Centennial High School is a public high school located in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, United States. The school's opening in 1993 marked the 100-year anniversary of the

Kern High School District The Kern High School District (KHSD) is a public high school system headquartered in Bakersfield, California that serves the county of Kern located at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. The Kern High School District has more than 35,000 ...

. Centennial is the home of many nationally recognized extra-curricular academic programs, including Virtual Business and We The People, both of which have finished ranked in the top five nationally in the school's history. In 2011, Centennial was recognized as a California Distinguished School for achieving an

Academic Performance Index The Academic Performance Index (API) was a measurement of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California, United States. The API was one of the main components of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the California ...

score of 850, the highest in the Kern High School District. Centennial's boys and girls athletic teams are known as the Golden Hawks. As part of the

Southwest Yosemite League The Southwest Yosemite League is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Central Section. All of the schools are in Bakersfield, California.https://www.cifcs.org/information/leagues.pdf Members * Bakersfield High School * Garces M ...

, the Golden Hawks compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and wrestling. Centennial's athletic teams have won numerous league and

CIF Central Section The California Interscholastic Federation—Central Section (CIF-CS) is the governing body of high school athletics in the central and southern portions of the San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the ...

championships. The girls varsity volleyball team won the California state championship in 1996.

Notable alumni and faculty

Cody Kessler Cody David Kessler (born May 11, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Early years Kessler attended Centennial Hi ...

, NFL quarterback *

Megan Langenfeld Megan Diane Langenfeld (born January 17, 1988) is an American, former collegiate All-American, softball pitcher and current assistant coach. She attended Centennial High School. She played infielder and pitcher for the UCLA Bruins in the Pac-1 ...

, softball player * Jarret Martin, minor league baseball player *

Brent Morel Brenton Andre Morel (born April 21, 1987) is a former American professional baseball third baseman. He previously played for the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. Career Morel attended Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California, ...

, former MLB third baseman *

Jared Norris Jared Scott Norris (born July 19, 1993) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played football at Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California, where he was a three-year letterman and earned All-State honors during h ...

, NFL linebacker *

Matt Barnes (soccer) Matt Barnes is an American soccer coach. Barnes was inducted into the Judson Eagles' hall of fame. Barnes has as B.A. in Physical Education and General Science from Judson University, and a M.S. in Special Education from National University. He ...

, former head coach of the Turks and Caicos Islands Men's National Soccer Team *

Corbin Burnes Corbin Brian Burnes (born October 22, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Brewers in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft, and mad ...

, MLB pitcher

References

High schools in Bakersfield, California Public high schools in California Educational institutions established in 1993 1993 establishments in California {{California-school-stub