- Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School is located at 4747 New York Avenue in La Crescenta, California. The school is managed as a part of the Glendale Unified School District.
- Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School was originally conceived as the result of the recommendations of the "Vision of the Future" Task Force, created by the Glendale Unified School District to investigate methods of alleviating the pressure caused by overcrowding at the school district's three comprehensive high schools, Glendale High School, Herbert Hoover and Crescenta Valley. The task force recommended a new magnet school be commissioned with a mandate to focus on advanced technologies and the physical and earth sciences. To alleviate overcrowding, Clark Magnet High School accepts students from the attendance of all three comprehensive high schools. [1]
- The school, which utilizes the former campus of Anderson W. Clark Junior High School, which had been closed many years beforehand, underwent a US$15,000,000 renovation and opened in September, 1998. The school is the most technologically-advanced in Glendale Unified and is equipped with the latest technological advances. The school is also bolstered by corporate sponsorships by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Compaq Computers, NASA and Cisco Systems.[2]
- Admissions Process
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As a Magnet School, Clark Magnet accepts students from across the attendance territory of the Glendale Unified School District. Students apply during their eight grade year and admission is determined by a random lottery of qualified students. To qualify for admission, a student must:
- Be enrolled in a school of the Glendale Unified School District or eligible for enrollment through residence in the territory of the Glendale Unified School District.
- Possess a Grade Point Average of a least 2.0 ("C") in the core Grade 8 subject areas (English, Mathematics, History, and Science)
- Be eligible to take Algebra or higher level courses by the completion of the Grade 8 year.
- Exhibit satisfactory behavior.
- Score above the 36th Percentile on the California State STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) programme.
- Commit to remaining enrolled for one year.
- About 300 students are enrolled each year.
- Academics
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Academically, the school is very high-performing. In 2005, it was designated as a California Distinguished School, an honor bestowed by the California Department of Education to the best schools in the public system, and received the California Exemplary Career Technical Education Program Award. [3] In 2005, it had the top Academic Performance Index (API) ranking of any high school in the Glendale Unified School District. In 2006 it became a National Blue Ribbon School.
- Sports
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Clark Magnet offers an intramural sports program for its students.
- An ongoing controversy concerns the school's ability to offer interscholastic sports. The California Interscholastic Federation currently allows Clark students to attend the local High School in their area of residence to participate in Athletics. However, it has repeatedly said that this right would be revoked if Clark were to begin fielding its own interscholastic teams. Clark Magnet, due to restrictions imposed by the geography of the campus, would be unable to field the full spectrum of athletic activities offered by other High Schools in the Glendale area. As such, the decision has been made by the school's administration, thus far, not to pursue the creation of interscholastic teams.
- Demographics
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Statistics for 2008-2009 School Year [4]
- Students By Grade
- Grade 9 - 306
- Grade 10 - 288
- Grade 11 - 262
- Grade 12 - 242
- Gender and Ethnicity
- Gender
- Male - 579
- Female - 519
- Ethnicity
- American Indian/Alaskan Native - 1 (0.1%)
- Asian - 102 (9.5%)
- Hispanic/Latino - 58 (5.4%)
- Caucasian/White (Non-Hispanic) - 842 (78.4%)
- Multiple or No Response - 4 (0.4%)
- Clark Magnet, like most GUSD schools, has a sizable population of foreign-born students of Armenian descent (80%).
- Robotics
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FIRST Robotics Team 696 (The Circuit Breakers) is based at Clark. Since the team's foundation in 2000 and rookie year in 2001, members have created nine fully functional robots in the six week time period allotted. With the help of several mentors, including employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and various other mentors, the team, composed of high school students (grades nine through twelve), has competed at FIRST Robotics regionals in Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California, and Phoenix, Arizona. In the 2007 season, after taking finalist in the Los Angeles Regional and winning the San Diego Regional, the team attended the international championships in Atlanta, Georgia for the first time in the team's history. In 2009, the team took quarterfinalist at the Los Angeles Regional, held in Long Beach, California, with their robot String Theory.
- The 2007 winning drive team was composed of drivers Joshua Robins and Karo Shaginyan, human player Nick Lee, and coach David Black. The 2007 robot, The Burd, featured a pair of individually pneumatic controlled wings that could lift two allied robots twelve inches off of the ground.
- Mentors
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The team is supported by many mentors from a variety of different backgrounds, who guide and assist the students in the creation of each year's robot. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located in Pasadena, California, has long been a source of mentors for the team. Other mentors come from local community organizations and businesses and provide the team with machining resources and sponsorship. Many parents also mentor the team, and provide guidance through their knowledge of construction, machining, design, and strategy. The team's 2009 mentors are:
- Roger Widholm
Hannah Goldberg Kevin Wilby Mark Kauffman Ian Ferguson Gabriel Jianu Martha Widholm Laurie Wilby Aram Ohanis Ross Kelsey - Partners
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The team is generously supported by many community organizations and businesses, who provide, among other things, monetary support, fabrication resources, and mentoring. The following organizations and businesses have provided outstanding support for the team for many years:
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Glendale Community College Community Foundation of the Verdugos Hardcore Racing Tru-Cut Machine Shop Hamilton Tool and Engineering Foes Racing Bicycle Shop - Awards
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2009 Los Angeles, CA Quarterfinalists
2007 San Diego, CA Regional Winners 2007 Los Angeles, CA Regional Finalists 2007 Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award (Los Angeles Regional) 2006 Radio Shack Innovation in Control Award (Los Angeles Regional) 2005 Battle at the Border Finalist 2004 Los Angeles, CA Regional Quarter-Finalists and 8th seed 2004 Los Angeles, CA Regional Team Spirit Award 2004 Phoenix, AZ Regional Finalists 2004 Phoenix, AZ Regional Sportsmanship Award 2003 Los Angeles, CA Regional Finalists 2003 Phoenix, AZ Regional Semifinalists 2003 Phoenix, AZ Regional 3rd Seed 2002 Los Angeles, CA Regional Semi-Finalists 2001 Los Angeles, CA Regional Semi-Finalists - Robots
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Image:696-01bot.jpg|2001: KentImage:696-03bot.jpg|2002: ViperImage:Clark_Magnet_High_School_Team_696_2003_Robot.JPG|2003: HeatherImage:696-04bot.jpg|2004: R.J.Image:696-05bot.jpg|2005: G.L.A.G.H.Image:696-06bot.jpg|2006: Robot Man JanImage:Clark Magnet High School Team 696 2007 Robot.JPG|2007: The BurdImage:Clark Magnet High School Team 696 2008 Robot.JPG|2008: JawZImage:Clark_HS_FIRST_robot_2009.jpg|2009: String Theory
- Notable Facts
- The school operates on a "Block" schedule, with odd-numbered periods (Periods 1, 3, 5, and 7) meeting on odd numbered days, and even-numbered periods (Periods 2, 4, 6, and 7) meeting on even numbered days. Each school day also has an "Enrichment" period (a Study Hall period) and 7th period which is only 50 minutes long.
- Each class is composed of one hour and thirty minutes, as opposed to other high schools.
- Because of its focus on technology and science, Clark Magnet is known for offering extremely limited choices in curriculum areas outside these subjects as compared to other schools in the Glendale area. Notably, Spanish is the sole Foreign Language offered at the school.
- Clark Magnet is also known as having the most restrictive dress code policy of any Glendale Unified High School, with the comparatively conservative limits on style constituting a de facto uniform.
- Scenes from the 2003 film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star were filmed at the school.--
- Magnet School Excitement is Coming to Glendale by Chuck Sambar, The Sambar Press, 1997, retrieved 15 February 2006
- A High School for the Next Millennium: Clark Magnet High School by Douglas Dall, The Journal, August, 1999, retrieved 15 February 2006
- District Schools|Clark Magnet High Schoolretrieved 15 February 2006
- Enrollment Data - 2006-07 2006-07 California Department of Education, retrieved 25 May 2007
- External links
- Clark Magnet
- Glendale Unified School District
- California Department of Education
- Clark Chronicle - Student Newspaper
- Clark Humanities - Humanities Course Website
- Clark Robotics - Robotics Team
- 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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