Merced High School is located in

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...

, United States. It is a part of the Merced Union High School District. The current enrollment is over 1,800 students in grades 9 through 12. The school is currently under Principal Marcus Knott and Associate Principals Brett Nickelson, Joel Sebastian, Phaedra Hofmann and Lea Smith.

Academics

The Merced High School Advanced Placement program is open for any student who wishes to be challenged in the fields of chemistry, English, physics, government, Spanish, biology, calculus, statistics and studio art. The teachers at Merced High School try to ensure that their students work their hardest, which explains the high percentage of students who pass the Advanced Placement examinations with a score of 3, 4, or 5. Merced High School's Advanced Placement exam and test scores have earned it a place among the Top 1300 schools in the United States by ''

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 ...

'' magazine. The school has also earned a Bronze Award from ''U.S. News & World Report'', having been cited as one of the top 1,800 schools in the United States. The Merced High Academic Decathlon team took the title of Merced County Champions (10 years in a row 2009-2018) and competed in

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in March 2015, coming in 51st place in the state of California.

Special programs

The school has the Newcomer Program for newly arrived immigrants. As of February 2006, 80 students from Southeast Asia were a part of the program. Many of them were refugees from the Thamkabok refugee camp in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. Many had never had formal education before, did not know how to use writing utensils, and did not know how to write their own names.Yawger, Doane. "Learning Life in U.S. - Recent Laotian Immigrant Students Getting to Know Language, Food." ''

Merced Sun-Star The ''Merced Sun-Star'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper printed in Merced, California, in the United States. It has an estimated circulation of 20,000 copies. The newspaper is published every day except for Sundays. History The ''Merced Sun-Sta ...

''. Wednesday February 22, 2006. Local A1. Retrieved on March 12, 2012.

Student life

As of 2006 the school has an Asian Club, which has over 100 members. It is one of the largest groups at Merced High School. The Asian Club takes end of the year school trips and holds fundraising and social events.

Athletics

Merced High School produced the 2015-2016 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year. Madilyn Nickles received this award as the top high school softball player in America. As of 2017, the Merced High boys' swimming team has won nine straight Central California Conference championships. Merced High School has won the

Central California Conference The Central California Conference is a high school sports league in Central California. It comprises six schools in the Stanislaus and Merced County area. The league is administered by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Sac-Joaquin ...

for three straight seasons in football (2014, 2015, and 2016).

Demographics

By January 1983, Merced High School North Campus had suddenly received over 200

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...

refugee students, with almost all of them in

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

(ESL) programs. Between the northern hemisphere spring of 1982 and January 1983 the school doubled the size of its ESL program. A former assistant principal at Merced High North said that many of the Hmong students valued education and had almost perfect school attendance.Refugee students jam the schools
" ''

''. Friday January 21, 1983. Page 6. Retrieved from Google News (26 of 35) on March 11, 2012.

Notable students

Margaret Dingeldein Margaret "Margie" Dingeldein (born May 30, 1980, in Merced, California) is an American water polo player who won a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her position is attacker, and she is considered an excellent perimeter shooter. H ...

– member of the

United States women's national water polo team The United States women's national water polo team represents the United States in international women's water polo competitions and friendly matches. It is one of the leading teams in the world since the late 1990s. On March 27, 2009, USA Wate ...

during the 2004 Summer Olympics *

Marvin Eastman Marvin Lee Eastman (born June 8, 1971) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2013, he competed in K-1, the UFC, World Fighting Alliance, Maximum Fighting Champions ...

–

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fighter * Duke Fergerson – NFL football player for the Seattle Seahawks and the Buffalo Bills *

Jerry Garvin Theodore Jared Garvin (born October 21, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched a total of six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977 to 1982. He was named by Topps as their left- ...

– professional baseball player for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Brian Fuentes Brian Christopher Fuentes (; born August 9, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Minnesota Twins, Oakland A ...

– professional baseball player *

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

– actress * Eric A. McAfee – entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist * Tony Slaton – NFL football player for the Los Angeles Rams and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

* Thad Tillotson – professional baseball player * Rick Williams – professional baseball player

References

External links

Merced High School
{{authority control High schools in Merced County, California Public high schools in California

Merced High School Merced High School is located in Merced, California, United States. It is a part of the Merced Union High School District. The current enrollment is over 1,800 students in grades 9 through 12. The school is currently under Principal Marcus Knott ...

1922 establishments in California