Oceana High School is a small public high school in northern

Pacifica, California Pacifica ( es, Pacífica, meaning "Peaceful") is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. Overview The City of Pacifica is spread along a stretch of coastal beaches and hi ...

. Offering an alternative college preparatory program, the school serves just over 600 students in grades nine through twelve. The school is one of five public schools in the

Jefferson Union High School District The Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD) is a high school district in northern San Mateo County, California which serves the cities of Daly City, Brisbane, Pacifica, and the town of Colma. Its district office is located at the former ...

. According to the State of California, Oceana is one of the twenty-five most diverse high schools in the state.

History

Oceana High School opened in 1962. The school is a member of the

Coalition of Essential Schools The Coalition of Essential Schools is a US organization created to further a type of whole-school reform originally envisioned by founder Ted Sizer in his book, ''Horace's Compromise.'' The group began in 1984 with twelve schools and grew to 600 m ...

and is accredited by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing School accreditation, accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary school, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, ...

. Located in northern Pacifica, Oceana High School currently serves students from Pacifica,

Daly City Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, and Colma. The school has appeared in popular culture. Director

Curtis Hanson Curtis Lee Hanson (March 24, 1945 – September 20, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His directing work included the psychological thriller ''The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (film), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle' ...

selected Oceana High School as the setting for the fictional Ocean High School in his 2012 film

Chasing Mavericks ''Chasing Mavericks'' is a 2012 American biographical drama film about the life of American surfer Jay Moriarity (portrayed by Jonny Weston). It was directed by Curtis Hanson and Michael Apted, and stars Gerard Butler, Elisabeth Shue, Abigail S ...

. After multiple days of filming on site, Oceana High School appeared in the film, which was ultimately a commercial and critical failure.

Campus

The school was designed by architect

Mario J. Ciampi Mario Joseph Ciampi (April 27, 1907 – July 6, 2006) was an American architect and urban planner best known for his modern design influence on public spaces and buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. Biography Ciampi's parents emigrated from ...

to conform to the hillside at the base of Milagra Ridge. A 2002 modernization included a seismic upgrade, ocean facing classroom windows and a 350-seat theatre.

Demographics

According to '' U.S. News & World Report'', 78% of Oceana's student body is "of color," with 31% of the student body coming from an economically disadvantaged household, determined by student eligibility for California's

Reduced-price meal Reduced-price meal is a term used in the United States to describe a federally reimbursable meal, or snack, served to a qualified child when the family of the child's income is between 130 and 185 percent of the US federal poverty threshold. Scho ...

program.

Academics

Class Schedule

The schedule at Oceana is a form of what is called a "

block scheduling Block scheduling or blocking is a type of academic scheduling used in schools in the American K-12 system, in which each pupil has fewer classes per day. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is schedu ...

." This means that every student has, in total, 6 class periods, and that the student only has 3 periods per day. So, on one day, students have an "odd" day, periods 1, 3, and 5. The next day would be an "even" day, periods 2, 4, and 6. For example, if a student had mathematics as period number 2, they would only have that class every other day, on "even" days. However, in past years Oceana had what is called

modular scheduling Modular scheduling (also known as flex scheduling, flexible modular scheduling, or modular flex scheduling) is a system of timetabling in certain high schools in the United States. History Modular scheduling was developed by schools such as the Ke ...

. This type of scheduling allowed for many free periods during the day. These "free mods" could go to as long as 180 min of continuous free time without classes. This time could be utilized for lunch, study, or socializing. Due to the latter, students were advised to spend most of their free time in study so that such time was not wasted or misused.

Curriculum

The curriculum at Oceana is generally project based. The class periods are 90 minutes each, so this gives the students time to work on projects, especially for English and History. Oceana offers

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

courses in

US History The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

US Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

, Language and Composition,

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, and Calculus AB.

Standardized Testing

In 2013, Oceana High School scored an 817 on the California

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standa ...

, the highest in the

by a difference of +25 points. According to '' U.S. News & World Report'', Oceana is a nationally academically ranked high school, and the 354th best in the state of California, the highest ranking of any school in the district.

References

External links

* {{authority control Coalition of Essential Schools Educational institutions established in 1962 High schools in San Mateo County, California Jefferson Union High School District schools Public high schools in California 1962 establishments in California Pacifica, California