Hilltop High School (formerly Hilltop Senior High) is a four-year

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

. It is part of Sweetwater Union High School District. As of 2023, Bill Walsh is the current principal of Hilltop High.

Academics

Hilltop was named a

California Distinguished School California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately 5-10% of California schools are awarde ...

in 2005 and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). In the 2006–07 school year, the graduation rate was 93.3%. Hilltop has the highest number of AP courses available to all students and the highest AP pass rate out of the entire SUHSD at 72.8%. Since the 1999–2000 school year, there has been a 25% increase in exams taken, a 7% increase in the overall pass rate, and a 30% increase in the total number of students testing.

Athletics

The school colors are kelly green, white, and black. Its mascot is the "Lancer". Hilltop is a member of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) San Diego Section and the Mesa League of the Metro Conference. Hilltop competes in the following sports: *Fall: cross country,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, women's

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 Summ ...

, boys water polo, women's

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, women's

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

, field hockey *Winter:

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

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 exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

, Roller Hockey, women’s water polo *Spring:

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, men's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

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), ...

, men's

, lacrosse CIF Champions 2016- Women’s Water Polo Chula Vista Spartans are the Lancers longtime rival school, dating back to the '60s. Longtime Hilltop Coaches elected as San Diego Sports Hall of Champions Coaching Legends: *Don "Big Dawg" Rollins – JV Basketball (Don is currently third all-time in Southern California JV wins) *John Baumgartner – Baseball *Janet Balsley – Field Hockey *Chip Holmes – Track & Field *Tim Tyler – Wrestling (Tyler was also inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame)

Demographics

In the 2005–06 school year, the school's

Academic Performance Index The Academic Performance Index (API) was a measurement of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California, United States. The API was one of the main components of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the California ...

placed it 698 (base) where 800 is the California state goal with a state rank of 5 out of 10.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

* Rene Ortiz, former soccer player *

Bryan Wagner James Bryan Wagner, known as Bryan Wagner (March 2, 1943 – July 29, 2018), was the first Republican since Reconstruction to be elected to the New Orleans City Council. He filled a vacancy of an unexpired term in District A from May 1980 to ...

* Drew Westling

References

External links

*
Hilltop High legacy (archived) web site)
{{Portalbar, Schools, California, Education Educational institutions established in 1959 Public high schools in California 1959 establishments in California Education in Chula Vista, California Schools in San Diego County, California Schools in San Diego High schools in San Diego High schools in San Diego County, California Education in San Diego County, California Education in San Diego