El Camino High School is one of two high schools of the Oceanside Unified School District, located at 400 Rancho Del Oro Drive in

Oceanside, California Oceanside is a city on the South Coast (California), South Coast of California, located in San Diego County, California, San Diego County. The city had a population of 167,086 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is a popular ...

. Declared a California Distinguished School in the early 2000s, it was originally named "Oceanside High School East", and officially became El Camino High School in 1976. El Camino's Truax Theatre was built in the early 1980s and houses a large performance venue, an adjacent classroom with stage and large music and drama rooms. It also recently built a new Science and Technology Building and is undergoing constant construction to clean up the campus. El Camino maintains a close athletic rivalry with Oceanside High School. The ECHS mascot is the "Wildcat" and the school colors are brown and gold.

Notable alumni

Rich Wilkes Richard "Rich" Wilkes (born 1966) is an American filmmaker and musician. His work is noted for its rooting in contemporary music and youth culture. Works As Screenwriter Wilkes' major-studio debut was as screenwriter of the 1994 film ''Airheads ...

, screenwriter '' Airheads'', ''

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The Dirt ''The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band'' () is a collaborative autobiography of Mötley Crüe by the band – Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx – and ''New York Times'' writer Neil Strauss. First publi ...

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Brit Bennett Brit Bennett is an American writer based in Los Angeles. Her debut novel ''The Mothers'' (2016) was a ''New York Times'' best-seller. Her second novel, ''The Vanishing Half'' (2020), was also a ''New York Times'' best-seller and it was chosen as ...

, ''New York Times'' best-selling author *

Michael Booker Michael Allen Booker Jr. (born April 27, 1975) is an American former professional cornerback who played five seasons in the National Football League from 1997–2001. Early years Michael Booker started playing football later in his childhood. O ...

, former NFL player * Richard Crawford, former NFL player *

Toniu Fonoti Toniuolevaiavea Satele Fonoti (born November 26, 1981) is a Samoan-born former player of American college and professional football who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the early 2000s. He played college ...

, former NFL player, he transferred after his sophomore season * J.C. Pearson, former NFL player * Denise Richards, American actress, former fashion model, animal welfare advocate and philanthropist * Antwain Spann, former NFL player *

Greg Sprink Greg Sprink (born June 29, 1985) is an American former basketball player known for his collegiate career at the United States Naval Academy (Navy) between 2004 and 2008, where he was the 2008 Patriot League Player of the Year as well as an honora ...

, college basketball player *

Ken Stills Kenneth Lee Stills Sr. (born September 6, 1963) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He is the father of American football wide receiver Kenny Stills. Stills was originally drafted by the Green Bay Packer ...

, former NFL player *

Toussaint Tyler Toussaint L'Ouverture Tyler (first name pronounced "Too-San",Florence, Mal (December 30, 1980). "Husky Star: For El Camino's Tyler, the Name is One of a Kind". ''Los Angeles Times'': p. B1. born March 19, 1959) is a former running back in the Nati ...

, former NFL player *

Lisa Van Gemert Lisa Paige Van Gemert (born October 6, 1966) is an American educationalist and author best known for her books about gifted education and her tenure as the first Youth and Education Ambassador for American Mensa. Early life Van Gemert was born ...

, American educationalist and author *

Bryant Westbrook Bryant Antoine Westbrook (born December 19, 1974) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Texas. Early years Westbrook attended El Camino High School, where he ...

, former NFL player *

Dokie Williams Darryl Eugene "Dokie" Williams (born August 25, 1960) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons for the Los Angeles Raiders from 1983 to 1987. Dokie and his wife, T ...

, former NFL player

Media attention

In 1986, a group of Christian students found two dozen books on sorcery and satanism in the school's library and asked the Oceanside Unified School District board to ban the volumes. A committee of teachers and administrators assisted by the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

San Diego chapter appealed to the First Amendment and the students' request was rejected. The school drew national media attention in June 2008 for staging a controversial fake car accident, telling students their classmates had died as part of an anti-

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

program called "Every 15 Minutes--Extreme". "Many seniors from all walks of life were included in the program to show the wide reach and seriousness of drunk driving" said Greg Vargas one of the dead seniors.

References

{{authority control High schools in San Diego County, California Oceanside, California 1975 establishments in California