La Cañada High School is a combined junior-senior

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., ...

located in

La Cañada Flintridge, California La Cañada Flintridge, commonly known as just , is a city in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Crescenta Valley, in the western edge of the San Gabriel Valley, it is the l ...

, US. It sits at the base of the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...

, below the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in Southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabri ...

, in the City of La Cañada Flintridge. The school is adjacent to the Interstate 210 Freeway north of Pasadena's Rose Bowl and south of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

History

La Cañada High School has been named both a California Distinguished School and a

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

. The

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...

has recognized LCHS for “high achievement and exemplary programs”, for rich extracurricular activities, and for strong community support. With an enrollment of 1,389 pupils in grades 9 through 12, La Cañada High has also consistently received the maximum six years of accreditation by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC ( )) provided accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa and Northern ...

Academic awards

La Cañada High School was named a California Distinguished School by the California Department of Education in 1986 and again in 2003 and 2021. La Cañada High School has been recognized by the United States Department of Education three times as a National Blue Ribbon School, first in 1992 and 1993, again in 2004, and most recently in 2015. In 2009, La Cañada High School was ranked 80th out of all public schools in the U.S and 23rd in the state of California by the '' U.S. News & World Report''. In 2009, La Cañada High achieved a new school record of 20 students admitted as

National Merit Scholarship The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships. The program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded not-for-profit ...

semifinalists. In 2025, La Cañada High School was ranked 25th in the state of California by the '' U.S. News & World Report''.

Notable alumni

* Timothy Ballard (Class of 1994), American anti-

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

activist and author. The film '' Sound of Freedom'' was inspired by his work *

Brian Behlendorf Brian Behlendorf (born March 30, 1973) is an American technologist, executive, computer programmer and leading figure in the open-source software movement. He was a primary developer of the Apache Web server, the most popular web server software ...

(Class of 1991), computer programmer, developer of the

Apache Web server The Apache HTTP Server ( ) is a free and open-source cross-platform web server, released under the terms of Apache License 2.0. It is developed and maintained by a community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation. ...

* Erin Coscarelli (Class of 2002), Host NFL Network Gameday Pick'em * Michael Cunningham (Class of 1970), author of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel '' The Hours'' * Trace Cyrus, (Class of 2007) (dropped out in 2006) member of the band

Metro Station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...

, adopted son of

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

Doug Davidson Douglas Donald Davidson (born October 24, 1954) is an American television actor. He has portrayed Paul Williams (The Young and the Restless), Paul Williams on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' from 1978 to 2020, making him one o ...

(Class of 1973), actor (''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

''). * Chris D'Elia (Class of 1998), stand-up comic and actor * Sam Farmer (Class of 1984) sportswriter, Los Angeles Times NFL writer * Kate Hansen (Class of 2010), 2014 Winter Olympic luger * Chris Holmes (Class of 1976), lead guitarist W.A.S.P. * Brianne Howey, (Class of 2007) (moved in 8th grade), actor * Katherine Propper (Class of 2011), film director ( ''Lost Soulz'') *

Phil Joanou Phil Joanou (born November 20, 1961) is an American director of film, music videos, and television programs. He is known for his collaborations with the rock band U2, for whom he directed music videos and their 1988 documentary film ''Rattle a ...

(Class of 1979), film director (''Rattle and Hum'', '' Three O'Clock High'') * Tommy Kendall (Class of 1985), Professional race car driver (Four-Time Trans Am Series Champion) * David Lipsky (Class of 2006), golfer * Collin Morikawa (Class of 2015), golfer * Taylor Negron (Class of 1975) actor, comedian, painter, and playwright * Indra Petersons (Class of 1998), a weather anchor for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

's '' New Day'' and ''

CNN Newsroom ''CNN Newsroom'' (also simply known as ''Newsroom'') is the branding used for blocks of rolling news programming carried by the American cable network CNN. The program debuted on September 4, 2006, consolidating most of CNN's existing rolling n ...

'' programs * Mark Riebling (Class of 1982), author of ''Wedge: The Secret War Between the FBI and the CIA'' * Olivia Smith (journalist), (Class of 2007), Emmy award-winning journalist * Matt Whisenant (Class of 1988), former Major League Baseball pitcher

References

External links

La Cañada High School - Official Site
— ''provided by the La Cañada Unified School District''
La Cañada High School Alumni Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Canada High School Public high schools in Los Angeles County, California La Cañada Flintridge, California 1963 establishments in California Educational institutions established in 1963