El Camino High School (South San Francisco, California)

El Camino High School is situated on a foothill of the San Bruno Mountain and consists of five different levels. The first level consists of a theater and a parking lot which, in 2012, was updated to contain a wide solar panel array, and a two-floor Science Building which opened in April 2014. The second level holds the majority of the school with the two-story Humanities Building, a courtyard with the Red Stage, cafeteria/teachers' lounge, a library, and the Counseling, Attendance and Main Offices. The third level holds a Science Building and a Performing Arts Building. The fourth level holds two gyms, pool, a Weightlifting Building and a few portables. A new track and athletic facility, which opened in 2013, is located on the fifth level.

The campus also has a memorial garden, large courtyard plaza, athletic facility (completion date 2017), and a large pool. It is notorious for its large number of stairs.

El Camino High School operates under a closed campus policy, prohibiting leaving the campus for lunch or meeting visitors and students during school hours.

According to US News and World Report, 92% of El Camino's student body is "of color," with 17% of the student body coming from an economically disadvantaged household, determined by student eligibility for California's Reduced-price meal program.[3]

El Camino High School offers the recommended A-G courses based upon the University of California that illustrates the minimum level of academic preparation students ought to achieve in high school to undertake university level work.[4]

El Camino High School currently offers seven Advanced Placement courses.

El Camino High School Associated Student Body leadership consists of the Student Council (ASB Cabinet and the four class Presidents), class officers and commissioners.[5]

The ASB Cabinet consists of the ASB President, ASB Vice President, ASB Secretary, ASB Treasurer (manages school funds reserved for student activities), ASB Chairperson (responsible for the Inter-Club Council which convenes representatives of all campus clubs and organizations modeled on the CLOG system for deliberative and decision-making purposes) and the ASB Representative-at-Large (responsible for representing ECHS' interests at other schools, school board meetings, city council meetings, leadership conferences and other off campus events). The ASB Cabinet also is responsible for receiving visiting students as they have recently received exchange students from Japan and Canada.

Class officers (with the Presidents serving on Student Council) are responsible for all class related events (freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior). Class officers are responsible for homecoming, class fundraiser dances, fundraising, prom, senior sunrise and sunset and grad night/trip (for seniors).

Commissioners are responsible for the inner workings of ASB and all student events. Commissioner positions include: art (responsible for posters for events and advertising), publicity (responsible for advertising events), staff relations, computer technical specialist (responsible for online content such as flyers, websites, etc. as well as all technological equipment), audio/visual, dance (responsible for dance planning, fundraising and organization), athletics (represents the various sports to the ASB), special events (responsible for all student events that are not under the jurisdiction of other commissions), spirit, student store.

The purpose of ASB, as defined by its constitution, is the representation on behalf of the student body, the conduct of activities on behalf of the students of El Camino High School as approved by the principal and the governing board of the South San Francisco Unified School District. Activities include Spirit Week, school dances, and other ceremonies usually during lunch and after school.

El Camino Colt Publications

El Camino's quarterly news magazine, The Colt Quarterly,[6] which ran from 2008-2011, garnered awards from Quill and Scroll, the All American Certification from the Journalism Education Association of Northern California,[7] and the 2010 General Excellence Award from the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club.[8] Following the end of the 2010-2011 school year, The Colt Quarterly was replaced by The News Stable from 2011-2013. Due to a lack of funding and enrollment, the News Stable ceased operations following the 2013 school year. There is currently no student periodical at El Camino High School.

Homecoming

El Camino High School is known for its homecoming traditions. A three-month-long process beginning with the announcement of the theme, each class works from the summer to late-September to create decorations to cover the school, lunch-time skit and dance and rally dance. Homecoming week is held either late-September or early-October and runs from Monday through Thursday with each class having its respective day all culminating on Friday with a rally, football game and dance. El Camino Homecoming is known for the way each class goes all out and devotes much of its attention toward decorating the entire school and lunch-time skit and dance. Homecoming has become controversial over the years for its unofficial allnighter traditions which have run into altercations with the law. Recent themes have been "dreams", "the Beatles", "old Hollywood films", "Pixar", "Star Wars" and "Magic."

ECHS Fashion Show

An annual fashion show in which students used to participate to show off various fashion elements. The show ceased to continue in 2010.

ECHS Art Show

An annual showcase of artwork from photography, ceramics and art students. The Art Show first occurred in 2013 and is open to the public of South San Francisco free of charge.

• The News Stable was El Camino's quarterly news magazine as of 2011. Due to a lack of funding and enrollment, the News Stable ceased operations following the 2013-14 school year. The Colt Quarterly, which ran from 2008-2011, garnered many awards, including the All American Certification from the Journalism Education Association of Northern California and the 2010 General Excellence Award from the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club. There is currently no news publication at El Camino High School.
• CQ Online is El Camino's online news for exclusive content.
• The Yearling is El Camino's school yearbook publication. The Yearling publishes once a year and is available to El Camino High school students, staff, and South San Francisco Public Library patrons.
• ECTV, which stands for "El Camino Television", is El Camino's television news channel. ECTV ceased broadcasting in 2012 due to technical difficulties. While El Camino Television remained on the air, many criticized it for its unreliability, low production value, and poor management.
• The Mane Stream is a publication devoted to satire. Established in 2012, the Mane Stream is written, produced, and published by AP English Language and Composition students.

El Camino offers at least 30 different clubs any given year. Currently, there are 8 art/expression-based clubs, 6 service-based clubs, 5 culture-based clubs, 3 special interest/advocacy clubs, 3 extracurricular clubs, 2 academic clubs and 2 other clubs. All clubs are open for students to join to occupy their time, build their character and friendships, make them look better for colleges and, most of all, make student experiences at El Camino High School more enjoyable and worthwhile.

Alive Club[9] A club dedicated to keeping the students of El Camino High School informed about eating healthy and living alternative lifestyles to benefit both themselves and their environment.

Art Club[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. A club devoted to spreading the importance of art in life by providing a creative environment for students to share their own art pieces (paintings, sculptures, writing). Art Club also takes its members to many of San Francisco's and the Bay Area's art museums.

Bookmarks Club[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. El Camino's own book club where students select a book each month and meet to discuss its contents, literary merit and overall interests.

Career Club[9] A club dedicated to helping students finding out about different career fields they may show interest in entering after high school. Career club connects students from all four grades to career sources, job shadowing, internships and scholarships.

Colt Society[9] One of El Camino's six service-based clubs. Colt Society focuses on running El Camino's food drives in partnership with the Samaritans and the blood drives in partnership with Blood Centers of the Pacific.

California Scholarship Federation[9] Only ECHS students with a high GPA can join. Members perform community service in order to raise money for college visits.

Debate Club[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. A debate club.

Ecology Club[9] A club devoted to maintaining the local environment by maintaining the Robert Garrett Memorial Garden and the school-wide recycling program.

Cosmetology Club[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. El Camino's own club all about cosmetology dedicated to educating students about proper cosmetology practices through make-up, hair maintenance, hygiene and kitchen responsibilities.

El Camino Latin Association[9] One of ECHS' five culture-based clubs. Hispanic and Latino members promote their culture throughout campus.

Expressing Youth Elements[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. EYE is a club devoted to maintaining students' right to express themselves via art, graffiti, spoken word, music and literature.

Film Club[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. A club all about the appreciation of film.

French Club[9] One of ECHS' five culture-based clubs. French Club is dedicated to establishing French culture at El Camino High School through food, language, culture, and fashion.

Glee Club[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. An extracurricular club outside of ECHS' own choral classes for students interested in singing.

Gay-Straight Alliance[9] El Camino's own LGBT-based club is dedicated to spreading a message of tolerance and establishing El Camino as a safe environment for students who identify with the LGBT community.

Intensive Innovation[9] An extracurricular club outside of ECHS' own dance classes for students interested in performing in a dance crew.

Interact Club[9] One of ECHS' six service-based clubs. Interact works with the South San Francisco Rotary Club to have its students volunteer at many Rotary-sponsored volunteer events.

Japanime Club[9] One of ECHS' five culture-based clubs. A club all about Asian anime culture and literature.

Key Club[9] One of ECHS' six service-based clubs. Key Club works with the South San Francisco Kiwanis club and Kiwanis International. ECHS Key Club is a member school of Key Club Division 34 North, Aqua Apes.

Link Crew[9] An extracurricular entity dedicated to helping freshmen transition from local middle schools to El Camino High School. By working over the summer, at freshmen orientation and around finals, Link Crew maintains a strong relationship with the freshmen class.

Multicultural Club[9] One of ECHS' five culture-based clubs. MCC is dedicated to spreading culture from all around the world to students at ECHS. By celebrating ECHS' own diversity and the world's, MCC spreads culture through food, language and art.

Model UN[9] One of ECHS' five culture-based clubs. A club helping students understand the process and importance of the UN in our world. Model UN functions like the UN does.

Operation Smile[9] One of ECHS' six service-based clubs. Operation Smile fundraisers and collects donations to help victims of the cleft-lip.

Out-of-the-Box[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. Out-of-the-Box gathers students to learn about creating functional and decorative items made from cheap or recyclable materials. Out-of-the-Box is a DIY-like club.

Red Cross Club[9] One of ECHS' six service-based clubs. Red Cross Club works with Red Cross International to work around the community to help those in need by raising funds.

Robotics Club[9] One of ECHS' eight art and expression-based clubs. A club dedicated to physics, engineering, design, mathematics and most of all, robotics.

Service Club[9] One of ECHS' six service-based clubs. S Club works with the South San Francisco Soroptomists and Soroptomists International to volunteer around the community to help those in need.

Scream Team[9] ECHS' own cheer-based group that works with and without the ECHS cheerleaders and almost all sporting events. Scream Team can be recognized by their "Colt Pride" shirts, thunder sticks, cowbells and face-paint.

Sojourn To The Past ECHS's "Dream Team" consists of students devoted to eliminating stereotypes and discrimination in their community. An annual ten-day-long trip is held that takes the "Dream Team" with other schools to the Deep South to learn about America's history of racism, segregation and bigotry. ECHS Sojourn to the Past works with the Sojourn to the Past program.[10]

TLC/Respect Club[9] A club dedicated to building up select students' character and leadership potential.

Weightlifting Club[9] A club that meets solely to lift weights.

The front of El Camino High School

The gym

• Ken Bastida, newscaster for Channel 5 news (Bay Area)[11]
• Rich Bordi (class of 1977), MLB, Oakland A's pitcher
• Josh Emmett (class of 2003),[12] professional Mixed Martial Artist, currently in the UFC Featherweight Division[13]
• Walt Harris (class of 1964), former Stanford football coach[14]
• Ghandia Johnson (class of 1987), Survivor: Thailand contestant[15]
• Barry McGee (class of 1984), artist
• Kurtis Ming (class of 1996) News Anchor for CBS13 Sacramento [16]
• Dennis Pepa (class of 1986), bassist and cofounder of heavy metal (thrash) group Death Angel
• Roger Ruzek (class of 1978), former NFL player
• Darren Uyenoyama (class of 1997), former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) flyweight, 62 kg gold medalist in 2007 Fila World Grappling Championship, previously fought mixed martial arts in the Japanese organization Dream[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to El Camino High School (South San Francisco).

• San Mateo County high schools

• http://issuu.com/coltquarterly
• http://echs.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1286953979465

• El Camino High School official website
• Great Schools profile
• California Department of Education - DataQuest reports