Soquel 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 ...

Soquel Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 census. Geography Soquel is located a ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, located on Old San Jose Road. It has 1,200 students and was established in 1962. The school is operated by the Santa Cruz City High School District. The school mascot is the Knights.

Academics

SHS offers advanced placement classes in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English, Spanish, U.S. History, U.S. Government, Statistics, and Calculus. SHS also offers intensive English and History for grades 9 and 10. It has several CTE classes (career technology education) which values learning by doing. Such classes include the beloved Woodshop and Agriculture programs, metal shop, graphic design, and even floral design.

Music, theater, and ROP

The SHS Music Department has a variety of different music classes- beginning band, intermediate band, varsity band, beginning jazz band, advanced jazz band, jazz singers, beginning choir, and advanced choir. Special needs Theater Arts department stages a variety of performances during fall and spring. Soquel high school is also known for its Regional Occupations Program (GSA) which includes courses in

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

Floristry Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related su ...

Veterinary Science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, Sports Occupations, Administration of Justice, graphic design, and

Cabinetry A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...

Athletics

Soquel High School offers a variety of competitive sports and is part of the

Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League (SCCAL) a high school athletic conference part of the CIF Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. It comprises high schools generally around Santa Cruz County, California. Not all schoo ...

(SCCAL) and the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

-Central Coast Section (CCS). In the fall Soquel offers Cross Country, Football, Girls

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, Girls

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, Girls

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, and

Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, 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 water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

. The men's water polo team has been particularly successful winning 20 straight SCCAL championships and a CCS championship in 2003. In winter, Soquel offers

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, Soccer and

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, and in the spring there is

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Track & Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, Boys

, and Boys

. In addition, Soquel High School students can compete in surfing and

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

that fall outside of the SCCAL and CCS and are listed under Club Sports.

Student body

While the student body changes year to year it is typically comprised ethnically of: American Indian 1%, Asian 3%, Hispanic 34%, Black 1%, White 57%, Decline to state 4%. Typically 51% of the students are male and 49% female. The teacher to student ratio is about 1:18. Soquel High School was opened to students on September 11, 1962, and has approximately 1,200 students as of 2018. The high school spans 40 acres and is located on a plateau in the foothills of this Coastal California community one mile from the shores of Monterey Bay. Its original meaning is derived from a Costanoan Indian word for "place of the willows". Students at Soquel High School reside in Capitola, Live Oak and parts of Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and of course Soquel.

Notable alumni

* Kyra Davis, author *

Linda Gustavson Linda Lee Gustavson (born November 30, 1949), also known by her married name Linda McGuire, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic medalist, and surpassed world record-holder in two events. As an 18-year-old, she was on t ...

, Olympic Gold Medal swimmer; two other Olympic medals *

David Cay Johnston David Cay Boyle Johnston (born December 24, 1948) is an American investigative journalist and author, a specialist in economics and tax issues, and winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting. From July 2011 until September 2012 he was a ...

, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter and best-selling author *

Dwight Lowery Dwight Larte Lowery (born January 23, 1986) is a former American football Safety (American and Canadian football position), safety. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at San ...

, NFL

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

Casey McGehee Casey Michael McGehee (born October 12, 1982) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and Yomiuri Giants, and also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, ...

, MLB Infielder *

Edmund McMillen Edmund Charles McMillen (born March 2, 1980) is an American video game designer and artist known for his Flash game visual style. His most notable works include 2010's side-scroller '' Super Meat Boy'' and 2011's roguelike game '' The Binding o ...

, video game designer *

Troy Miller Troy Miller is an American film producer, director and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in comedy. Miller is known as an innovator in alternative comedy, and has directed four feature films as well as directing and producing numer ...

, MLB * John Orton, former MLB catcher *

Luke Rockhold Luke Skyler Rockhold (born October 17, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competed in the Light Heavyweight and Middleweight division. ...

, professional

mixed martial artist 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, incorpo ...

and former

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

middleweight champion *

Chris Sharma Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April, 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...

, climber * Derek Sherinian, rock

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

* Maggie Vessey, middle distance runner

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control High schools in Santa Cruz County, California Public high schools in California 1962 establishments in California