Richard Gahr High School, often simply known as Gahr High School, is a public, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) magnet high school in Cerritos,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, serving

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also r ...

9- 12. Gahr High is one of three comprehensive high schools in the

ABC Unified School District The ABC Unified School District is a school district that is based in Cerritos, California, United States. ABCUSD serves the cities of Artesia, most of Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, the portion of Lakewood east of the San Gabriel River, as we ...

At Gahr, the plan for all students is graduation and on to college and career, and the teachers and staff believe “ALL STUDENTS CAN and WILL LEARN.” Classes and programs offered at Gahr include English Second Language; College Preparatory; 37 Advanced Placement/Honors Courses; Arts Technology Academy (ATA); AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination); Project Lead the Way – Biomedical Sciences, Computer Science, or Engineering Pathways; and variety of Career Technical Education (CTE) such as Automotive, International Business, Multimedia Communications, Theater Production, and Video Production. Moreover, there are 25 student club/organization and 20 Competitive Sports Programs. Basketball court view

Though it has a comparatively small student population at around 1,900, Gahr is known as a very

ethnically diverse The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

campus, (located in "the most ethnically diverse place in America", according to a

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

study, as

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

Hispanic Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...

Filipino American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New S ...

s and

African Americans 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 ...

together constitute a large majority at more than 70%. The school's

graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

rate is also 16% higher than the county average. Gahr front view

History

Gahr High School opened in 1965 as the first

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 both the newly unified ABC Unified School District, and the recently incorporated City of Dairy Valley (the city would be renamed to its current state two years later). Indeed, the originally proposed name for the school was "Dairy Valley High School". The school was officially named after Richard Gahr, who had served as the school district's

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

. During the 1970s, as the student population in Cerritos rapidly grew,

Cerritos High School Cerritos High School, also called CHS, is a comprehensive, four-year public high school located in Cerritos, California, serving grades 9-12. It is part of the ABC Unified School District. As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enroll ...

was created for district expansion, and during its construction the latter used part of the Gahr campus. In 2006, Gahr High School was invited to apply to be a California Distinguished School, and early in 2007, it was readily inspected. Now it has "California Distinguished School" to add to its resume. During 2017–2018 school year, Gahr High School is a Gold Ribbon School and California Distinguished School with a 99.6% graduation rate and a 97% college attendance rate.

Statistics

Student population racial makeup (2006)

California Standardized Testing Rankings for 2006

Data reported are the percent of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standards).

Expenditure per student for 2002-2003

Data reported in dollars per student is as follows:

Notable alumni

Bret Barberie Bret Edward Barberie (born August 16, 1967) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago Cubs. Before his professional career, B ...

(1985) -

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player (1991–1996) *

Morris Chestnut Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American actor. He first came to prominence for his role as Ricky in the 1991 film ''Boyz n the Hood''. He has appeared in feature films and on television series, including the starring role of ...

(1986) - actor (boyz in the hood) *

Chris Devenski Christopher Michael Devenski (born November 13, 1990), also known as "Devo", is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels organization. He played in MLB for the Houston Astros from 2016 to 2020, and the Diamondbacks fr ...

(2008) Major League Baseball player, Pitcher, Houston Astros (2016 -) *

Jacob Faria Jacob Daniel Faria (born July 30, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Am ...

(2011) Major League Baseball player,

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

(MLB) (2017 - 2019),

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(MLB) (2019 - ) * Shane Mack (1981) -

player (1990–1994) *

Kris Medlen Kristopher Allen Medlen (born October 7, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks. College Medlen graduated from Gahr ...

(2003) -

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Tom Nieto Thomas Andrew Nieto (born October 27, 1960) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins, and Philadelphia Phillies. Nieto is formerly t ...

(1978) -

player (1984–1990) *

Al Osuna Alfonso Osuna, Jr. (born August 10, 1965), is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1990 to 1994 and 1996. He played for the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres The San Diego Padre ...

(1983) -

player (1990–1994, 1996) *

Valentino Pascucci Valentino Martin Pascucci (born November 17, 1978) is an American former professional baseball player. He played parts of two major league seasons with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. He batted and threw right-handed. In 2014, he transitione ...

(1996) -

player. *

Nicolle Payne Nicolle Katherine Payne (born July 15, 1976) is an American water polo player. The Goalkeeper (water polo), goalkeeper was a member of the US teams that won the silver medal at the Water Polo at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics and ...

(1994) -

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

goalie; Silver medalist in

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

; Bronze medalist in

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. *

Steve Shak Steve Shak (born February 8, 1978 in Cerritos, California) is a retired American soccer player. He currently works for Northwestern Mutual. Previously Shak was an assistant coach with the Charlotte Eagles of the USL Second Division. He also join ...

(1996) - Pro Soccer player and first round draft pick of MLS Superdraft in 2000, played for the NY Metro-Stars and the Colorado Rapids. *

Broderick Thompson Broderick Lorenzo Thompson (August 14, 1960 – February 4, 2002) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Denver Broncos. He also ...

(1978) -

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player (1984, 1986 -1996) *

Casper Ware Casper Ware Jr. (born January 17, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for the Long Beach State 49ers. College career Prior to the start of his senior year, War ...

(2008) - NCAA basketball player for the

Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State athletics, or simply Beach athletics (previously known as the 49ers), are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Long Beach. Teams compete in 19 sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

. * Joshua Perkins (2012) -

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

tight end, Joshua Perkins (2016- ) * Dwayne Washington (2012) -

running back
New Orleans Saints
(2018- ) *

Jim Zorn James Arthur Zorn (born May 10, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. Zorn was a left-handed quarterback, and is best known as the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks for their first eight seasons. He was the quarterback ...

(1971) -

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Quarterback (1976–1987); Head Coach of the Washington Redskins (2008–2009).

References

External links

*
Gahr Marching Gladiators Website

Gahr High School Athletics

Gahr High School at Greatschools.net

School Wise Press school profileGahr High School US NewsGahr High School Niche
{{authority control Cerritos, California Educational institutions established in 1965 ABC Unified School District High schools in Los Angeles County, California Public high schools in California 1965 establishments in California