Amador Valley High School
Encyclopedia
Amador Valley High School is a public high school in Pleasanton
, California
, USA, a city east of San Francisco
. Amador Valley is one of four high schools in the Pleasanton Unified School District, which includes Foothill High School
, Village High School
, and Horizon High School
. The school was founded as Amador Valley Joint Union High School, from which its first class graduated in 1923. The school has been named a California Distinguished School
, a National School of Character
, and a National Blue Ribbon School.
As of 2009, Amador Valley offers its 2,500 students 23 varsity sports
, 20 Advanced Placement courses, a program to study local aquatic wildlife, and vocational training. A monthly school publication, the Amadon, reports on athletics, academic and extracurricular issues, and news of the school and community. Amador's location allows it to be the launching point for parades and to host the site of the Amador Theater, Pleasanton's central performing arts facility for more than 60 years. The Amador Theater has remained a part of the Amador Valley campus since the 1930s, despite major school construction in 1968, 1997, and 2004.
Student groups, including the Marching Band and Math Team, have toured out-of-state after achieving high rankings in Californian competitions. In national competitions such as We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
, the Amador Valley team has ranked in the top four places from 2006 to 2009. Similarly, the Amador Valley Robotics Team is recognized nationally as the only high school team in the autonomous underwater vehicle
(AUV) competition hosted by Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
(AUVSI).
area of the San Francisco East Bay
). The valley's namesake was a wealthy Californio
rancher, Don José María Amador. The school was founded on March 14, 1922, as part of the Amador Valley Joint Union High School District (AVJUHSD), out of concerns of overcrowding and transportation for students travelling to nearby Livermore High School
. Amador Valley's first class graduated in 1923.
From 1922 to 1988, the school was part of the AVJUHSD. Originally this district also taught students from nearby Dublin
and served the local rural community. In the late 1930s, the Amador Theater was built towards the front of the Amador Valley High School campus. The theater hosted school plays, band concerts, performances, lectures, and assemblies, and was the former home of the successful community theatre group Cask and Mask, now known as The Masquers. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
led to the building of a series of freeways in the region, which in turn coincided with increaded population and an increase in student enrollment.
In 1988, voters approved the unification of several school districts in the region. On July 1, 1988, the AVJUHSD merged with the Pleasanton Joint School District to form the Pleasanton Unified School District. As of 2009, the district contains two comprehensive high schools (Amador Valley and Foothill), two continuation high school
s (Horizon and Village), three middle schools, seven elementary schools, and an adult education program.
The school grounds are bordered on the east and southeast by Santa Rita Road, the Altamont Commuter Express
rail line, and Arroyo del Valle
. To the north are several businesses and residential districts lie on the western border. Because of the school's proximity to Main Street and downtown, Amador Valley High School is the launch point for the annual Pleasanton Hometown Holidays Celebration Parade and the annual Fall Festival Parade, a part of the Alameda County Fair
since the 1940s. The Fall Festival parade, which features bands, floats, balloons, horses, and antique cars, starts on the Amador Valley parking lot, travels down Main Street, and ends near the fairgrounds.
, which placed a cap on county real estate taxes. The proposition limited property tax assessments to the 1975 standard, eliminating $7 billion of the $11.4 billion in property tax revenue collected each year. According to the Washington Post, the "severe" limitations this imposed on state funding forced local governments and most school districts in California to make "drastic cutbacks". Furthermore, an article in the Los Angeles Times
noted that Federal aid money for Californian schools, worth about $98 million each year, may be reduced if state-funded programs are cut. A recent Congressional report had found that Proposition 13 would not result in any major "local spending" cuts. In order to receive Federal aid, the state needed to maintain present levels of spending on local programs or secure local matching funds
. However, the enforcement of this spending was "flexible in many programs" and the Federal Impact Aid
program for schools was therefore in jeopardy.
The district held that the measure was "so drastic and far-reaching that it was 'a revision' of the state Constitution and not a mere amendment". Ultimately, the district was unsuccessful in its suit. In their ruling, the judges distinguished between "amendment
" and "revision." The court confirmed that an initiative cannot "revise" the constitution; Proposition 13, however, was an amendment to the California Constitution
and not a "revision". In 2009, Amador Valley was cited by dissenting Justice Carlos R. Moreno in arguing the non-constitutionality of California Proposition 8
.
The first class of eight students graduated in 1923, and the school quickly became known for its municipal bands and sports teams. The school selected the Don
as its mascot, in honor of the title used by Amador; Don is a Spanish term used as a mark of high esteem for a distinguished nobleman or gentleman.
Parents of Amador Valley students became involved with student activities. In 1927, Pleasanton mothers decided to start a school lunch program to provide students with a better environment for learning. Parents donated pots and pans, and a newly hired cook prepared lunches, to be eaten at new tables and benches. The tables and benches were constructed by the custodian and the music teacher from wood of horse stalls formerly on the campus. This project led to the formation of a Parent-Teacher Association
(PTA) chapter at Amador Valley in the late 1920s.
Much of the original Amador Valley High School building was reconstructed in 1968. The following year, the school reached its maximum capacity, about 1,895 students. To accommodate the larger student population, Dublin High School
was founded. Both schools held classes on the Amador Valley campus during the 1968–69 school year. A continued influx of families to the Pleasanton region prompted the foundation of another high school, Foothill
, in 1973.
Starting November 3 in 1986, Amador Valley teachers went on a rolling strike to "protest a breakdown in negotiations for a new contract." The school brought in substitutes
to replace the picketing teachers. Amador Valley teachers are unionized
under the California Teachers Association
and the National Education Association
.
In March 1997, the city passed Measure B, which granted the school district $69 million dollars to replace old and crowded facilities and modernize the school campus. The renovations revived one of the school's last original structures: the Amador Theater, the city's most popular performing arts facility. The measure enabled the addition of renovated science classrooms, a multipurpose room, a library and media center, and a sound-proofed music building. The parking lot and central quad were expanded, and classrooms were equipped to be more energy efficient.
In 1999, responding to a directive from the California Superintendent of Education
, the district identified character education as one of its goals. As selected by the community, six character traits (responsibility, compassion, self-discipline, honesty, respect, and integrity) were listed as "expected behaviors" for Pleasanton. In 2004, Amador Valley and the school district won national recognition (National School of Character
) for its program emphasizing the Community of Character.
In 2004, a new two-story building was completed, containing twenty-four new classrooms. The following year, the Charles “Chuck” Volonte Aquatic Center was built for Amador Valley's swimming, diving, and water polo teams. Lighting retrofits were added in December 2004 for improved energy efficiency and illumination. In 2005, Amador Valley High School was the first high school to join the worldwide Go Green Initiative
. In the same year, Pleasanton was selected as the "Go Green City of the Year."
However, this system was changed in the 2010-2011 school year, in which classes ran from 8am-2:55pm, with certain students electing to take a 7am class instead of a seventh period at the end of the day.
minority and bigger Hispanic and Latino Americans
and African American
minorities. Seven percent of Amador Valley students are involved in special education
, three percent qualify for English language learner support, and two percent qualify for free or reduced price lunch
.
The school has been deemed a three-time California Distinguished School
, a National School of Character
, and a two-time National Blue Ribbon School. Performance results for 2008 show Amador Valley with an Academic Performance Index
(API) of 10 on a 10-point scale. Newsweek
ranked Amador Valley High School 317th in its 2008 list of the 1,300 Best High Schools in America. In 2008, a team of Amador Valley students won the national UNICEF-sponsored Junior 8 Competition. The team traveled to Toyako, Japan to attend the 2008 Group of Eight (G8) Summit of World Leaders
to collaborate on solutions to world problems. Six of Amador Valley's teachers have been recognized as a Pleasanton Unified School District
teacher of the year; two of those honorees (Debbie Emerson and Brian Ladd) have also been designated an Alameda County teacher of the year.
As of 2009, Amador Valley curriculum offers 20 Advanced Placement
(AP) classes, the most popular of which are AP Psychology
, AP English Language and Composition
, and AP United States History
. Nearly half of Amador Valley students participate in the school's AP Program. The average participant takes 4.3 exams per year and 87.5 percent of students receive at least one score of 3 or greater. The school offers the complete range of AP courses in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), as well as AP Language courses and their literature complements in English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Amador Valley also offers AP courses in social sciences
and visual and performing arts
.
The school offers specialized instruction through vocational education
as part of the valley-wide Regional Occupational Program. Courses offered include computer-assisted drafting
, electronics, welding, medical training, and auto body repair
.
The Amador Valley science department initiated Project Creek Watch in 1994. The project provides students with resources for the long term study of Arroyo del Valle
; these resources include information about the chemistry in the creek, images of the creek, a guide to flora
and fauna
, and student projects on aquatic species. "The goal is to let kids realize there are a number of different physical and biological components that allow these organisms (in the creek) to coexist," said Eric Thiel, an Amador Valley Biology teacher and a co-founder of the project. "I hope they walk away able to see how complex ecosystems are." In 1999, the project received a Golden Bell Award for excellence in education from the California School Boards Association. Research projects about the creek and other topics have won first place awards at the Tri-Valley Science and Engineering Fair. In 2001, Thiel and the school received a National Semiconductor
"Internet Innovator Award" for the Project Creek Watch website.
As of 2009, the school offers 12 varsity sports teams for boys and 11 varsity sports teams for girls. These sports are run under the Amador Valley Athletics Boosters and include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, spirit squad, swimming/diving, tennis, track, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. Amador Valley competes in the East Bay Athletic League
and has won four East Bay Athletic League Championships.
The Amador Valley Booster Club also has hosted East Bay Special Olympics
basketball tournaments, track meets, and volleyball competitions at Amador Valley High School since 2004. The school coordinates parent and student volunteers, donates proceeds from snack sales, and provides facilities free of charge for three Special Olympic events: basketball, track, and volleyball. In 2006, the Amador Valley Booster Club won "Volunteer Organization of the Year" from Special Olympics Northern California. In 2009, the Booster Club provided over 200 volunteers to help with the logistics of the competition.
The Amador Valley Varsity Boys' and Girls' basketball teams both host an annual eight-team basketball tournament, the Amador Basketball Classic (ABC), in the first two weeks of December. The ABC brings high school basketball players and teams from within the state and outside of the state to play in Pleasanton. Each team plays four games between Wednesday and Saturday. Taking place every year since December 1961, the ABC is the longest-running eight-team basketball championship in California. The girls ABC tournament has been held since December 1994.
Amador Valley's music program was founded in 1928 by Harry Tripp, a native of England. Tripp, the director of bands at Amador Valley, established an orchestra and a glee club, and recruited performers for parades and numerous operettas. The Amador Valley band program is now the largest student activity on campus and hosts the annual Campana Jazz Festival, named after Jim Campana, who led the band from 1959 to 1979.
Amador Valley's band program consists of four concert bands: Wind Ensemble I, Wind Ensemble II, Wind Symphony, and Symphonic Band. At the annual California Music Educators Association Band Festivals, all four of Amador Valley's concert bands regularly earn "Unanimous Superior" ratings.
The Marching Band
and Color Guard
compete in the Western Band Association
(WBA) circuit. The band practices a competitive field show, performed at football halftime shows and competitions. The Marching Dons are classified into WBA Class AAAAA. The Amador Valley Marching Dons have received sweepstakes (highest score in combined AAAA and AAAAA classes) and first place awards and earned sixth place in 2008 at the WBA Championship.
In 2006 the marching band competed in the Bands of America
Regional Competition for the first time, and placed fourth in the 2007 competition. In 2005 and 2009, Amador Valley was invited to perform at the annual London New Year's Day Parade.
The Amador Valley Math Team hosts outreach events and participates in mathematics competitions. The Mathematical Association of America
placed Amador Valley High School on its School Merit Roll for performance on the American Mathematics Competitions
series. The Math Team placed fifth nationally on the 2008 Collaborative Problem-Solving Contest
and placed in the top 25 nationwide in the 2005–2009 Fall Startup Events
.
Amador Valley is the first high school in California to host a MathLeague.org tournament. The tournament was run by Amador Valley math teachers with help from the Amador Valley Math Team. The event served as a qualifier for MathLeague.org's Northern California Championships and served as a tryout for the Bay Area American Regions Math League team. The math team was praised for "showing leadership in mathematics."
At the 2009 Northern California Championships, the Math Team placed second in Northern California to Lynbrook High School
and received an invitation to MathLeague.org's multi-state championship in Kansas City
. Amador Valley High School, the first to represent California at the Midwestern event, finished fifth in the championship out of the ten qualifying teams.
The Math Team also hosts the Amador Valley Geometry Bee, modeled after the Scripps National Spelling Bee
. This competition invites students from Amador Valley, Foothill High School, and the district's three middle schools to compete in timed rounds. The style of the competition consists of rounds of 10 questions each, deviating from the traditional spelling bee format.
The Math Team also hosts an event for parents and students, Family Math Night. This event lets parents preview course material with their students through hands-on activities run by math team members. The goal of Family Math Night is "to help parents become comfortable assisting their students with math homework."
The Amador Valley Robotics Team, founded in 1999, is the first and only high school team to compete in the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)
Competition hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)
. Each year, with a minimal amount of outside technical assistance, the team develops an AUV to maneuver an underwater obstacle course.
The team first entered the competition in 2000 with its Hammerhead AUV, weighing 98 kg (220 pounds). They placed seventh in the field of twelve. According to Daryl Davidson, the executive director of AUVSI, "The Amador group really broke the ice by being the first high school team at the competition...It caught everybody off-guard and their enthusiasm was very infectious."
At the 2001 competition, Amador Valley placed second to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
with its Manta Ray AUV. The Manta Ray weighed less than 100 kg (220 pounds) and featured a modular design. According to Jim Bales, technical director of the competition, the technical details of the Manta Ray impressed many judges and its performance surpassed a number of university teams.
The Amador Valley Barracuda line, started in 2002, "is propelled by two laterally mounted SeaBotix thrusters controlling speed and heading and two auxiliary thrusters aligned vertically controlling pitch and depth." To guide the AUV autonomously, a pressure sensor
, compass, camera, and hydrophone array
return navigation input data to the software. The AUV uses an Beagle Board
single-board computer
that runs Angstrom Linux.
In 2008, several fundamental changes were made to the robot. The control system
was reorganized and the mission control software was revamped to improve communication and to limit overhead. A low-level microcontroller
-based control system was added to free up system resources. This extra processing capability will be used for mission control and image processing
tasks.
Amador Valley's main Speech and Debate teams place a heavy emphasis on law. The school's Mock Trial
team represented Alameda County at the California State Championships in 2007, and competed as the wildcard in 2009. The Mock Trial team has perennially been Alameda County finalists in this Constitutional Rights Foundation sponsored competition, holding the finalist title five of the six years from 2004–2009. Alameda County Superior Court
Judge George Hernandez, who presided over the final county round in 2007, praised the level of preparedness of Amador Valley's Mock Trial team.
The national "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
" competition takes place each spring in Washington, D.C.
. The Amador Valley "We the People" team has represented the state of California at the national competition ten times since 1992. The team earned the national title in 1995, and took second place in the 2006 and 2007 competitions. In 2008 and 2009, the team placed fourth and third in the national competition, respectively. Congressman Jerry McNerney
and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
congratulated the 2009 team on Capitol Hill.
chapter, and is one of 33,000 Rotary chapters in the world. Every year, the Interact Club coordinates several local fundraisers as well as nationwide campaigns in conjunction with Rotary events. Club members are a part of millions of worldwide Rotary and Interact members who work "locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self." Amador Valley's Interact Club has been praised for its efforts to "educate, advocate and fundraise for life-changing programs."
The Human Rights Club is a similar sort of outreach group, affiliated with Amnesty International
and STAND. The club was founded in 2007 by Amador Valley student Shelby Margolin, the California state high school outreach coordinator on the national STAND leadership board. The club focuses on ways to address issues such as genocide, disease and poverty in Africa. The student group hosts educational seminars and keynote speakers in an annual Human Rights Conference in the hope of "raising awareness about and helping to end genocide."
, which encourages recycling on campus, and FISH Club, a non-denominational Christian
club. Around election years, Young Democrats
and Young Republicans
clubs are popular. The school's Fashion Club hosts fashion shows, and the school's Flight Club introduces students to aviation and aircraft. Cultural clubs at Amador Valley include Black Student Union, Muslim Student Association, and Multi Cultural Club. Other clubs at Amador Valley include Anime
, Art of Movement, Astronomy
, Bhangra, Book Club, California Scholastic Federation, DECA
, Don Squad, Drama
, Environmental, French, GO, Gay-Straight Alliance
, Interact, Junior Statesmen of America, Political Ideals, Puzzle, Rugby
, Short Film, and Students Interested in Medical Sciences (SIMS).
Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, incorporated in 1894. It is a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area located about east of Oakland, and west of Livermore. The population was 70,285 at the 2010 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton was ranked the wealthiest middle-sized city in...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA, a city east of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Amador Valley is one of four high schools in the Pleasanton Unified School District, which includes Foothill High School
Foothill High School (Pleasanton, California)
Foothill High School is a four-year secondary school in Pleasanton, California. It was built in 1973. It is one of two comprehensive high schools and one alternative high school in the Pleasanton Unified School District. The current enrollment is 2,343 students. The school mascot is the falcon...
, Village High School
Village High School
Village High School is a public continuation high school located in Pleasanton, California, a community in the San Francisco East Bay area. Village is a part of the Pleasanton Unified School District, which also includes Amador Valley High School, Foothill High School, and Horizon High School...
, and Horizon High School
Horizon High School (Pleasanton, California)
Horizon High School is a public high school for school-age mothers located in Pleasanton, California, a community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Horizon is a part of the Pleasanton Unified School District, which also includes Amador Valley High School, Foothill High School, and Village High School....
. The school was founded as Amador Valley Joint Union High School, from which its first class graduated in 1923. The school has been named a California Distinguished School
California Distinguished School
A California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately five percent of California schools are awarded this honor each year following a selection...
, a National School of Character
Character Education Partnership
The ' is an advocacy group for character education based in Washington, D.C. It is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian, coalition of organizations and individuals committed to fostering effective character education in our nation's K-12 schools." CEP's mission is "Leading the nation in helping...
, and a National Blue Ribbon School.
As of 2009, Amador Valley offers its 2,500 students 23 varsity sports
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
, 20 Advanced Placement courses, a program to study local aquatic wildlife, and vocational training. A monthly school publication, the Amadon, reports on athletics, academic and extracurricular issues, and news of the school and community. Amador's location allows it to be the launching point for parades and to host the site of the Amador Theater, Pleasanton's central performing arts facility for more than 60 years. The Amador Theater has remained a part of the Amador Valley campus since the 1930s, despite major school construction in 1968, 1997, and 2004.
Student groups, including the Marching Band and Math Team, have toured out-of-state after achieving high rankings in Californian competitions. In national competitions such as We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, is a yearly competition for American high school students held in Washington D.C. The competition is styled as a congressional hearing. Each team is divided up into six units, each composed of three or...
, the Amador Valley team has ranked in the top four places from 2006 to 2009. Similarly, the Amador Valley Robotics Team is recognized nationally as the only high school team in the autonomous underwater vehicle
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
An autonomous underwater vehicle is a robot which travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes non-autonomous remotely operated underwater vehicles...
(AUV) competition hosted by Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, also known as AUVSI, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the technology of unmanned vehicles.- History :...
(AUVSI).
Region and districts
Amador Valley High School, originally Amador Valley Joint Union High School, was named for its location in the Amador Valley (part of the Tri-ValleyTri-Valley
Tri-Valley is a triangle-shaped region in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area. The area is 18 miles southeast of Oakland and 33 miles from San Francisco...
area of the San Francisco East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
). The valley's namesake was a wealthy Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
rancher, Don José María Amador. The school was founded on March 14, 1922, as part of the Amador Valley Joint Union High School District (AVJUHSD), out of concerns of overcrowding and transportation for students travelling to nearby Livermore High School
Livermore High School
Founded in 1891, Livermore High School is a public high school located in the city of Livermore, California, USA, and is part of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District . In 2007, it was chosen as one in four schools in Alameda County to receive the California Distinguished School...
. Amador Valley's first class graduated in 1923.
From 1922 to 1988, the school was part of the AVJUHSD. Originally this district also taught students from nearby Dublin
Dublin, California
Dublin is a suburban city of the East Bay region of Alameda County, California, United States. Located along the north side of Interstate 580 at the intersection with Interstate 680, roughly east of Hayward, west of Livermore and north of San Jose, it was named after the city of Dublin in...
and served the local rural community. In the late 1930s, the Amador Theater was built towards the front of the Amador Valley High School campus. The theater hosted school plays, band concerts, performances, lectures, and assemblies, and was the former home of the successful community theatre group Cask and Mask, now known as The Masquers. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act , was enacted on June 29, 1956, when Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law...
led to the building of a series of freeways in the region, which in turn coincided with increaded population and an increase in student enrollment.
In 1988, voters approved the unification of several school districts in the region. On July 1, 1988, the AVJUHSD merged with the Pleasanton Joint School District to form the Pleasanton Unified School District. As of 2009, the district contains two comprehensive high schools (Amador Valley and Foothill), two continuation high school
Continuation high school
A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school primarily for students who are considered at-risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same but the scheduling is more flexible to allow students to earn their credits at a quicker...
s (Horizon and Village), three middle schools, seven elementary schools, and an adult education program.
The school grounds are bordered on the east and southeast by Santa Rita Road, the Altamont Commuter Express
Altamont Commuter Express
The Altamont Commuter Express is a regional rail service in California connecting Stockton with San Jose....
rail line, and Arroyo del Valle
Arroyo del Valle
Arroyo del Valle or Arroyo Valle is a westward-flowing stream in Alameda County and Santa Clara County, California, USA, that is tributary to Arroyo de la Laguna which in turn flows into Alameda Creek. The stream drains much of the southern portion of the city of Livermore, and it also flows...
. To the north are several businesses and residential districts lie on the western border. Because of the school's proximity to Main Street and downtown, Amador Valley High School is the launch point for the annual Pleasanton Hometown Holidays Celebration Parade and the annual Fall Festival Parade, a part of the Alameda County Fair
Alameda County Fairgrounds
The Alameda County Fairgrounds is a facility located in Pleasanton, California. It is home to the annual Alameda County Fair as well as numerous trade shows and community events. Its racetrack was built in 1858, making it the oldest one-mile horse racing track in America...
since the 1940s. The Fall Festival parade, which features bands, floats, balloons, horses, and antique cars, starts on the Amador Valley parking lot, travels down Main Street, and ends near the fairgrounds.
Court battle
In 1978, the AVJUHSD challenged the constitutionality of California Proposition 13California Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...
, which placed a cap on county real estate taxes. The proposition limited property tax assessments to the 1975 standard, eliminating $7 billion of the $11.4 billion in property tax revenue collected each year. According to the Washington Post, the "severe" limitations this imposed on state funding forced local governments and most school districts in California to make "drastic cutbacks". Furthermore, an article in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
noted that Federal aid money for Californian schools, worth about $98 million each year, may be reduced if state-funded programs are cut. A recent Congressional report had found that Proposition 13 would not result in any major "local spending" cuts. In order to receive Federal aid, the state needed to maintain present levels of spending on local programs or secure local matching funds
Matching funds
Matching funds, a term used to describe the requirement or condition that a generally minimal amount of money or services-in-kind originate from the beneficiaries of financial amounts, usually for a purpose of charitable or public good.-Charitable causes:...
. However, the enforcement of this spending was "flexible in many programs" and the Federal Impact Aid
Federal Impact Aid
Federal Impact Aid is designed to assist United States local school districts that have lost property tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt Federal property, or that have experienced increased expenditures due to the enrollment of federally connected children, including children living on...
program for schools was therefore in jeopardy.
The district held that the measure was "so drastic and far-reaching that it was 'a revision' of the state Constitution and not a mere amendment". Ultimately, the district was unsuccessful in its suit. In their ruling, the judges distinguished between "amendment
Constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...
" and "revision." The court confirmed that an initiative cannot "revise" the constitution; Proposition 13, however, was an amendment to the California Constitution
California Constitution
The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...
and not a "revision". In 2009, Amador Valley was cited by dissenting Justice Carlos R. Moreno in arguing the non-constitutionality of California Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
.
Development
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
as its mascot, in honor of the title used by Amador; Don is a Spanish term used as a mark of high esteem for a distinguished nobleman or gentleman.
Parents of Amador Valley students became involved with student activities. In 1927, Pleasanton mothers decided to start a school lunch program to provide students with a better environment for learning. Parents donated pots and pans, and a newly hired cook prepared lunches, to be eaten at new tables and benches. The tables and benches were constructed by the custodian and the music teacher from wood of horse stalls formerly on the campus. This project led to the formation of a Parent-Teacher Association
Parent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
(PTA) chapter at Amador Valley in the late 1920s.
Much of the original Amador Valley High School building was reconstructed in 1968. The following year, the school reached its maximum capacity, about 1,895 students. To accommodate the larger student population, Dublin High School
Dublin High School (Dublin, California)
Dublin High School is a four-year public high school located in the East Bay neighborhood of Dublin, California, USA. Dublin High School is one of the schools in the Dublin Unified School District.-History:...
was founded. Both schools held classes on the Amador Valley campus during the 1968–69 school year. A continued influx of families to the Pleasanton region prompted the foundation of another high school, Foothill
Foothill High School (Pleasanton, California)
Foothill High School is a four-year secondary school in Pleasanton, California. It was built in 1973. It is one of two comprehensive high schools and one alternative high school in the Pleasanton Unified School District. The current enrollment is 2,343 students. The school mascot is the falcon...
, in 1973.
Substitute teacher
A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, or other reasons. "Substitute teacher" is the most commonly used phrase in the United States, Canada and Ireland, while supply teacher is the most commonly...
to replace the picketing teachers. Amador Valley teachers are unionized
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
under the California Teachers Association
California Teachers Association
The California Teachers Association , initially established in 1863 as the California Educational Society, is by far the largest teachers' union in the state of California. It is considered by many to be the most powerful union in California...
and the National Education Association
National Education Association
The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...
.
In March 1997, the city passed Measure B, which granted the school district $69 million dollars to replace old and crowded facilities and modernize the school campus. The renovations revived one of the school's last original structures: the Amador Theater, the city's most popular performing arts facility. The measure enabled the addition of renovated science classrooms, a multipurpose room, a library and media center, and a sound-proofed music building. The parking lot and central quad were expanded, and classrooms were equipped to be more energy efficient.
In 1999, responding to a directive from the California Superintendent of Education
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
, the district identified character education as one of its goals. As selected by the community, six character traits (responsibility, compassion, self-discipline, honesty, respect, and integrity) were listed as "expected behaviors" for Pleasanton. In 2004, Amador Valley and the school district won national recognition (National School of Character
Character Education Partnership
The ' is an advocacy group for character education based in Washington, D.C. It is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian, coalition of organizations and individuals committed to fostering effective character education in our nation's K-12 schools." CEP's mission is "Leading the nation in helping...
) for its program emphasizing the Community of Character.
In 2004, a new two-story building was completed, containing twenty-four new classrooms. The following year, the Charles “Chuck” Volonte Aquatic Center was built for Amador Valley's swimming, diving, and water polo teams. Lighting retrofits were added in December 2004 for improved energy efficiency and illumination. In 2005, Amador Valley High School was the first high school to join the worldwide Go Green Initiative
Go Green Initiative
The Go Green Initiative was founded in 2002 in Pleasanton, California by Jill Buck The Go Green Initiative is an Environmental Education & Stewardship Program located in all 50 states and in 13 countries...
. In the same year, Pleasanton was selected as the "Go Green City of the Year."
Academics
As of 2009, Amador Valley operates on a 7:00 a.m. to 3:09 p.m. schedule (8:48 a.m to 2:55 p.m. on Wednesdays to provide teachers time for collaborative planning). This includes seven periods of instruction, a lunch, and a brunch. Amador Valley is a closed campus; students are not allowed to leave school supervision during school hours.However, this system was changed in the 2010-2011 school year, in which classes ran from 8am-2:55pm, with certain students electing to take a 7am class instead of a seventh period at the end of the day.
| Enrollment trends, 1993–present | |
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| Year | Student body size |
| 1993–1994 | |
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| Enrollment by ethnicity (08-09) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Number | Percent |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | ||
| Asian | ||
| Pacific Islander | ||
| Filipino | ||
| Hispanic or Latino | ||
| African American | ||
| White | ||
| Multiple or No Response | ||
| Total | ||
| Enrollment by grade (08-09) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Number | Percent |
| 9 (Class of 2012) | ||
| 10 (Class of 2011) | ||
| 11 (Class of 2010) | ||
| 12 (Class of 2009) | ||
| Total | ||
Enrollment
In the 2008–2009 school year, Amador Valley High School had an enrollment of 2,515 students and 110 classroom teachers, for a student-teacher ratio of 22.9. The student population at Amador Valley is predominantly White, with a large Asian AmericanAsian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
minority and bigger Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
minorities. Seven percent of Amador Valley students are involved in special education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
, three percent qualify for English language learner support, and two percent qualify for free or reduced price lunch
National School Lunch Act
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act is a United States federal law signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1946. The act created the National School Lunch Program , a program to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools...
.
Awards
California Distinguished School
A California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately five percent of California schools are awarded this honor each year following a selection...
, a National School of Character
Character Education Partnership
The ' is an advocacy group for character education based in Washington, D.C. It is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian, coalition of organizations and individuals committed to fostering effective character education in our nation's K-12 schools." CEP's mission is "Leading the nation in helping...
, and a two-time National Blue Ribbon School. Performance results for 2008 show Amador Valley with an Academic Performance Index
Academic Performance Index
The Academic Performance Index is a measurement of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California, United States. It is one of the main components of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the California legislature in 1999...
(API) of 10 on a 10-point scale. Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
ranked Amador Valley High School 317th in its 2008 list of the 1,300 Best High Schools in America. In 2008, a team of Amador Valley students won the national UNICEF-sponsored Junior 8 Competition. The team traveled to Toyako, Japan to attend the 2008 Group of Eight (G8) Summit of World Leaders
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
to collaborate on solutions to world problems. Six of Amador Valley's teachers have been recognized as a Pleasanton Unified School District
Pleasanton Unified School District
The Pleasanton Unified School District is a public primary and secondary education school district located in Pleasanton, California. It consists of nine elementary schools, three middle schools, two high schools, and two alternative high schools....
teacher of the year; two of those honorees (Debbie Emerson and Brian Ladd) have also been designated an Alameda County teacher of the year.
Programs
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
(AP) classes, the most popular of which are AP Psychology
AP Psychology
The Advanced Placement Psychology course and corresponding exam is part of the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This course is tailored for students interested in the field of psychology and as an opportunity to earn placement credit or exemption from a college-level psychology course...
, AP English Language and Composition
AP English Language and Composition
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program....
, and AP United States History
AP United States History
Advanced Placement United States History is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program...
. Nearly half of Amador Valley students participate in the school's AP Program. The average participant takes 4.3 exams per year and 87.5 percent of students receive at least one score of 3 or greater. The school offers the complete range of AP courses in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), as well as AP Language courses and their literature complements in English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Amador Valley also offers AP courses in social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
and visual and performing arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
.
The school offers specialized instruction through vocational education
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
as part of the valley-wide Regional Occupational Program. Courses offered include computer-assisted drafting
Computer-aided design
Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
, electronics, welding, medical training, and auto body repair
Auto mechanic
An auto mechanic is a mechanic with a variety of car makes or either in a specific area or in a specific make of car. In repairing cars, their main role is to diagnose the problem accurately and quickly...
.
The Amador Valley science department initiated Project Creek Watch in 1994. The project provides students with resources for the long term study of Arroyo del Valle
Arroyo del Valle
Arroyo del Valle or Arroyo Valle is a westward-flowing stream in Alameda County and Santa Clara County, California, USA, that is tributary to Arroyo de la Laguna which in turn flows into Alameda Creek. The stream drains much of the southern portion of the city of Livermore, and it also flows...
; these resources include information about the chemistry in the creek, images of the creek, a guide to flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
, and student projects on aquatic species. "The goal is to let kids realize there are a number of different physical and biological components that allow these organisms (in the creek) to coexist," said Eric Thiel, an Amador Valley Biology teacher and a co-founder of the project. "I hope they walk away able to see how complex ecosystems are." In 1999, the project received a Golden Bell Award for excellence in education from the California School Boards Association. Research projects about the creek and other topics have won first place awards at the Tri-Valley Science and Engineering Fair. In 2001, Thiel and the school received a National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
"Internet Innovator Award" for the Project Creek Watch website.
Athletics
East Bay Athletic League
The East Bay Athletic League is a high school sports league in the North Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. Its member institutions are located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in the cities of Alamo, Concord, Danville, Livermore, San Ramon, and...
and has won four East Bay Athletic League Championships.
The Amador Valley Booster Club also has hosted East Bay Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....
basketball tournaments, track meets, and volleyball competitions at Amador Valley High School since 2004. The school coordinates parent and student volunteers, donates proceeds from snack sales, and provides facilities free of charge for three Special Olympic events: basketball, track, and volleyball. In 2006, the Amador Valley Booster Club won "Volunteer Organization of the Year" from Special Olympics Northern California. In 2009, the Booster Club provided over 200 volunteers to help with the logistics of the competition.
The Amador Valley Varsity Boys' and Girls' basketball teams both host an annual eight-team basketball tournament, the Amador Basketball Classic (ABC), in the first two weeks of December. The ABC brings high school basketball players and teams from within the state and outside of the state to play in Pleasanton. Each team plays four games between Wednesday and Saturday. Taking place every year since December 1961, the ABC is the longest-running eight-team basketball championship in California. The girls ABC tournament has been held since December 1994.
Band and Color Guard
Amador Valley's band program consists of four concert bands: Wind Ensemble I, Wind Ensemble II, Wind Symphony, and Symphonic Band. At the annual California Music Educators Association Band Festivals, all four of Amador Valley's concert bands regularly earn "Unanimous Superior" ratings.
The Marching Band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
and Color Guard
Color guard
In the military of the United States and other militaries, the color guard carries the National Color and other flags appropriate to its position in the chain of command. Typically these include a unit flag and a departmental flag...
compete in the Western Band Association
Western Band Association
The Western Band Association is a nonprofit organization that promotes high school music education in California, Arizona and Nevada. Specifically, the WBA organizes many marching band competitions for high school students...
(WBA) circuit. The band practices a competitive field show, performed at football halftime shows and competitions. The Marching Dons are classified into WBA Class AAAAA. The Amador Valley Marching Dons have received sweepstakes (highest score in combined AAAA and AAAAA classes) and first place awards and earned sixth place in 2008 at the WBA Championship.
In 2006 the marching band competed in the Bands of America
Bands of America
Bands of America , a division of Music for All, Inc., is an organization that promotes and organizes marching band competitions for high school students. Competitions include both Regional and Super Regional Championships as well as the Grand National Championships...
Regional Competition for the first time, and placed fourth in the 2007 competition. In 2005 and 2009, Amador Valley was invited to perform at the annual London New Year's Day Parade.
Math Team
Mathematical Association of America
The Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...
placed Amador Valley High School on its School Merit Roll for performance on the American Mathematics Competitions
American Mathematics Competitions
The American Mathematics Competitions are the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determine the United States team for the International Mathematical Olympiad . This team, consisting of six high school students, competes in the IMO and has traditionally performed well...
series. The Math Team placed fifth nationally on the 2008 Collaborative Problem-Solving Contest
National Assessment & Testing
National Assessment & Testing is a company that markets five different mathematics contests: The Fall Startup Event, the Ciphering Time Trials, the Team Scamble, the Four-by-Four Competition, and the Collaborative Problem Solving Contest...
and placed in the top 25 nationwide in the 2005–2009 Fall Startup Events
National Assessment & Testing
National Assessment & Testing is a company that markets five different mathematics contests: The Fall Startup Event, the Ciphering Time Trials, the Team Scamble, the Four-by-Four Competition, and the Collaborative Problem Solving Contest...
.
Amador Valley is the first high school in California to host a MathLeague.org tournament. The tournament was run by Amador Valley math teachers with help from the Amador Valley Math Team. The event served as a qualifier for MathLeague.org's Northern California Championships and served as a tryout for the Bay Area American Regions Math League team. The math team was praised for "showing leadership in mathematics."
At the 2009 Northern California Championships, the Math Team placed second in Northern California to Lynbrook High School
Lynbrook High School
Lynbrook High School is a co-educational, public, four-year secondary school located in the West San Jose neighborhood of San Jose, California, USA...
and received an invitation to MathLeague.org's multi-state championship in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Amador Valley High School, the first to represent California at the Midwestern event, finished fifth in the championship out of the ten qualifying teams.
The Math Team also hosts the Amador Valley Geometry Bee, modeled after the Scripps National Spelling Bee
Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a highly competitive annual spelling bee in the United States, with participants from other countries as well. It is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W...
. This competition invites students from Amador Valley, Foothill High School, and the district's three middle schools to compete in timed rounds. The style of the competition consists of rounds of 10 questions each, deviating from the traditional spelling bee format.
The Math Team also hosts an event for parents and students, Family Math Night. This event lets parents preview course material with their students through hands-on activities run by math team members. The goal of Family Math Night is "to help parents become comfortable assisting their students with math homework."
Robotics Team
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
An autonomous underwater vehicle is a robot which travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes non-autonomous remotely operated underwater vehicles...
Competition hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, also known as AUVSI, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the technology of unmanned vehicles.- History :...
. Each year, with a minimal amount of outside technical assistance, the team develops an AUV to maneuver an underwater obstacle course.
The team first entered the competition in 2000 with its Hammerhead AUV, weighing 98 kg (220 pounds). They placed seventh in the field of twelve. According to Daryl Davidson, the executive director of AUVSI, "The Amador group really broke the ice by being the first high school team at the competition...It caught everybody off-guard and their enthusiasm was very infectious."
At the 2001 competition, Amador Valley placed second to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
with its Manta Ray AUV. The Manta Ray weighed less than 100 kg (220 pounds) and featured a modular design. According to Jim Bales, technical director of the competition, the technical details of the Manta Ray impressed many judges and its performance surpassed a number of university teams.
The Amador Valley Barracuda line, started in 2002, "is propelled by two laterally mounted SeaBotix thrusters controlling speed and heading and two auxiliary thrusters aligned vertically controlling pitch and depth." To guide the AUV autonomously, a pressure sensor
Pressure sensor
A pressure sensor measures pressure, typically of gases or liquids. Pressure is an expression of the force required to stop a fluid from expanding, and is usually stated in terms of force per unit area. A pressure sensor usually acts as a transducer; it generates a signal as a function of the...
, compass, camera, and hydrophone array
Hydrophone
A hydrophone is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates electricity when subjected to a pressure change...
return navigation input data to the software. The AUV uses an Beagle Board
Beagle Board
The BeagleBoard is a low-power, low-cost open source hardware single-board computer produced by Texas Instruments in association with Digi-Key. The BeagleBoard was also designed with open source software development in mind, and as a way of demonstrating the Texas Instrument's OMAP3530...
single-board computer
Single-board computer
A single-board computer is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor, memory, input/output and other features required of a functional computer. Unlike a typical personal computer, an SBC may not include slots into which accessory cards may be plugged...
that runs Angstrom Linux.
In 2008, several fundamental changes were made to the robot. The control system
Control system
A control system is a device, or set of devices to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or system.There are two common classes of control systems, with many variations and combinations: logic or sequential controls, and feedback or linear controls...
was reorganized and the mission control software was revamped to improve communication and to limit overhead. A low-level microcontroller
Microcontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
-based control system was added to free up system resources. This extra processing capability will be used for mission control and image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
tasks.
Speech and Debate
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
team represented Alameda County at the California State Championships in 2007, and competed as the wildcard in 2009. The Mock Trial team has perennially been Alameda County finalists in this Constitutional Rights Foundation sponsored competition, holding the finalist title five of the six years from 2004–2009. Alameda County Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
Judge George Hernandez, who presided over the final county round in 2007, praised the level of preparedness of Amador Valley's Mock Trial team.
The national "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, is a yearly competition for American high school students held in Washington D.C. The competition is styled as a congressional hearing. Each team is divided up into six units, each composed of three or...
" competition takes place each spring in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The Amador Valley "We the People" team has represented the state of California at the national competition ten times since 1992. The team earned the national title in 1995, and took second place in the 2006 and 2007 competitions. In 2008 and 2009, the team placed fourth and third in the national competition, respectively. Congressman Jerry McNerney
Jerry McNerney
Gerald "Jerry" McNerney is an engineer, energy specialist, and the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
congratulated the 2009 team on Capitol Hill.
Student outreach
Amador Valley's Interact Club was founded in coordination with the local RotaryRotary
-Engineering and Machinery:* Rotary motion* Rotary engine, a type of internal combustion engine from the early 20th century* Rotary engine , other engines called "rotary"** Wankel engine* Rotary latch...
chapter, and is one of 33,000 Rotary chapters in the world. Every year, the Interact Club coordinates several local fundraisers as well as nationwide campaigns in conjunction with Rotary events. Club members are a part of millions of worldwide Rotary and Interact members who work "locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self." Amador Valley's Interact Club has been praised for its efforts to "educate, advocate and fundraise for life-changing programs."
The Human Rights Club is a similar sort of outreach group, affiliated with Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and STAND. The club was founded in 2007 by Amador Valley student Shelby Margolin, the California state high school outreach coordinator on the national STAND leadership board. The club focuses on ways to address issues such as genocide, disease and poverty in Africa. The student group hosts educational seminars and keynote speakers in an annual Human Rights Conference in the hope of "raising awareness about and helping to end genocide."
Other extracurricular activities
Additional Amador Valley clubs include Go GreenEnvironmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, which encourages recycling on campus, and FISH Club, a non-denominational Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
club. Around election years, Young Democrats
Young Democrats of America
The Young Democrats of America , founded in 1932, is the official youth arm of the Democratic Party of the United States, although it severed official ties with the Democratic National Committee following passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and became an independent 527 group...
and Young Republicans
Young Republicans
The Young Republicans is an organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization and chapters in individual states....
clubs are popular. The school's Fashion Club hosts fashion shows, and the school's Flight Club introduces students to aviation and aircraft. Cultural clubs at Amador Valley include Black Student Union, Muslim Student Association, and Multi Cultural Club. Other clubs at Amador Valley include Anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, Art of Movement, Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, Bhangra, Book Club, California Scholastic Federation, DECA
DECA (organization)
DECA, also known as Collegiate DECA on the college level) is an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service . DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing,...
, Don Squad, Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, Environmental, French, GO, Gay-Straight Alliance
Gay-straight alliance
Gay–straight alliances are student organizations, found primarily in North American high schools and universities, that are intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their straight allies .-Goal:The goal of most, if not all,...
, Interact, Junior Statesmen of America, Political Ideals, Puzzle, Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, Short Film, and Students Interested in Medical Sciences (SIMS).
Alumni
- Craig BillmeierCraig BillmeierCraig "Craigums" Martin Billmeier , also known as Hot Lixx Hulahan, is an American punk musician, multi-instrumentalist, two-time US National Air Guitar Champion , and the 2008 World Air Guitar Champion. His music career started in 1989, since then he played in multiple bands on various instruments...
— 2008 World Air Guitar Champion, 2006 and 2008 US National Air Guitar Champion - Cary C. ChunCary C. ChunBrigadier General Cary Comperido Chun is the former Commander of 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. In this position, he was responsible for more than 3,100 military personnel, and Department of Defense civilians and contractor personnel, serving at 50th Space Wing operating...
— former commander of the United States Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
's 50th Space Wing50th Space WingThe 50th Space Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force under the major command of Air Force Space Command . It was activated on 30 January 1992, replacing the 2d Space Wing, which was deactivated on the same date.-Overview:... - Kevin CrowKevin CrowKevin Troy Crow is a former U.S. soccer defender. He played two seasons in the North American Soccer League, eight in the Major Indoor Soccer League and four in the Continental Indoor Soccer League, all with the San Diego Sockers. He was a first team NASL All Star, a five time MISL All Star and...
— former professional San Diego soccer player, manager, and coach - Brandon J Cruz — sportscaster, news reporter in Tri-Cities, Idaho Falls/Pocatello, Colorado Springs, Denver, Milwaukee Writer Foxsportswisconsin.com
- Gary Cruz — former sportscaster in Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, MMA Play by Play Actor Independence Day, Godzilla Radio Host
- Aliya DeriAliya DeriAliya Deri, from Pleasanton, California, was the champion of the 2008 National Vocabulary Championship. She was also a runner up for the 78th Scripps National Spelling Bee at the age of 13. She was featured in the book AMERICAN BEE: The National Spelling Bee and the Culture of Word Nerds, ISBN...
— National Vocabulary ChampionNational Vocabulary ChampionshipThe National Vocabulary Championship was the first-ever U.S.-wide vocabulary competition for high school students created by GSN, in association with The Princeton Review. Thirty thousand high school students from across the United States participated in the inaugural year .The NVC aimed to...
in 2008, Scripps National Spelling BeeScripps National Spelling BeeThe Scripps National Spelling Bee is a highly competitive annual spelling bee in the United States, with participants from other countries as well. It is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W...
Runner Up in 2005 - Paul KorverPaul KorverPaul Korver is an American filmmaker who currently resides in Los Angeles. He is a self-taught filmmaker who has acted in Legally Blonde. Paul Korver has been featured in the New York Times as he formed "Fifty Foot Films, a Hollywood-based company that is dedicated to fixing major life events on...
— filmmaker and actor - Greg KragenGreg KragenGregory John Kragen is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League including three Super Bowls and five championship games. He was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1989 and made the All-Madden team twice...
— Former NFL player for 13 years for the Carolina PanthersCarolina PanthersThe Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
, Kansas City ChiefsKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, and Denver BroncosDenver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Went to one Pro Bowl and started in three Super Bowls.
- Kevin LaueKevin LaueKevin Laue is a tall American college student and basketball player from Pleasanton, California. He was born with one arm and has been recognized for his skills and success in overcoming adversity. In the 2008-2009 season he played at a military academy in Virginia and was a prospect for...
— Division I Manhattan CollegeManhattan CollegeManhattan College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City, United States. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly 10 miles north of Midtown. Manhattan College offers...
basketball player with one hand, debuted in the 2009-2010 season. Former President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
asked to meet with Laue while he was a student at Amador Valley. - Tom OrloffTom OrloffThomas Jensen Orloff is the retired district attorney for Alameda County, California.Orloff began work in the DA's office after graduating Boalt Hall in 1970, trying 25 murder cases before becoming Chief Assistant DA in 1989. When District Attorney Jack Meehan retired in 1994, Orloff ran unopposed...
— district attorneyDistrict attorneyIn many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
for Alameda CountyAlameda County, CaliforniaAlameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state... - Chris Geile — Former NFL player for the Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
- Scott PetersScott Peters (American football)Scott Thomas Peters is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft...
— NFL offensive lineman for the Arizona CardinalsArizona CardinalsThe Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... - Donna TheodoreDonna TheodoreDonna Theodore is an American Actress and singer who first came to attention as a headliner at many famous nightclubs during the 1960s including the Copacabana, The Fountainebleau Hotel, the Fairmont Hotel, and the El San Juan in Puerto Rico...
— singer and actress, Theatre World AwardTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
and Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
recipient for role in ShenandoahShenandoah (musical)Shenandoah is a musical that was written in 1975 with music by Gary Geld, lyrics by Peter Udell, and a book by Udell, Philip Rose and James Lee Barrett, based on Barrett's original screenplay for the 1965 film Shenandoah.-Productions:... - David YostDavid YostDavid Harold Yost is an American actor and producer known for his role of Billy Cranston on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and Power Rangers Zeo.-Early life:...
— actor who played the Blue Power Ranger in the television series Mighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
Staff
- Jim TriminghamJim TriminghamJim Trimingham was Mayor of the City of Pleasanton, California from 1952 to 1955.Trimingham ran the first fleet of school buses for the Amador Valley Joint Union High School District from 1932 to 1946....
— Mayor of Pleasanton, member of the Immortal 21