of sixteen books on Film and theatre.
Scott Ostler, class of 1965: Sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Jeff Dandurand, class of 1992: Radio DJ and Comedian.
Jorge Quintana, class of 1995: News Anchor.
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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About This Zip Code (91803)

School Zip (91803)

(CA) State Average

Population (Approximate)

30,629 people

33,115,272 people

% (age 25+) w/College Degree

32%

32%

Population Average Age

36 years old

32 years old

Average Household size

3.1 persons

2.9 persons

Median Household Income

$41,303

$48,909

Avg. # of Rooms in Household

4 rooms

4.8 rooms

Median Age of Housing Structure

55 years old

39 years old

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Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (91803)

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% Owning / % Renting

48% / 52%

58% / 42%

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Weather: 10-day forecast or monthly climate averages.

Nearby Schools:


1. Alhambra Community Day - 20 students - view location
2. Alhambra High School - 3337 students - view location
3. Century High (cont) - 201 students - view location
4. Independence High Alternative School - 262 students - view location
5. East Los Angeles Community Day - 341 students - view location
View all schools in: Alhambra Town, Los Angeles County, Zip 91803

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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

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