Los Alamitos High
3591 Cerritos Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
Phone: 562-799-4780
Los Alamitos, also known as Los Al, is a public high school offering grades nine to 12. It draws students from the Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and the community of Rossmoor and is part of the Los Alamitos Unified School District. The school received a 10 on 10 score from greatschools.com, making it one of the very few public high schools in California to get the top rating. If you are looking for a school that’s competitive and high on academic contests, sports and band, this could be a good option.
The school’s mission is to provide a “nurturing and challenging environment that fosters democratic values, cultural diversity and life-long learning,” according to its website.
Students are trained to be creative, critical thinkers, and adaptable and productive adults. School officials did not return calls.
Enrollment
The school has a population of 3,245 students, according to the California Department of Education. Although enrollment was down in 2010-2011, the school has come a long way from the dip it had in 2001-2002. There are 499 classes and the average class size is 31.9, compared to 29.8 in the district. The student-to-teacher ratio is 31.5. So, if you are looking for a smaller school with a smaller class size, this may not fit your expectations.
Test Scores
In California, public schools are required annually to participate in statewide testing called the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program. At Los Alamitos, 80 percent of the students exceeded state standards in history tests, 77 percent in English, 53 percent in math and 73 percent in science. Compared to the district total, the school lags in its scores in English, math and science, but its history scores are at par with the district’s results. The school had a 98 percent graduation rate in the 2009-2010 school year.
Special Services
According to the State Department of Education, the school had six counselors, one psychologist, and one speech/language hearing specialist in the 2010-2011 school year. That year, Los Alamitos had no school nurse, librarian or library media teacher.
Staff
A student’s education depends on the quality of teachers. Parents are often interested in teachers’ years of service in a school. At Los Alamitos, there are 103.1 full-time teachers, and 100 non-certified employees. Teachers have an average of 14.9 years of service with only four first-year staff. Those numbers are far better than comparable figures for the county and state. Ninety-nine percent of the teachers at Los Alamitos hold a full-time teaching credential or emergency permit to teach in the state, according to the state.
Extracurricular Activities
If you are interested in the all-round development of your child, Los Alamitos could be a good choice. The school offers a diverse range of programs such as band, dance, chorus, orchestra, computer arts, theater and drama, video and film production. Among the languages offered are German, Japanese, French and Spanish, according to greatschools.com.
The school also offers automotive and technology vocational programs and has special programs such as academic contests, debate, science and technology, community service, student council and newspaper.
Among the sports programs offered are: soccer, softball, basketball, cheerleading, golf, lacrosse, water polo, baseball, tennis and others.
