Los Altos High School is a comprehensive four-year public education

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 the

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

of Hacienda Heights, California, United States, in eastern Los Angeles County. It should not be confused with the Los Altos High School located in the city of Los Altos, California.

History

The school was founded in 1958 as the second of seven high schools in the former La Puente Union High School District. It is now one of four high schools in the

Hacienda La Puente Unified School District The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District (HLPUSD) is a school district located in Southern California. It is the largest school district in the east San Gabriel Valley in terms of student population, serving 20,000 students from the unincor ...

, which was created in 1970 by a vote of the electorate unifying four high schools and the Hudson Elementary School District. Enrollment levels of the school have varied over the years. In 1978, it reached its highest enrollment, of 2,850 students. In the early 1990s the enrollment dropped to about 1,500. It currently hovers around 2,100.

Sports

Football

Los Altos High School Football has a long history of

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Championships, especially during the coaching period of Dwayne DeSpain from 1966 to 1996. In August 2022, Los Altos High School dedicated the football field, re-naming it the 'Dwayne DeSpain Field'.

Boys' Volleyball

The Boys' Volleyball team won the

Division IV Title in 2019 for the first time in school history by defeating the Windward Wildcats. This was Los Altos' first championship appearance since back-to-back title losses in 1984 and '85. This team was led by Freshman sensation Jordan Lucas whom delivered clutch plays late in the match finishing with 28 kills to lead Los Altos 25-23, 25-23, 25-22 sweep.

Girls' Water Polo

The Girls' Water Polo team won the

Division V Title in 2015 for the first time in school history by defeating number one-seeded

Palm Desert High School Palm Desert High School is a secondary school located in Palm Desert, California. The school is a part of the Desert Sands Unified School District. Academics Palm Desert offers numerous Advanced Placement and Honors courses, amongst CP class ...

8-7.

Los Altos Academy of Engineering

The Los Altos Academy of Engineering was founded in 1989 by Robert Franz, and was a joint program between the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District and the La Puente Valley Regional Occupational Program. They have won awards for building and racing a solar car in international competition, and won 1st place in the DaimlerChrysler/Trellis Build Your Dream Vehicle Competition in 2005 and 2006. From 2007 to 2009 the Academy's engineering students competed in the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas, taking 1st place in the hydrogen division in 2007 and presenting the first hydrogen internal combustion engine to compete in 2008.

Los Altos Visual and Performing Arts Academy

The Visual and Performing Arts Academy (VPAA) is a cross-curricular program. The program is available to students for performing arts on a higher level. The five areas that comprise the VPAA (drama, dance, instrumental and vocal music, and technology) come together for spring productions.

Notable alumni

* Phillip Bladh -

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winning production sound mixer of the film

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* Travis Brown - former New Mexico Lobo standout (two-time 1st Team All-MWC) and NFL football player (St. Louis Rams) *

Shaun Cody Shaun Michael Cody (born January 22, 1983) is a former American football nose tackle. He played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was recognized as a consensus All-American. The Detroit Lions chose him in ...

- Parade All American, former USC Trojan Star, current NFL free agent * Renae Cuéllar - former player for Mexico Women's National Football Team *

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- beauty vlogger and fashion designer * Bob May - former

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golfer, lost to

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in a playoff at the 2000 PGA Championship * Michael Smith - former All-America basketball player at BYU and first-round pick of the Boston Celtics (13th overall), current television and color announcer for the

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CLIPPERS: Michael Smith
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Troy Tanner Troy Richard Tanner (born October 31, 1963 in Hacienda Heights, California) is a former All-American volleyball player. He was a member of the United States men's national volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in S ...

- former member of the national men's volleyball team, which played at the Seoul Olympic Games (1988) * Joseph Vargas - former US National Team water polo player; helped US National Team win silver at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

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- former US National Team water polo player; helped US National Team to fourth place finish at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

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; Current

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Men's Water Polo Head Coach

References

External links

Los Altos High School webpage
{{authority control High schools in Los Angeles County, California Public high schools in California Hacienda Heights, California 1958 establishments in California