Newport Harbor 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 ...

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

, in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, in the United States. It is part of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The school primarily serves students in western Newport Beach and southern

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of t ...

Demographics

Roughly 2260 students enroll across grades 9-12 (2021). 59% of students are White, 35% Hispanic, and 6% other. 82 full-time faculty teach across 9 departments.

History

Roughly two months after the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, on December 29, 1929, the

Irvine Company The Irvine Company LLC is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of more ...

offered of land to the school district located at 15th and Irvine for $15,000. Ground breaking for the first high school in

began June 14, 1930, at an original construction cost of $410,000. The original school comprised a main building, the main gym, the tower, a wood shop, the bus garage, and a caretaker's cottage. The total enrollment that first year was just 178 students, taught by 12 faculty members. There were no seniors, as they had chosen to remain at their original schools to graduate with their alma maters’ class. By 1948, the school had its first gym, metal shop, and snack bar. Eight army barracks were installed to be used as classrooms. When the big football stadium was finally built, it was named Davidson Field in honor of Sidney Davidson, the school's first principal. He had the altruistic distinction of working for the first seven months without pay. In 2005, a $282 million school bond issue Measure F was approved by local ballot. Passage of Measure F allows for certain improvements to local schools and libraries in the district. PANORAMA OF NEWPORT HARBOR HIGH SCHOOL - 20161211 1630hrs

PANORAMA OF NEWPORT HARBOR HIGH SCHOOL - 20161211 1630hrs

Newport Harbor High School received funding from Measure F that included demolition of the Robins-Loats building, its replacement by an all new steel-framed building, and rebuilding the landmark bell tower. The "Robins-Loats Reconstruction" costs are estimated at $45 million. The original Robins Hall Tower stood for 77 years. The tower was demolished in August 2007 because of earthquake code requirements.

Academics

Newport Harbor High School (NHHS) has been designated a California Distinguished School, International Baccalaureate World School, and National Blue Ribbon School. Based on the Accountability Progress Report, Newport Harbor is ranked 8 out of 10 in the state. Newport Harbor offers a variety of AP courses for the students. These courses include: Art History, Studio Art: 2-D Design, Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, comparative Government and Politics, Computer Science, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, European History, U.S. Government and Politics, Physics, Psychology, Spanish Language and Culture, World History, and US History. NHHS began offering the

International Baccalaureate Diploma Program The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

in 2010. Successful completion of AP and IB courses is usually rewarded with

course credit A credit is the recognition for having taken a course at school or university, used as measure if enough hours have been made for graduation. University credits United States Credit hours In a college or university in the United States, student ...

or used for placement. In addition to accelerated coursework, NHHS also offers the Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway: a multiyear sequence of courses that integrates core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to provide students with a pathway to post-secondary education and careers. CTE has three pathways: (1) Digital Media Arts, (2) Business, and (3) Culinary.

Athletics

Newport Harbor High School has

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 ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a 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 was extensively ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 tea ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 (appr ...

, cross country,

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 ...

, surf,

track and 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 events ...

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 ...

teams. Its teams compete in the Sunset League of 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 s ...

's Southern Section. NHHS teams are known as the Sailors, though fans also refer to them as the "

Tars Tars or TARS may refer to: Organisations * The Arthur Ransome Society, based on British children's author Arthur Ransome * Teen Age Republicans, a youth wing of the US Republican Party * TARS, an abbreviation for ''Transporturi Aeriene Româno-Sov ...

". The school colors are primarily

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

and

gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, and the mascot is Tommy Tar, a representation of Popeye the Sailor Man. Each year the Sailors football team plays in "The Battle of The Bay" against their cross-town rival,

Corona Del Mar High School Corona del Mar High School (CdM) is a public school located in the Eastbluff neighborhood of Newport Beach, California, and belongs to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. It is a combination of a middle school (7th and 8th grades) and a ...

Activities

Newport Harbor offers co-curricular activities for course credit, including: band/jazz band, cheer squad, choir, dance, drama, newspaper, surf team, yearbook and ASB.

Art at Newport Harbor

Newport Harbor has made a significant commitment to the arts. Beginning in 1935, Principal Sidney Davidson urged senior classes to purchase paintings from local artists as their gift to the school. The class of 1935 purchased Snow Scene by Thomas Hunt. In 1937, through the

Depression Era The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

, the school commissioned two mosaics: ''The Boys'' by Arthur Ames and ''The Girls'' by Jean Goodwin. Over the course of several decades, the school acquired a collection of art through hosting the annual Newport Beach Art Exhibition, showcasing notable

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

artists. Each year, an oil and watercolor winner were purchased. By 1946, The

Chamber of Commerce agreed to sponsor the shows with $300 in purchase prize money. Different critics judged the event each year, allowing the collection to "pull together a collection that would have ''the ''major

Edgar Payne Edgar Alwin Payne (1 March 1883 – 8 April 1947) was an American painter. He was known as a Western landscape painter and muralist. Early life Payne was born near Cassville, Barry County, Missouri, in the heart of the Ozarks.. Cassville is in so ...

(work) from the 1920s, the Bob Irwin abstract Expressionist canvas from the late 1950s, the fine

Frederick Hammersley Frederick Hammersley (January 5, 1919 – May 31, 2009) was an American abstract painter. His participation in the 1959 '' Four Abstract Classicists'' exhibit secured his place in art history. Early years Frederick Hammersley was born in Salt ...

abstract classicist work in 1963 and the Edie Danieli from the Op era". The librarian responsible for procuring the collection, Ruth Stoever Fleming, serves as namesake for the art collection. The legacy of the art earned the school an

ALA Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, S ...

John Cotton Dana Award The John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award, usually referred to as the John Cotton Dana Award, is an annual award given by Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, American Library Association for excellence in library public relations. ...

Notable alumni

* Geoff Abrams, tennis player * Terry Albritton, shot putter *

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

, Electro House musician * Hope Bender, Track and Field athlete * Amy Biehl, anti-apartheid activist *

Charlie Buckingham Charlie Buckingham (born January 16, 1989 in Newport Beach, California) is an American Olympic sailor. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the men's Laser class where he finished 11th. He also competed at the Tokyo 2 ...

, Olympian, sailing * Dave Cadigan, NFL football player * Ethan Cochran, discus thrower * Charlie Colin, musician (Train), Grammy winning songwriter * Richie Collins (surfer), professional surfer *

Douglas Crockford Douglas Crockford is an American computer programmer who is involved in the development of the JavaScript language. He specified the data format JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), and has developed various JavaScript related tools such as the ...

, programmer *

Luca Cupido Luca Cupido (born 9 November 1995) is an American water polo player born in Italy who played for the University of California, Berkeley. He was part of the American team at the 2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR te ...

, Olympian, water polo *

Kaleigh Gilchrist Kaleigh Gilchrist (born May 16, 1992) is a dual sport athlete in surfing and water polo from Newport Beach, California. She competed on the gold medal-winning US Women's Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics contributing 6 goals. In high ...

, Olympian, Water Polo *

Dana Sue Gray Dana Sue Gray (born December 6, 1957) is an American serial killer who murdered three elderly women in 1994. She was caught after a fourth intended victim survived and identified her. Gray says she committed the murders to support her spending ha ...

, serial killer *

Peter Jason Peter Edward Ostling (born July 22, 1944), also known as Peter Jason, is an American character actor. He has appeared in over eighty films and a hundred television series. He played Con Stapleton in the series '' Deadwood''. He was a frequent col ...

, actor *

Greg Laurie Greg Laurie (born December 10, 1952) is an American author and pastor who serves as the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship with campuses in Riverside, Orange County and Maui. Laurie came to faith at the age of 17 as the Jesus Moveme ...

, pastor and evangelist *

Paul Le Mat Paul Le Mat (born September 22, 1945) is an American actor. He first came to prominence with his role in ''American Graffiti'' (1973); his performance was met with critical acclaim and earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year ...

, actor * Esther Lofgren, Olympic gold medalist, rowing * Gray Lyda, comic book artist and writer *

Greg MacGillivray Greg MacGillivray (born 1945) is an American film director and cinematographer. Career MacGillivray was first nominated for an Academy Award in 1995 for directing ''The Living Sea'' (Best Documentary Short Subject), and was nominated in the same c ...

, filmmaker *

Misty May Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor (; née May; born July 30, 1977) is a retired American professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and , was the most successful female beach volleyball player having won 112 tou ...

, professional beach volleyball player, Olympic gold medalist *

Kelly McGillis Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957) is an American stage actress. She is known for her film roles such as Rachel Lapp in ''Witness'' (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations; Charlie in ''Top Gun'' (1986); ''Made in ...

, actress *

Ted McGinley Ted Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom '' Married... with Children'' and as Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom ''Hope & Faith''. He was a late regular ...

, actor *

David McKenna (writer) David McKenna is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for ''American History X'' (1998), ''Blow'' (2001) and '' S.W.A.T.'' (2003). He is also a film professor at Columbia University and Barnard Co ...

Lee Mallory William George "Lee" Mallory (January 10, 1945 – March 21, 2005) was a singer, songwriter and guitarist who was part of bands including The Millennium and Sagittarius. His most successful single was a cover of the Phil Ochs/Bob Gibson son ...

, poet, editor, retired professor * Frank Marshall, filmmaker *

Marguerite Moreau Marguerite Moreau (born April 25, 1977) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Jesse Reeves in the fantasy horror film ''Queen of the Damned'', Katie in the comedy ''Wet Hot American Summer'', and her role as Connie in ''The Might ...

, actress *

Jim Neidhart James Henry Neidhart (February 8, 1955 – August 13, 2018) was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag T ...

, wrestler, held shot put record from 1973 to 1985 *

Aaron Peirsol Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist (five gold, two si ...

, 7× Olympic medalist, swimming *

Bruce Penhall Bruce Lee Penhall (born May 10, 1957) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway racer who later starred in television and in film. He was the World Speedway Champion in 1981 and 1982 and rode for the successful Cradley Heath Heathen ...

, racer, actor *

Kasey Peters Kasey Peters (born May 20, 1987) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at Saddleback, Santa Ana, Grand Valley State and Rocky Mountain. He was a member of the Tri-Cities Fever, New Mexico Stars, West Texas Wildcatters ...

, American football player *

Gary Riley Gary Riley (born April 28, 1967) is a former child and teen American character actor with numerous film, made-for-TV films and television credits. Film and television career Riley played Charlie Hogan, one of his best-known roles, in the 1986 ...

, actor *

April Ross April Elizabeth Ross (born June 20, 1982) is an American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh ...

, AVP beach volleyball player, Olympic medalist *

Sharon Sheeley Sharon Kathleen Sheeley (April 4, 1940 – May 17, 2002) was an American songwriter who wrote songs for Glen Campbell, Ricky Nelson, Brenda Lee, and Eddie Cochran. Biography Sheeley attended Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, and ...

, songwriter * Allison Stokke, pole vaulter *

Steve Timmons Steve Dennis Timmons (born November 29, 1958) is an American former volleyball player who represented the United States at three consecutive Summer Olympics starting in 1984, winning gold in 1984 and 1988 plus a bronze in 1992. Steve played voll ...

, 2× Olympic gold medalist, volleyball * Bill Voss, former Major League Baseball player *

Tyson Wahl Tyson Wahl (born February 23, 1984) is an American retired soccer player. Career Youth and college Wahl played club soccer for Slammers FC coached by Walid and Ziad Khoury, and Irvine Strikers, coached by Don Ebert, and played college soccer a ...

, Major League Soccer player *

Ethan Wayne John Ethan Morrison (also known as John Ethan Wayne; February 22, 1962) is an American actor, known professionally as Ethan Wayne. He is the son of actor John Wayne, and his third wife, Pilar Pallete. He grew up in Newport Beach, California, whe ...

, actor * Robert "Wingnut" Weaver, surfer *

Zach Wells Zachary Joe Wells (born February 26, 1981, in Costa Mesa, California) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. College Wells played college soccer at UCLA from 1999 to 2003, where he helped the school to the ...

, Major League soccer player *

Irene Worth Irene Worth, CBE (June 23, 1916March 10, 2002) was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the British and American theatre. She pronounced her given name with three syllables: "I-REE-nee". Worth made her Bro ...

, actress *

George Yardley George Harry Yardley III (November 3, 1928 – August 12, 2004) was an American basketball player. He was the first player in NBA history to score 2,000 points in one season, breaking the 1,932-point record held by George Mikan. Yardley was en ...

, NBA Hall of Fame *

Anthony Zerbe Anthony Jared Zerbe (born May 20, 1936) is an American actor. His notable film roles include the post-apocalyptic cult leader Matthias in ''The Omega Man'', a 1971 film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel, '' I Am Legend''; as an Irish Ca ...

, actor *

Constance Zimmer Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for playing Dana Gordon in the television series '' Entourage'' (2005–2011) and Claire Simms in the television series ''Boston Legal'' (2006–2007). Sh ...

, actress

References

External links

NHHS Official website

IRE Journal Sept/Oct 2000 "Exposing The Pentagon's Secret BioWar"

IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Reference Library

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1930 High schools in Orange County, California Public high schools in California 1930 establishments in California International Baccalaureate schools in California