Livermore High School

Founded in 1891, Livermore High School is a public high school located in the city of Livermore, California, United States. It is part of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD). In 2007, it was chosen as one in four schools in Alameda County to receive the California Distinguished School award.[3]

Livermore High School
Livermore High School Emblem
Location
600 Maple Street
Livermore, California 94550

United States
Information
TypePublic
MottoTogether We Can. Together We Will. Cowboy Up!
Established1891
School districtLivermore Valley Joint Unified School District
PrincipalHelen Gladden
Faculty81.54 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,878 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio23.03[1]
Color(s)Green and gold   
MascotCowboy
NewspaperEl Vaquerito[2]
YearbookEl Vaquero
Information(925) 606-4812
WebsiteLivermore High School

History

Founding

F. R. Fassett, who was one of the leading citizens of Livermore and served in the State Legislature in 1890, introduced a bill which allowed any township to establish a union high school. Livermore established its high school, which was opened in 1891 with E. H. Walker as teacher and principal, in one of the rooms of the Livermore Grammar School. The Class of 1893 was first to graduate from Livermore Union High School.

The contract for the first high school building was agreed upon on December 31, 1892. The building consisted of eight rooms and was finished in the summer of 1893 on the site of what is now a Livermore Area Recreation and Parks District Facility.

Expansion

Immediately after spring vacation in 1930, the high school students moved into a new two-story, red brick building with 14 classrooms and an auditorium, located at the present site. In 1939, the building was made earthquake-proof and refinished with a stucco face. Since then, many new classrooms, buildings, and facilities have been added. During the 1988-89 school year the auditorium was completely renovated, and is now known as the Livermore High School Performing Arts Theater. In 2005, the quadrangle was renovated to include an outdoor amphitheater. In 2009, new science buildings were created and the temporary classrooms were removed.

Academics

Livermore offers a wide variety of courses, including many Advanced Placement and honors courses. The curriculum consists of course offerings in English, mathematics, history and social sciences, foreign languages (French, Spanish, Latin, and German), visual arts (photography, ceramics, drawing, video production, animation), music (concert/symphonic and marching band, orchestra, jazz ensemble, concert and show choir, chamber chorale, music composition), theater and performing arts, economics, government, journalism, psychology, technology, and science (biology, physics, earth sciences, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and field biology).

Livermore High School is home to the LHS Green Engineering Academy, a program to promote engineering through hands-on learning activities and applications of engineering to all areas of the students academics. GEA is open to 60 students per year. In October 2012, GEA won the prestigious Golden Bell Award[4] for outstanding academic programs in a California classroom. The GEA gained further success and publicity through students' audits of Bay Area schools, being featured on ABC 7 News, CBS 5 News, and KQED 88.5 FM radio, The Alameda County Office of Education[5] kW Engineering,[6] and PG&E.

At the minimum, students are required to complete three years of history/social science courses, four years of English, two years of mathematics, two years of science, one year of a foreign language, one year of a visual or performing arts, two years of physical education, one semester of health, and 80 credits of elective courses.

Advanced Placement courses offered include English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, French Language, Spanish Language, Studio Art (2-D, 3-D, and Drawing), Psychology, Chemistry, Calculus AB and BC, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Biology, United States History, World History, and Computer Science.

Livermore High School is also a member of the Tri-Valley Regional Occupation Program (ROP),[7] hosting numerous ROP classes such as Auto Body, Environmental Science, Criminal Justice, Developmental Psychology of Children, and Marketing.

Livermore High is also the only school in Alameda County to still have a branch of the Future Farmers of America.

A number of graduates matriculate to four-year colleges, mostly within the University of California and California State University systems.

Athletics

Livermore High School competes in the following sports:

Livermore competes in the North Coast Section (NCS) and East Bay Athletic League (EBAL).

The Cowboys wrestling program has won a total of 18 EBAL titles since first being established in 1963 (Head Coach James Comella).Under Livermore wrestling coach Steve Page, the wrestling team won EBAL Championships in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2003, and placed in the top five at the North Coast Section several times. Frisbee Goodall (1984), Bryan Vashus (1989), Clark Conover (1990), Derek Bowerman (1996), and Nico Lang (2013) each won CIF NCS individual titles while Tyler Rardon won two titles (2012-'13). In 2020, Timothy Cowan became the first sophomore to win an NCS title for the Cowboys. Clark Conover (1990), Scott Page (1990), Peter Matheson (1992), and Marc Kavanagh (1993/Chabot College HOF '16) each placed at the CIF State Championships, notably the toughest high school state wrestling tournament in the country. Andrew Koponen, Clark Conover, Brian Vashus, and Scott Page each earned All-American honors at the Freestyle and Greco-Roman Nationals. 1989 alumnus Andrew Koponen was a bronze medalist at the United States Olympic Festival. In 2016, longtime coaches Steve Page and Al Fontes (alumni 1984) were inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame for the Lifetime Service Award, and in 2019 Clark Conover joined his coaches and was also awarded the Lifetime Service Award. Garen McDonald is the only wrestler in Cowboys history to win a California Interscholastic Federation State Championship (1980). McDonald went on to win a California Community College State Championship title for Chabot College and earned NCAA Division II All-American honors while competing for Cal State Bakersfield. In 2004, McDonald was inducted into the Chabot College Hall-of-Fame. In 2019, Ximena Pulido became the first wrestler in the girl's division to earn All-American honors at the USAW Folkstyle Nationals.

Under Livermore cross country coach Ed Salazar, the cross country team set a NCS record with seven straight section titles from 1990-1996. During this period Micheil Jones (1994)[8] and Joe Smith (1995)[9] won individual state cross country titles. Other notable individual state finishes were Amik Jones (6th, 1990), Steve Immel (10th, 1993; 3rd, 1994), Adrian Eimerl (12th, 1995), and Tim Ricard (10th, 1996) The cross country team finished third at the state meet in 1994 and second at the state meet in 1995. The 1994-1995 cross country teams had four runners go on to compete at the collegiate level (Steve Immel, Micheil Jones, Joe Smith, and Adrian Eimerl). The track team were EBAL champions at 1988.

The Cowboy football team were EBAL champions in 1971 and 1972 and 1993, finishing second in the NCS playoffs in 1993. In 2000, the LHS football team went 10-2 and reached the semi-finals of the NCS playoffs before being eliminated by Ygnacio Valley.

The Cowboy men's soccer team were NCS champions in 1982, and reached the semi-finals of the NCS championship in 1983.

The Livermore men's cross country team won the EBAL championship in 2005, while the baseball team won EBAL in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 team lost in the semifinals of NCS to De La Salle. The 2008 baseball team lost in the NCS semifinals to Arroyo. They were also ranked #1 in California and #16 in the nation for part of the year.

The men's water polo team qualified for the NCS Championship in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011. In 2009, they won their first NCS game and advanced to the second round of games. In 2012, the women's water polo team finished third in the East Bay Athletic League and qualified as a seventh place seed for the NCS Championship with a 17-5 overall record. In 2013, they again earned third in EBAL, qualified as a fourth place seed for the NCS Championship, and won their first ever NCS game.

The Livermore lacrosse team was created in 2006. At the end of the 2008 season, four team members were named East Bay Athletic League Honorable Mention players.[10]

LHS PTSA

Livermore High School Parent Teacher Student Association (LHS PTSA)[11] was chartered in 2011 by Monica Baucke, Mary Stolz, Dawn Whalen, and Principal Darrel Avilla. The group's purpose is to support staff, academics, and student life at LHS.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Livermore High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  2. El Vaquerito
  4. Golden Bell Award
  5. Alameda County Office of Education
  6. kW Engineering
  7. Tri-Valley Regional Occupation Program (ROP)
  8. https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=8243
  9. https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=31416
  11. LHS PTSA
  12. Lara, Julio (August 10, 2011). "Troy Dayak gets call to Quakes Hall of Fame". San Mateo Daily Journal. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  13. Harris, Joyce Saenz (June 8, 1997). "Director Makes Guests and Himself at Home at Rosewood Hotels' Flagship". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  14. Brown, Patrick (June 20, 2013). "Around Livermore: Local golf pro to carry on proud tradition". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  15. Pleskoff, Bernie (August 25, 2014). "Graham offers Braves options in role on mound". MLB.com. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  16. Wojciechowski, Gene (April 25, 2009). "Scouts weren't always on the mark". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  17. Goldstein, Kevin (November 3, 2008). "Future Shock". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  18. "Bryan Shaw Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
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