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Valencia High School (Santa Clarita, California)

Valencia High School is a public secondary school located in the neighborhood of Valencia in the city of Santa Clarita, California, United States. It is a part of the William S. Hart Union High School District.

Valencia High School

Learning For Life

1994

Pete Getz

9 - 12

2,484 (2021-22)[1]

   

Vick the Viking

Vikings

The Viking Vision

The Viking Voyager

Valencia High School is ranked in Newsweek's 2012 list of America's Best High Schools. The list is based on six components provided by school administrators: graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation rate (25 percent), AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and AP courses offered per student (5 percent).

History[edit]

Valencia High School opened on September 9, 1994. The school received its first full accreditation from WASC in 1998. In 2001, Dr. Paul A. Priesz was named California Principal of the Year. This was the year that Valencia High School's student population reached over 3,500 students.

Controversies[edit]

In 2008 four Valencia highschool students reached a settlement for $300,000 over racial discrimination.[2] In 2020 during quarantine Principal Stephen Ford resigned after a petition received 600 signatures in response to Ford comparing wearing masks to the Holocaust.[3] On March 15, 2023 a student was caught on video driving around the school parking lot and singing "I don't like n-". This video sparked outrage from the NAACP and representatives from the William S. Hart School District. [4]

Dr. Paul A. Priesz

John Costanzo

Stephen Ford

Dr. Pete Getz (2020-present)

In chronological order:

Baseball - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2019

Boys Basketball - 1999, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020

Girls Basketball - 2000, 2001, 2005, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019

Football - 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Boys Golf - 2000, 2002

Girls Golf - 2004, 2005, 2006

Boys Soccer - 2016

Girls Soccer - 2001, 2009

Softball - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023

Boys Swimming - 2014, 2015

Girls Swimming - 2014, 2015, 2017

Boys Tennis - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019

Girls Tennis - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015

Track & Field - 2001, 2016

Boys Volleyball - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015

Girls Volleyball - 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017

Girls Lacrosse- 2021

Student demographics[edit]

As of the 2021-22 academic year, Valencia was the most populous school in the Hart District, with 2,484 students. 44.2% of students were non-Hispanic white, 23.6% were Hispanic, 20.8% were Asian American, and 3.9% were African American.[1] As of 2020-21, 395 students (15.0%) were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.[7]

actor and singer (Class of 2011)

Lulu Antariksa

actor (Class of 2011)

Taylor Dooley

professional volleyball player and member of the 2020 Olympic roster (Class of 2015)

Kyle Ensing

actor (Class of 1998)

Robert Hy Gorman

MLB player for the Milwaukee Brewers (Class of 2014)

Keston Hiura

professional PGA golfer (Class of 2009)

Max Homa

actor (Class of 2010)

Taylor Lautner

college football player (Class of 2019)[8]

Tanner Miller

MLB player for the Pittsburgh Pirates (Class of 2013)

Jared Oliva

actress (Class of 2005)

Naya Rivera

actress (Class of 2007)

Mackenzie Rosman

runner-up of America's Next Top Model (Class of 2000)

Mercedes Scelba-Shorte

professional soccer player for the Charleston Battery (Class of 2009)

Eric Shannon

NFL safety for the Seattle Seahawks (Class of 2013)

Tedric Thompson

actress (Class of 2003)

Ashley Tisdale

NFL player for the New York Giants (Class of 2007)

Shane Vereen

NFL player for the Washington Redskins (Class of 2000)

Manuel White

MLB player for the Detroit Tigers (Class of 2004)

Danny Worth

Filming location[edit]

Valencia High School was used as a set for the films Bio-Dome, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, and Pleasantville. It was also used for filming the TV series Sweet Valley High. In 2019, George Salcedo's two short films Witness to Murder and Winger were also filmed on campus.[9]

Valencia High School