Esperanza High School (EHS) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

and is part of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. It is a California Distinguished School and is home to various

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

(CIF) championship athletic programs; it is also home to numerous academic clubs, such as 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 consisti ...

, and

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, tw ...

. It is a member of the Century League. The school's colors are cardinal and gold, and its mascot is the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

. The school has two campuses: a main campus and a west campus connected by a pedestrian bridge over Kellogg Drive. Since 2010, west campus became known as the Freshmen Focus Campus; however, the mathematics and foreign language buildings on this campus are not reserved solely for freshmen. The west campus is the former Orchard Drive Elementary school, which the high school absorbed in 1986. Current enrollment exceeds 1,700. Most pupils come from nearby Yorba Linda, California, Anaheim and east Placentia.

Accolades

Esperanza is ranked in the top 25% of

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

high schools. In 2019, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the school #330 within

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and #2,154 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The state ranking is up from #404 in 2017. Previously, Esperanza was ranked 860 of the "Top 1,300 U.S. High Schools" in

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

's 2008 list. In 2002, EHS was recognized as a California Distinguished School. Later in 2015, it was awarded The California Gold Ribbon Award.

Athletic teams

* Baseball (1986: national No. 1 per

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

) * Men's basketball (CIF Champions, 2017) * Women's Basketball (CIF Champions, 1980) * Cross country * Diving * Football * Men's Lacrosse * Soccer (Men's CIF Championship 2004, Women's CIF Championship 2010) * Softball * Swimming (Women's CIF Champions 2012) * Tennis * Track and Field * Volleyball (CIF Championships, Men's 1993, 1997, 2002, 2007, CIF & State Champions 2013; Women's 2003, 2005) * Water Polo (Men's CIF Championship 1992, 1994,2003) * Women's Lacrosse * Wrestling * Women's Golf * Men's Golf (Men's CIF Championship 1986)

Esperanza Entertainment Unit

The Esperanza Entertainment Unit consists of a marching band, concerts bands, color guard, and jazz bands.

Engineering

Esperanza is one of nine schools selected by the SME Education Foundation's PRIME (Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education).

Notable alumni

Joseph M. Acaba Joseph Michael "Joe" Acabá (born May 17, 1967) is a Puerto Rican educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut. In May 2004 he became the first person of Puerto Rican heritage to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate, when he was selected as a ...

, astronaut *

Jarrod Alexander Jarrod Fletcher Alexander (born August 13, 1981) is an American musician who has played with many hardcore punk bands. Alexander has been the drummer for the bands The Suicide File, A Static Lullaby, Dead Country, and more recently, My Chemical ...

, drummer of

Death By Stereo Death by Stereo (also referred to as D.B.S.) is an American hardcore punk band formed in Orange County, California circa 1998 by frontman Efrem Schulz. They are well known for their energetic performances and intricate guitar work. Their name ...

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist ...

and others *

Moon Bloodgood Korinna Moon Bloodgood (born September 20, 1975) is an American actress and model, known for her role as Lt. Blair Williams in the 2009 film ''Terminator Salvation'' and as Anne Glass in the TNT television series '' Falling Skies''. Early life ...

, actress *

Heather Bown Heather Erin Bown (born November 29, 1978) is a retired volleyball player from the United States, who played as a middle-blocker. She represented her native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. There she finished in fifth plac ...

, Olympic volleyball player *

Sabrina Bryan Reba Sabrina Hinojos (born September 16, 1984), known professionally as Sabrina Bryan, is an American dancer, choreographer, actress and singer. She was best known as a member of the girl group The Cheetah Girls, and starred in the Disney Channe ...

of The Cheetah Girls and '' Dancing with the Stars'' * Ashley Force and sister

Courtney Force Courtney Force-Rahal (born June 20, 1988) is a former drag racer who competed on the NHRA tour. She drove the Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro SS Funny Car for John Force Racing. She is the youngest daughter of 16-time NHRA World Funny Car Champ ...

, drag racers for

John Force Racing John Force Racing is an NHRA drag racing team. In over 30 years of competition, John Force Racing has won one Top Fuel and 20 Funny Car championships. The current line-up of drivers includes Top Fuel drivers Brittany Force, Austin Prock and Funn ...

and daughters of

John Force John Harold Force (born May 4, 1949 in Bell Gardens, California) is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 22-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (J ...

Ian Fowles Ian Fowles is an American musician, author, and actor, best known as the current guitarist for the Orange County rock band The Aquabats, in which he performs under the stage name and persona of EagleBones Falconhawk (originally Eagle "Bones" Fa ...

, guitarist of

The Aquabats The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1994. Throughout many fluctuations in the group's line-up, singer the MC Bat Commander and bassist Crash McLarson have remained the band's two constant fixtur ...

Gerard Way Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He released his debut solo album, ''Hesitant Alien'', ...

Joe Hawley Joseph Kelly Hawley (born October 22, 1988) is a former American football center who played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Falcons with the 117th pick in the fo ...

, NFL player * Jayson Jablonsky, Olympic volleyball player *

Travis Kirschke Travis Kirschke (born September 6, 1974) is a former American football defensive end. He was originally signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 1997. He played college football at UCLA. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers ...

, NFL player * Steven Lenhart, major league soccer player for San Jose Earthquakes * Annie Lin, singer/songwriter * Keith McDonald, major league baseball player *

Paul Miner Paul Miner (born December 4, 1976) is the bassist for Death by Stereo, who left the band early 2005 (right before the band's fourth album ''Death for Life''), to produce, engineer, master, and mix music full-time. Previously he produced and engin ...

and Jim Miner of

* Michele Mitchell, filmmaker, journalist and author *

David Newhan David Matthew Newhan (born September 7, 1973) is an American former professional baseball utility player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams during eight seasons. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. After serving ...

, major league baseball player *

Kherington Payne Kherington Taylor Payne (born January 26, 1990) is an American dancer, actress, choreographer, television personality and singer who came to prominence as a Top 10 Finalist in Season 4 of the hit reality-dance show ''So You Think You Can Dance ...

, dancer, actress * Scott Rummell, actor *

Chris Ryall Christopher Ryall (born April 2) is best known as the former President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer of IDW Publishing (June 2004–2019), and as a writer in the comic book industry. In February 2011, his Eisner Award-nominated series, '' ...

, writer, editor, Power Rangers guest-star *

Brandon Saller Brandon Kyle Saller (born June 24, 1983) is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the lead vocalist, keyboardist and former drummer of the metalcore band Atreyu. He is responsible for the melodic singing found in the b ...

Alex Varkatzas Alex Varkatzas (born January 17, 1982) is an American musician, best known as the former lead vocalist of metalcore band Atreyu from its inception in 1998 until his departure from the band in 2020. In 2011, during the band's hiatus, Varkatzas also ...

, and Dan Jacobs of the metalcore band,

Atreyu Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band currently consists of clean vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist and unclean vocalist Marc "Porter" McKnight, and ...

Vince Staples Vincent Jamal Staples (born July 2, 1993) is an American rapper and singer. Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt in particular. He is currently signed to Motown and Blacksmith Records. Staples rose to ...

, rapper *

KZ Okpala Chikezie Jake "KZ" Okpala (born April 28, 1999) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal. Early life Okpa ...

, NBA player * Mike Simms, MLB player, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers *

Brenden Stai Brenden Michael Stai (born March 30, 1972) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. He played college footba ...

, NFL player * Alexis Thorpe, actress, known for her role as Cassie Brady on daytime drama '' Days of Our Lives'' * Justin Viele,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

coach for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

References

External links

Esperanza H.S. Website

2006–2007 School Accountability Report Card

Esperanza Entertainment Unit Website
{{Authority control High schools in Orange County, California Public high schools in California 1973 establishments in California Educational institutions established in 1973