Pacifica High School is a high school in

Garden Grove, California Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 171,949 at the 2020 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city in an east–west direction. The west ...

, United States, within the Garden Grove Unified School District. It opened in 1965 and has enrolled more than two thousand students yearly. The communities serving Pacifica are western Garden Grove and sections of Stanton and

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

Campus

A campus landmark is a Navy

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

in the

quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...

. At first painted blue but repainted black in 2011, the anchor was donated by the U.S Navy. On May 1, 2021, a new gym opened. The new gymnasium is a state-of-the-art building that is an 18,250-square foot multi-function facility that houses three full-size basketball courts and can convert to nine volleyball courts. The gym allows for seating for up to 1,584 people and includes a lobby, locker rooms, coach's offices, equipment storage, and more. The first shot was made by Freshman coach Mike Buneafe, whose grandfather, Al Buneafe founded Pacifica High school.

Athletics

Pacifica's sports teams, the Mariners, compete in the Empire 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 s ...

's Southern Section. Before 2006, they competed in the Garden Grove League with the other schools in the district. Sports offerings are: *Football (boys) *Cross Country (coed) *Tennis (coed) *Volleyball (coed) *Waterpolo (coed) *Basketball (coed) *Soccer (coed) *Wrestling (boys) *Baseball (boys) *Softball (girls) *Swim (coed) *Track (coed) *Golf (coed)

Marching band and drumline

In 2003 and from 2005 through 2009, the Pacifica

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

drumline Marching percussion instruments are percussion instruments (usually drums, such as snare, bass, and tenor drums) specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier ...

took the Southern California Percussion Alliance gold medal, and from 2006 through 2009, it garnered the Winter Guard International World Championship gold medal in the Percussion Scholastic Open division, along with numerous first-place finishes throughout Southern California. Pacifica also finished with a Percussion Alliance bronze medal in 2004 and a Winter Guard International silver medal in 2005. The Pacifica drumline is the second ensemble to have captured four consecutive WGI World Championship golds.

Notable alumni

* Danny Barber, professional soccer player * Pam Bileck, Olympics gymnast *

Alyssa Brito Alyssa Brito is an American former college softball player for Oregon and Oklahoma. While at Oklahoma she won the Women's College World Series championship three consecutive years. High school career Brito began her high school career at Foothi ...

, softball player * Jeff Carlson, professional football * Jon Dorenbos, professional football and magician * Michelle Dusserre, Olympics gymnast1985 Pacifica High School yearbook. *

Larry Fortensky Larry Fortensky (January 17, 1952 – July 7, 2016) was an American construction worker known for being the last husband of actress Elizabeth Taylor. They were married in 1991 at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and divorced five years later. E ...

, construction worker, husband of actress

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

Amanda Freed Amanda Louise Freed (born December 26, 1979) is an American, former professional softball utility player and pitcher. She played college softball for UCLA, winning the national title for the Bruins in the 1999 Women's College World Series. In t ...

, Olympics softball *

Dexter Holland Bryan Keith "Dexter" Holland (born December 29, 1965) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, main songwriter and composer, and only constant member of the punk rock band the Offspring. He co-found ...

, Offspring lead singer and guitarist *

Norm Johnson Norman Douglas Johnson (born May 31, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). During that time, he played for the Seattle Seahawks (1982–90), Atlant ...

, professional football * Greg Kriesel, Offspring bass player *

Terry Kubicka Terry Kubicka (born April 3, 1956) is an American retired figure skater who is known as the first American to perform the difficult triple Lutz jump. He is the 1974 Prague Skate champion, 1975 Skate Canada International bronze medalist, and 19 ...

, Olympics figure skating * Joey Ortiz, Major League Baseball player * Monique Powell, lead singer of the band Save Ferris *

Jared Rushton Jared Michael Rushton (born March 3, 1974) is an American former actor who is best known for his roles in several films from the late 1980s, including ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'', ''Big'', and '' Overboard''. He has been nominated for two Satu ...

, actor in ''Big'' and ''Honey I Shrunk the Kids'' *

Shannel Bryan Watkins, known by his stage name Shannel (born July 3, 1979), is an American drag queen and television personality, best known for competing on the RuPaul's Drag Race season 1, first season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and later the RuPaul's ...

, drag queen * Jeffree Star, YouTuber * Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, Offspring guitarist *Matthew Bowyer, bookie to interpreter of Shohei Ohtani

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1965 High schools in Orange County, California Education in Garden Grove, California Public high schools in California 1965 establishments in California