North Monterey County High School is a

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 ...

in Castroville, California, USA, was established in 1978. It serves the populations of Aromas, Castroville, Prunedale, Royal Oaks, Elkhorn and Salinas. NThe school is part of the

North Monterey County Unified School District North Monterey County Unified School Districtor NMCUSD is a school district in northern Monterey County. The school district serves 5581 pupils in the communities of Aromas, Castroville, Elkhorn, Prunedale, Royal Oaks, Moss Landing, and port ...

. North Monterey County High School is abbreviated on some official documents as NMCHS although it is more commonly known as either "North County" or "NC".

Students

The school serves just under 1,500 students. 56% are

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

, 36% are

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, 2% are

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and 3% are

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

. About one-fifth of North County students are designated as English Language Learners.

Background

Before 1978, North Monterey County students traveled to Salinas for high school. Many local residents wanted to have their own high school so that their children would not have to travel. In 1978, voters approved a bond measure to build the high school under the campaign slogan "Yes is Best". In fall 1978, North County opened to a new student body that did not include a senior class. In June 1980, the first class graduated. In 1985, the high school won national recognition from President Reagan as one of the best 100 high schools in the cUS and subsequently won two distinguished California High School Awards in the 1990s. The school was recently recognized at the California Conference of Superintendents for its high Latino graduation rate.

Governance

The school's budget is determined by the Board of Trustees of the North Monterey County Unified School District. Internally, the administration of the school is led by three co-ordinators, Jim Oneil, Laurel Gast,and Richard Gutierrez. An activities director oversees school activities and an athletic director manages school athletics. Some funding for the school is controlled by the School Site Council or SIP (School Site Improvement Project). The SIP committee is co-ordinated by the SIP Co-ordinator who is a salaried school official. The current SIP co-ordinator is Laurel Gast. The committee members include parents, staff, the principal and students. The members elect their president.

Academics, courses, graduation requirements

North County offers a selection of courses to istudents. It has ROP, art, photography and technology courses. NC has an honors and AP program that includes several AP courses. The first AP courses offered at North County were AP US history and English. NC's API test scores place it as average in California, but its API scores in the context of similar schools ranks it as above average.

Activities

Marching band

The NMCHS

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

, directed by Maricella Chapa, has received attention for performances in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and participation in

President Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

's second inaugural parade. Likewise, the wind ensemble, symphonic and jazz bands have performed at these localations as well as competitions in Canada, Colorado Springs and the Monterey Jazz Festival.
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Sports

*American football *Baseball *Softball *Soccer *Track and field *Golf *Wrestling *Boys' basketball *Girls' basketball *Cross country *Volleyball *Marching band

Non-sport activities

*Cheerleading *Color Guard

Clubs and organizations

*Coding Club *Link Crew *Slough Crew *Interact Club *J.S.A. *Dance Krew *My Life *Midnighters Youth Club *Dance Company *AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) *Drama: Encore! *The Talon (school newspaper) *Rainbow Warriors *Yearbook *Math Club *ADAPT *Aguilas Guererras *MESA *Auto shop *Skills USA ''The North County Talon'' is the school newspaper. ''The Wingspan'' is the parents' newsletter.

Notable alumni

Jamie Iredell Jamie Iredell (born August 10, 1976) is an American writer. Early life Iredell grew up in Castroville, California, and attended North Monterey County High School. Career Iredell's writing has been positively reviewed by ''The Atlanta Journa ...

, writer

References

External links

North Monterey County High SchoolNorth Monterey County High School Cross Country & Track
{{authority control High schools in Monterey County, California Educational institutions established in 1978 Public high schools in California 1978 establishments in California