Miramonte High School is a public

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 ...

located in Orinda,

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 ...

, United States. It is part of the

Acalanes Union High School District Acalanes Union High School District is a public high school district in Contra Costa County, located in the Bay Area of California. The district takes its name from Rancho Acalanes, an 1834 Mexican rancho grant which occupied much of the area ...

. The school has a

college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or parochial school, parochial schools primaril ...

program, with 15

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 offered.

History

Miramonte was founded in 1955. Miramonte football recorded their first

NCS NCS may refer to: Biology and chemistry * N-Chlorosuccinimide, an organic chemical * Neotenic complex syndrome * Nerve conduction study, a medical diagnostic test * Neuronal calcium sensor, a family of proteins * Thiocyanate, an organic compoun ...

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

championship in 1981, defeating

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

23–7 in the

Oakland Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. The Coliseum is the home ba ...

. In 1972 & 1973, The Miramonte Matador Football team won the Foothill Athletic League Championship both years. The 1973 team went on to beat Antioch High School in the "Turkey Bowl" to end the bowl season as the East Bay Area's #1 Ranked Championship Football Team. The 1972 Miramonte team also played against Antioch the previous year in the Turkey Bowl and lost. In 1983 the Miramonte Matadors, known as the Mats, were voted CIF State Champions in all divisions after defeating

Cardinal Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and cardi ...

High School on December 3, 1983, at

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently naming rights, branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880 (California), In ...

in the NCS 2A Championship game. The Mats were also NCS 2A South Champions and FAL Champions. In 1997 the Mats again won the NCS 2A Championship after defeating Granada High School in the championship game at the Oakland Coliseum. The Mats also won NCS 2A titles in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003 in their victory over San Lorenzo in a rematch of their 1981 championship game. In 2013, after finishing 2nd in the DFAL, the Mats defeated Tennyson, Northgate and number two-seeded Clayton Valley Charter to reach the championship at Rancho Cotate High School against 13–0 Casa Grande. In an exciting game, Miramonte scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes to win their 8th NCS football championship, 42–28 to finish 12–2 on the season. In 2008–09, Miramonte's water polo team was named "2008-09 ESPN RISE Magazine Boys' Team of the Year" (includes all sports). Since 1967 the team has won 15 NOR CAL championships and 26 League Championships. The so-called "Dream Team" were the California State Champions that year. In 2012, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Miramonte High School as #21 in California and #126 in the United States. In 2021, Miramonte is now ranked 571 nationally, and it slipped from the top school in the county to third place. As of March 2014, Miramonte ranks 11th on the Los Angeles Times California Schools Guide Top Average SAT Scores list.

Demographics

*Total students: 1283 *Students by gender: : 55% female : 45% male *Students by ethnicity : 2.2% Black/African American : 7.5 % Hispanic : 25% Asian : 65% White/Caucasian *Student to teacher ratio: 21:1 Census Day Enrollment 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 Total 1,316 1,286 1,236 1,174 1,183

Notable alumni

Bryan Barker Bryan Christopher Barker (born June 28, 1964) is a former American football punter in the National Football League (NFL). Barker last played for the St. Louis Rams in 2005. Barker has previously played with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philade ...

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, Class of 1982 *

Chris Bauer Mark Christopher Bauer (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his television work in ''The Wire'', ''Third Watch'', ''True Blood'', ''Survivor's Remorse,'' '' The Deuce and'' the Apple TV+ original science fiction spac ...

, film, TV and stage actor, Class of 1984 *

Drew Bennett Andrew Russell Bennett (born August 26, 1978) is a former American football wide receiver of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played college football at UCLA. Be ...

, NFL player * Kirsten Costas, murder victim *

Ken Dorsey Kenneth Simon Dorsey (born April 22, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miami, ...

, NFL quarterback * Drew Anderson, NFL quarterback * Paul Hackett, former college football head coach, NFL assistant coach *

Valerie Henderson Valerie Kay Henderson (born April 19, 1986) is an American soccer goalkeeper currently playing for the Western New York Flash of the National Women's Soccer League. Attended Miramonte High School in Orinda, California where she played all 4 yea ...

, professional soccer player *

Sabrina Ionescu Sabrina Elaine Ionescu (born December 6, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. She is the NCAA all- ...

, WNBA player *

Brett Jackson Brett Elliott Jackson (born August 2, 1988) is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks between 2012 and 2014. Jackson played college baseball ...

, former professional baseball player *

Drew Jackson Drew Hamilton Jackson (born July 28, 1993) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played college baseball for Stanford University. The Seattle Mariners selected Jackson in the fifth round of the 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB ...

, professional baseball player *

Mike MacDonald Michael MacDonald (born June 26, 1987) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens from 2022 to 2 ...

, rugby player *

Heather Petri Heather Danielle Petri (born June 13, 1978) is an American water polo player, who won the silver medal with the US women's national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, a silver medal in Beijing in 2008 ...

, Olympic

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 ...

medalist *

Luke Sassano Luke Stephan Sassano (born October 14, 1985 in Orinda, California) is an American former soccer player. Career Youth and college Sassano began his career at Lamorinda Soccer Club. He attended Miramonte High School in Orinda, California, and p ...

, soccer player *

Nicolle Wallace Nicolle Wallace (née Devenish; born February 4, 1972) is an American television host and author. She is known for her work as the anchor of the MSNBC news and politics program '' Deadline: White House'' and a former co-host of the ABC daytime t ...

(née Devenish), political commentator, former White House Communications Director

References

External links

* {{authority control High schools in Contra Costa County, California Orinda, California Public high schools in California Educational institutions established in 1955 1955 establishments in California