# SOAR High School

Students On Academic Rise (SOAR) High School is an early college high school in Lancaster, California. The high school is a joint project of the Antelope Valley Union High School District and Antelope Valley College. SOAR stands for Students on Academic Rise. The school was founded in 2006. SOAR integrates the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) college-preparatory program as a mandatory elective course for all grade levels. Throughout its history, the school has been served by four principals: Michael Dutton, Chris Grado, Dr. Stephanie Herrera, and Wendy Johnston.
Two SOAR High School students represented SOAR's InvenTeam at the 2015 White House Science Fair. Alumni have enrolled in Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Northwestern, Princeton, UC Berkeley, the University of Chicago, Stanford, UCLA, and many other four-year universities throughout the United States.
Interested students must apply for the program by the annual February deadline, which can be found on the school's website. Applicants are to submit a video interview, and the admissions decisions will be announced sometime in late spring.
In 2022, SOAR opened a second campus on Antelope Valley College's Palmdale Center. The inaugural class of 59 students will graduate in 2026.

## Student government

Each April, the student body elects the Board of Control, which consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Parliamentarian, and Historian, along with additional positions for which eligible candidates may run. This Board convenes weekly and authorizes the events, fundraisers, and monetary transactions of all student-led organizations. The President of the Board of Control is the leader of the Associated Student Body and the de facto student body president.
Furthermore, the April elections also select the student members of the School Site Council, who are all annually elected by the entire student body, and the class officers of the following year's sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Freshman class officers are elected each summer during the mandatory Summer Bridge Program for incoming students.
The current Constitution of the Associated Student Body was ratified on Thursday, August 31, 2020, and took effect immediately.
Stephanie Franklin is the current Advisor to the Associated Student Body at SOAR Lancaster. Wendy Bell is the current Advisor to the Associated Student Body at SOAR Palmdale.

## Academics

SOAR has very high standards for the academics of students, as a 3.0 GPA is recommended, and C's and above are the only acceptable grades if one wishes to remain at SOAR. However, there have been instances where Counselors have allowed students to retake classes if need be. The unweighted GPA is what the school looks at when deciding whether or not a student is eligible to take more than one college class. It is recommended that a student only scores B's and A's on final class grades, as C's will lead to the student falling behind the curve.

## Clubs

There are more than a dozen student-led organizations on campus, each under the supervision of the Board of Control of the Associated Student Body. These clubs include:
* Speech Club
* National Honor Society
* Key Club
* Mock Trial
* Scholars of Science Fellowship (SOSF)
* Queer Straight Alliance (QSA)
* Sports Club
* Asian American Pacific Islands (AAPI)
* Standardized Test Preparation Club
* Journalism
* Yearbook
* Multicultural Club
* Game Club
* InvenTeam
* Robotics
* Book Club
* Christian Club
* Film and Production Club
* Model UN Club
* Music Club
* Programming Club
* Science Club
* Frat Pack
* Art Pod
* LatinX
* Black Student Union (BSU)