Oak Park High School (California)

Oak Park High School (abbreviated OPHS) is the main high school in the Oak Park Unified School District, taking ninth through twelfth grade students. It is a National Blue Ribbon School and a 2019 California Distinguished School and OPHS received and Exemplary Distinction Award from the California of Education for its Career and Technical Education program which includes career pathways in Engineering Design, Media Arts, Production Management, and construction technologies. The 2012 Academic Performance Index (API) was 929, which is among the highest in California. In 2015 the school was awarded the California Gold Ribbon School Award from the California Department of Education. The 2016 Newsweek Ranking of America's Top Schools ranked Oak Park High as #51 in the nation and #7 in CA.[2]

This article is about the secondary school in Oak Park, CA, USA. For the secondary school in Kansas City, MO, USA, see Oak Park High School (Kansas City).
Oak Park High School
Address
899 North Kanan Road

Oak Park
,
CA

United States
Information
TypePublic Secondary
Established1978 (1978)
School districtOak Park Unified
PrincipalKevin Buchanan
Assistant PrincipalNatalie Smith
Assistant PrincipalJason Meskis
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,518 (2017-18)[1]
Student Union/AssociationNone
Color(s)  Black
  Gold
  White
Athletics conferenceCoastal Canyon League
MascotEagles
NicknameOPHS
RivalAgoura High School
AccreditationWASC
National ranking51
NewspaperOak Park Talon
AffiliationWestern Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
Websitehttp://www.oakparkusd.org/ophs/site/default.asp

History

As the construction of subdivisions proceeded in Oak Park during the 1970s and the population increased, schooling arrangements became increasingly frustrating for residents. Students had to be bused to high schools in Simi Valley, 23 miles away by road, and back again each day, despite the fact that schools of the nearby Las Virgenes Unified School District stood in proximity. With Oak Park lying in Ventura County, California and Las Virgenes in Los Angeles County, though, Oak Park students were not allowed to attend.

Seeking to deal with the problem, Oak Park residents petitioned for annexation to Las Virgenes but were rejected in 1974. In 1977, they created the Oak Park Unified School District and broke ground for the high school in 1978. Students were housed in trailers from 1979 to 1980 until the school began admitting students at its present site in 1981. It functioned as both middle and high school until 1992, when nearby Medea Creek Middle School began educating sixth through eighth-grade students.

Campus expansion has continued in recent years with the addition of a library, a performing arts center, an updated gym including a new floor, a new rubberized track, a turf football field, a stadium sound system, science labs, a student services building, modernized art classrooms, and computer labs. Additional work, to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, improved access to the baseball and softball fields. Five drinking fountains were installed in the summer of 2013.

Academics

In 2016, Oak Park's AP program placed it at 51st in Newsweek's Top High Schools.[3]

School facilities

Oak Park High School added a two-story bungalow-style set of classrooms in 2005. The school has a pavilion building that houses a large theater stage, several classrooms, high-ceiling band, choir rooms with acoustic paneling, and a solar array as shade structures in the school's lunch and parking areas. OPHS received the California Distinguished School Award in 2019 with special distinction for its Exemplary Career and Technical Arts pathways. School modernization was completed in 2015, and the projects completed include modernized classrooms including science labs, student services building, gym, turf field, and Arts and Technology building (summer of 2013). Over 95% of classrooms are equipped with SmartBoards. In the school year of 2019-20 OPHS implemented a one-to one Chromebook program school wide with ubiquitous WiFi and unlimited student access to Google Apps for Education.

Sports

For all sports at Oak Park High School competes in the Coastal Canyon League.

Erik Affholter played football at Oak Park High School.[4] As a 16-year-old place kicker during his junior season he broke a national record with a 64-yard (59 meter) field goal in 1982, which at the time was the longest field goal kicked at any level.[5][6][7][8][9][10] A sportswriter at the game estimated it could have gone 74 yards (68 meters).[11] Asked about his kick, Affholter said: "I'd much rather catch touchdown passes."[12] At the time, as a wide receiver he had caught more touchdown passes than any player in his high school conference.[12]

Oak Park offers many sports, like football, basketball, girls' and boys' golf, girls' and boys' soccer, and tennis.

Notable alumni

The following graduated from Oak Park Independent School:

Notable teachers

References
  1. "Oak Park High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2016-08-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "The Daily Beast - America's best high Schools". Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  4. Jerry Crowe (November 19, 2007). "Memories are something else he can hold on to". Los Angeles Times.
  5. "Ex-NFL player Erik Affholter tells police missing-hiker report a misunderstanding". Ventura County Star.
  6. Rich Tosches (October 23, 1982). "16-year-old high school kicker nails record 64-yard field goal". UPI.
  7. Eliav Appelbaum (January 26, 2017). "USC football legend will be inducted into hall of fame". Thousand Oaks Acorn.
  8. "Ex-USC, NFL player Erik Affholter missing in Simi Valley hike". Los Angeles Times. May 14, 2012.
  9. "Affholter hoping to take long drive to Champions Tour". Ventura County Star.
  10. "ERIK AFFHOLTER; Football - 2016". Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
  11. "Scoring[date=October 19, 1982". San Bernardino Sun.
  12. Tuite, James (October 20, 1982). "Plays". The New York Times.
  13. Victor, Alana. "Sam Levine 'truly made the world a better place'". Daily Trojan. Retrieved 6 October 2020.

Further reading

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