Island High School is a
Mixed-sex education 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 ...
serving grades 9-12. It is located in
Alameda
An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to:
Places Canada
*Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan
**Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan
Chile
...
,
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 ...
, United States, and is part of the
Alameda Unified School District. Island High only admits students who are at least sixteen years old.
Summary
Island High opened as a continuation school in the 1970s as an alternative high school to
Alameda
An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to:
Places Canada
*Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan
**Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan
Chile
...
and
Encinal High Schools. The original campus was located at 2437 Eagle Avenue in Alameda, near the Park Street and Fruitvale Bridges. In 2007, Island High moved to its second location at 250 Singleton Avenue, the site of the old
George P. Miller
George Paul Miller (January 15, 1891 – December 29, 1982) was an American veteran of World War I who served 14 terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1945 to 1973.
Early life
George Paul Miller was born in San Francisco, Califo ...
Elementary School. The elementary school building was renovated to better suit a high school environment. The high school has since moved again to its current location.
Island High is different from most traditional high schools in the state of California, in that it allows students to earn 7.5 credits every semester, instead of the usual five at a traditional high school. Island High splits its grading periods into six "Hexemesters" (Or "Hexes") rather than four Quarters. Hexes last approximately six weeks and allow students to earn 2.5 subject credits in a class, the amount normally earned in one nine week-long quarter at a traditional high school. Despite this non-traditional schedule, Island High still follows the same standard school calendar set by the district.
Students may also earn additional subject credits through completion of Contracts and Challenge Exams. A Contract is an additional project taken on by a student in addition to their regular class workload that is to be completed outside of class time, subject credits vary by contract. Challenge Exams are tests that are administered once every Hex and if passed, applies five credits in the exam's subject area.
Grading at Island High also differs from that of a traditional high school, namely with the absence of failing (F) grades. In lieu a F, students who do not meet a subject's passing requirements are given a No Mark (NM) grade which does not affect their grade point average in the way a F does. Both F and NM grades do not award any credit.
Enrollment
The student body of Island High has always been relatively small, with only approximately 200 students in the entire school. Most students at Island High are transfer students from Alameda and Encinal High Schools who are low on credits, with a small percentage of students transferring from outside the Alameda Unified School District. Once a student has a certain number of credits, he or she may choose to transfer out of Island and back to their original school. Few students actually choose to do this.
Graduation requirements
Despite its status as a continuation high school, diplomas awarded from Island High are recognized in the same manner as diplomas issued from any other California high school. Students require 230 credits, a minimum
GPA
Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
of 1.75, and twenty hours of community service to graduate. A student is considered a graduate on the very day they meet all requirements and graduations at Island High commonly occur on regular school days in the middle of the year. All graduates regardless of graduation date are invited to participate in a commencement ceremony at the end of the school year.
See also
*
Alameda Unified School District
*
Continuation high school
A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school. In some countries it is primarily for students who are considered at risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same, but the sch ...
References
External links
Official school website Alameda Unified School District
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High schools in Alameda County, California
Public high schools in California
1970s establishments in California