Granada Hills Charter High School (often called "GHCHS" or "Granada") is an independent charter school consisting of over 4,200 students in grades 9รข€"12, located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Granada Hills. It currently holds the record as the top comprehensive public senior high school in Los Angeles and the largest charter school in the nation. Granada also has a high Academic Performance Index (API) score of 878, which greatly exceeds the target API score of 800 for all schools in California. On April 12, 2011, Granada was named a 2011 California Distinguished School. On December 22, 2011, Granada became an International Baccalaureate World School. Since 2011, the school has won five National Academic Decathlon Championships.
History
Granada Hills High School is a comprehensive public high school, founded in 1960 as part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
In the 1970-1971 and 1971-72 school years, Granada Hills High had the largest student body of any high school in the United States. The school was relieved by the 1971 opening of Kennedy High School.
In 1994, the school opened a LAUSD magnet school with emphasis in math, science and technology in conjunction with the California State University at Northridge. In 2003, the school was awarded charter status which granted it fiscal and instructional autonomy.
In 2003 the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to allow the school to become a charter, making it the largest charter school in the United States. The school administration asked for a charter status since being directly operated the district limited its fundraising opportunities, and it also was against LAUSD funding cuts.
In mid 2013, Granada Hills Charter High School purchased the nearby Pinecrest Northridge Elementary School campus for $5.6M, using funds obtained from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Granada Hills Charter High School used this new land to create iGranada, a campus specializing in digital arts and sciences. This campus opened for the first time for the Fall 2015 school year.
As part of their Charter Renewal Petition, GHCHS has applied to increase their enrollment from 4,300 students up to 5,500 students. This includes adding approximately 200 additional grades 9-12 seats to the existing GHCHS campus, through a Charter Augmentation Grant, and adding up to 1,000 additional seats at the Pinecrest site (or at another possible property acquisition).
Technology
On campus, there are six computer labs, each with more than 35 computers. There are also laptop carts, which house many laptop computers and can be transported around the campus for enrichment activities. Science classrooms are updated with new lab technology often. Most classrooms have Smart Boards and projectors, increasing the overall student interaction in class.
Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, Chromebooks are given to every student. Teachers may use Google Classroom to post assignments, online teaching materials, and give instant feedback to the students. Additionally, the school has wifi networks campuswide, and can provide wifi at a student's home if they cannot afford it.
Demographics
According to US News and World Report, 72% of Granada's student body is "of color," with 52% of the student body coming from an economically disadvantaged household, determined by student eligibility for California's Reduced-price meal program.
The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Facilities
The school's sports stadium, the John Elway Stadium, is used by the Los Angeles Rampage women's soccer team and is the former home ground of the San Fernando Valley Quakes United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League soccer team. While playing for University of Southern California, Reggie Bush used the school's track to train and stay in shape. The school's campus is especially well maintained, with planters scattered throughout campus containing various types of flora and fauna, particularly ferns.
Athletics
In 1964, Granada Hills High School won the L.A. City Basketball Championship.
In 1970, Granada Hills High School won the L.A. City Football Championship with the five-receiver passing attack innovated by Coach Jack Neumeier later known as the spread offense that a few years later attracted John Elway's father, Jack Elway's attention, after the Elway family moved to Los Angeles when Jack Elway assumed the head football coaching position at California State University, Northridge.
In 1987, in a highly publicized rematch, Granada Hills High School upset the Carson Colts (at the time the #2 rated high school football team in the United States), 27-14, to win their second L.A. City Football Championship. Head coach Darryl Stroh, offensive coordinator Tom Harp, and line coach Bill Lake were instrumental in developing a successful new game plan that countered Carson's offensive juggernaut and ferocious pass rush. Carson had clobbered Granada, 42-14, earlier in the season. It is still regarded as one of the biggest upsets in the history of L.A. high school football.
In the 1978 L.A. City Championship Baseball game, John Elway led Granada to the title over Crenshaw High, which featured future major leaguers Chris Brown and Darryl Strawberry.
Ryan Braun was a four-year letterman on the Granada Hills High School baseball team, and three-year team captain and Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 2002, he batted .451 as a senior, with an OBP of .675, and broke the school record for career home runs with 25.
Activities
The Lincoln-Douglas Debate team at Granada won the 2009 Varsity LD Championship at Pepperdine University. Also in 2011 won Standford Junior Varsity LD tournament (Yellow River)It was also the 2008 CHSSA State Champion in Thematic Interpretation. In 2011 took 13th at the CHSSA State tournament in Original Prose and Poetry
The Academic Decathlon team won back-to-back-to-back National championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The 2015 team also secured another national championship. Granada again won the 2017 National Academic Decathlon Championship for another back-to-back championship win, its sixth championship win so far.
Notable alumni
- Ariane Andrew, professional wrestler and singer
- Doug Baker, professional baseball player
- Dave Baldwin, college football coach
- Valerie Bertinelli, actress
- Ryan Braun, major league baseball player for Milwaukee Brewers, 2011 MVP
- Bill Buford, author/writer
- Bryan Caplan, economist, natalist, teacher
- John Elway, Hall of Fame quarterback for the Denver Broncos
- Robert Englund, actor
- Dave Fogel, Radio/TV star
- Gary Frank, actor and director
- Brad Garfield, television director
- Bob Hite, musician
- Jamal Brooks, professional football player
- Travis Kalanick, co-founder of Uber
- Barry Kerzin, Professor of medicine and Buddhist monk
- Kameron Loe, professional baseball player
- Geoffrey Marcy, UC Berkeley astronomy professor, discoverer of planets
- Gary Matthews, Jr., professional baseball player
- Blanchard Montgomery, professional football player
- Michael Morhaime, videogame producer and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment
- Neal Morse, progressive rock musician
- David Mullich, videogame producer
- Jeffrey Lee Pierce, guitarist of The Gun Club
- Kristine Quance, Swimming Olympic Gold Medalist 1996
- Dave Schmidt, professional baseball player
- Tamlyn Tomita, actress
- Lisa Wilhoit, actress
References
Further reading
- Charter petition 2004-2009 (Archive)
- Charter petition 2009-2014 (Archive)
External links
- official Granada Hills Charter High School website