Alhambra High School (Alhambra, California)

**Script error: No such module "Type in location".**

**Alhambra High School** is a public high school in Alhambra, California established in 1898. Existing in the Alhambra Unified School District, it administers one of the most extensive high school and adult education programs in California, offering hundreds of academic, cultural, and recreational courses, day and evening, many located on the school grounds. In 2005, it was given a California Distinguished Schools award.

The school is located on Second Street, across the street from City Hall and the Police Department, bounded by Second Street, Commonwealth Avenue, Fifth Street, and Main Street. The campus is divided into three parts, by Third and Fourth Streets.

## Present

As of January 2015, enrollment at AHS is 3080 students, In this ethnically-mixed school district, the high school is one of the three comprehensive high schools. Curriculum offerings encompass Reading for remedial instruction, to Advanced Placement courses in six subjects, including English composition, Calculus, Environmental science, Physics, American Government/Civics, United States History, World History, Art History, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, and Psychology

## History

Around 1884, Alhambra citizens saw the need for their own school. Two elections failed, because of the resistance of the San Gabriel School District. Alhambrans then petitioned for a partitioning of the district, placating the San Gabriel District by giving San Gabriel school at Vega and Main Streets. Old Mill Creek became the dividing line on the east, with a deviation that gave San Gabriel the school. Thus began the rivalry the schools hold with each other until this day.

When the petition was granted, Sebastian Shaw, the school's principal, and the Alhambra students set up classes in an old redwood cabin on property on South Chapel near Beacon Street. A fire hydrant across the furrowed field on Garfield Avenue provided drinking water for the school. When the roof caught fire one day, the children used their dinner pails to bring water to douse the blaze. A $10,000 bond election was passed to build a school, and a site was purchased for $175 at Garfield and Alhambra Road. There a four-room, two-story frame building was constructed.

In September 1887, the school opened with 27 elementary and high school students. Mrs. E. Jones was the teacher and principal. The cornerstone for Alhambra High School was laid in April of that year, and Alhambra High School opened in 1898, between Second and Third Streets, south of Main Street.

On October 11, 2006, a small explosive device was found on a sidewalk bordering the north end of campus. Hours later, a second similar device was found in a trash can on the south end of campus. The Los Angeles County sheriff's bomb squad safely removed and disabled both items, and the campus was searched.

In early 2007, Alhambra High School hosted *Hell's Kitchen*. 100 members from the senior class of 2007 were invited to participate. Each chef had to prepare 100 portions of a dish for each of the seniors. It was one of a select few public high schools in California to be awarded a distinguished Great Schools Rating of 8 out of 10.

## Demographics

In 2009-2010, the minority population was 95.8%, 31.6% of the students were limited English proficient, and 83.7% considered economically disadvantaged, received free or reduced lunch.

As of October 2009, the Alhambra High School student population was 48.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, 43.6% Hispanic, 5.9% White, 1.3% African American, and 0.1% Native American, It is a Title I school.

## Athletics

### CIF championships

* Badminton: 2000
* Wrestling: 2002

## Music

The marching band was selected to march in the 2009 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, the first time a band from Alhambra has been in the parade in 40 years. The band that went to the Tournament consisted of members of each AUSD school.

## Controversy

In April 2005, an article was published by *The Moor*, the school's biweekly newspaper, titled "Latinos Lag Behind in Academics". It discussed that Hispanic students' test scores have improved, then asked why Asian scores were noticeably higher, postulating that Asian students worked harder in academics than Hispanic students, suggesting the latter were "not pulling their weight". The Los Angeles Times discussed the achievement gap in context, noting the outrage and charges of racism towards the student author and the Latino pride response.

## Honors

They are ranked 450 on Newsweek's list of 1,000 "Best High Schools in America".

Longtime teacher, Ted K. Kajima, who taught at the school for 35 years, advised the school newspaper and guided it to 26 All-American awards from the National Scholastic Press Association. In October 2016, the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools named one of its high schools after him.

## Notable alumni

* H. George Anderson, presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
* Bob Boyd, former college basketball player and coach for the University of Southern California
* Leo Carroll, NFL football player
* Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong actor
	+ Javier Carbal writer and Los Angeles food critic
* Dean Cundey, director of photography
* Clive Cussler, novelist
* John C. England, US Navy officer who was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941
* Stan Freberg, voice actor and television personality
* Grant Gershon, music director, Los Angeles Master Chorale
* Hardie Gramatky, watercolorist
* Sam Hanks, alumnus 1933, winner of the 1957 Indianapolis 500 and inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1981.
* Derek Hartley, co-host of the *Derek and Romaine Show* on Sirius XM Satellite Radio
* Darrall Imhoff, NBA player and Olympic gold medalist
* James Jannard, businessman
* Jonathan Ke Quan, Vietnamese-American actor
* Ralph Kiner, former Major League baseball player and broadcaster, MLB Hall of Fame member
* Aaron Krach, novelist, artist, magazine editor
* Dan Larson, professional baseball player (Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs)
* John W. Olmsted (1915): Professor Emeritus at University of California, Riverside
* Noé Ramirez, Major League Baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels
* Jenny Oropeza, 1975, politician California State Senate, California State Assembly
* Dorothy Howell Rodham, mother of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
* Lewis Sargentich, legal scholar at Harvard Law School
* Tex Schramm, former general manager of the Dallas Cowboys (NFL)
* Cheryl Tiegs, model
* Mickey Thompson, race car driver
* Jim Tunney, football official, author, motivational speaker
* Martin Vasquez, soccer player and coach
* Dick Wallen, UCLA football All-American, recipient of the 1957 W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy
* Max West, professional baseball player
* Verne Winchell, businessman
* Mike Woo, politician, Class of 1969
* Lisa Yee, children's author and winner of the Sid Fleischman Humor Award

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Alhambra High". National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school\_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=0600153&ID=060015310929. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
2. ↑ Mario Villegas, A 'Classic' for many reasons, *ESPN Los Angeles*, November 4, 2010
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Support Group". *ahsmoors.org*. http://www.ahsmoors.org/?page\_id=413. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Community Life - History of Alhambra Template:Webarchive
5. ↑ "Alhambra High". *ahsmoors.org*. http://www.ahsmoors.org/?page\_id=444. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
6. ↑ Pasadena Star-News - Bomb scare at school Template:Webarchive
7. ↑ "Los Angeles and Southern California News - ABC7 KABC". *ABC7 Los Angeles*. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=4654357. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
8. ↑ Fox.com - Hell's Kitchen - Episode 3.08 recap Template:Webarchive
9. ↑ "Alhambra High School". *greatschools.org*. http://www.greatschools.org/california/alhambra/14523-Alhambra-High-School/. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
10. ↑ "SchoolMatters Online Marketing Agency + Marketing Platform". *schoolmatters.com*. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110605163156/http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/page%3Dsp/sid%3D104917. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
11. ↑ City Government\_Awards Template:Webarchive
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "alhambraeducationalfoundation.org". *alhambraeducationalfoundation.org*. http://www.alhambraeducationalfoundation.org/districtband.html. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
13. ↑ Los Angeles Times. "Robin Zhou's Commentary". *latimes.com*. https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-alhambra12oct12-robin-zhou,1,2281389.htmlstory. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
14. ↑ Chong, Jia-Rui (2010-10-12). "COLUMN ONE; Morphing Outrage Into Ideas; Search for solutions is born out of anger over a student newspaper piece about the Latino- Asian academic gap at Alhambra High School.; [HOME EDITION]", *Los Angeles Times*, p. A1. Retrieved on 9 December 2010.
15. ↑ "www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/page/5/". Archived from the original on April 2, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070402085543/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/page/5/.
16. ↑ "APAs in the News/NewsBytes," *Pacific Citizen,* Oct. 21-Nov. 3, 2016, p. 4.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 "Alhambra High School Alhambra, California". *World News*. http://wn.com/Alhambra\_High\_School\_(Alhambra,\_California). Retrieved 3 August 2015.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Jim McConnell". "Then & Now: Amazing alumni at Alhambra High School". "Pasadena Star News". http://www.insidesocal.com/paspreps/2010/07/then-now-amazing-alumni-at-alh.html.
19. ↑ "Leo Carroll". *databasefootball.com*. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150415120933/http://databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=CARROLEO01. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20110831144150/http://tvbactor.com/tag/kevin-cheng-2011. Retrieved 2011-04-07.  Kevin Cheng 2011
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20101213091950/http://cityofalhambra.org/community/FamousResidents.html. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
22. ↑ "USS England (CG 22)". *navysite.de*. http://navysite.de/cg/cg22.htm. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
23. ↑ Durian, Hal. "Riverside Recollections: Comedian's visit goes awry". Riverside Press-Enterprise. http://www.pe.com/localnews/riverside/stories/PE\_News\_Local\_W\_whal25.330e909.html. Retrieved 30 Jan 2011.
24. ↑ "A Learning Link to the Musician's Voice". Los Angeles Times. September 26, 2001. https://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/26/news/cl-49844. Retrieved 30 Jan 2011.
25. ↑ "Hardie Gramatky, The Early Years". http://www.gramatky.com/story.asp?n=2. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
26. ↑ Thurman, Jim. "The Alhambra Thin Man who refused to give up and won the Indy 500". Alhambra Source. http://www.alhambrasource.org/stories/%E2%80%9C-alhambra-thin-man%E2%80%9D-who-refused-give-and-won-indy-500.
27. ↑ "Inaugural win takes back seat", *Los Angeles Times*, Sports Section, January 14, 2009
28. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0702841/bio
29. ↑ Riordan, Kevin (May 27, 2004). "Interview with Michigan born Aaron Krach", Between The Lines. Retrieved on 28 October 2009. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011.
30. ↑ "Dan Larson Baseball Statistics (1972-1984)". thebaseballcube.com. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=Dan-Larson. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
31. ↑ Template:Cite journal
32. ↑ Ong, Deanna (November 1, 2011). "Dorothy Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s mother and an Alhambra High graduate, dies at 92". Alhambra Source. http://www.alhambrasource.org/news/dorothy-rodham-hillary-clinton%E2%80%99s-mother-and-alhambra-high-graduate-dies-92. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
33. ↑ Tunney, Jim. "Tunney-Side-of-the-Street #46". http://www.speakersroundtable.com/article/motivation/tunney-side-of-the-street-46/. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
34. ↑ "Sports Now". *latimes.com*. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports\_blog/2009/12/martin-vasquez-to-be-named-chivas-usas-next-coach.html. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
35. ↑ Wolf, Al (1957-10-15). "Model Collegian: Wallen Tops on Campus as Well as on Gridiron", Los Angeles Times.
36. ↑ "Player Profile: Max West". https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/westma02.shtml.
37. ↑ "Wilbur Woo, groundbreaking Chinese American leader, dies at 96". Alhambra Source. November 16, 2012. http://www.alhambrasource.org/news/wilbur-woo-groundbreaking-chinese-american-leader-dies-96. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
38. ↑ "hey, Look, It's Lisa Yee". Author's Official website. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100409010415/http://www.lisayee.com/Site/Meet\_Lisa\_Yee.html. Retrieved 20 March 2010.

## External links

* Alhambra High School website

Template:Alhambra, California