El Rancho High School
El Rancho High School is a public school located in the city of Pico Rivera, California, United States. It is a part of the El Rancho Unified School District.
Contents
History
El Rancho High School opened its doors in September 1952. Whittier High School provided many of the original El Rancho students, and the Whittier Union District administered the new school until 1962 when the El Rancho Unified School District was developed. The school was located within the unincorporated community of Rivera before the municipal incorporation of Pico Rivera. The school colors are Blue and Gray, representing the colors of the Union and Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. The two neighboring communities were Pico and Rivera: in symbolic terms, the North and the South.Ultimately the school brought students from the two communities together. El Rancho, Spanish for The Ranch, provided the student body and community with the nickname, The Ranch. The football stadium slogan is "You haven't been hit until you've been hit by The Ranch, which became well known throughout the Southland during the El Rancho powerhouse years of the 1960s."
In 2011, The El Rancho School Board voted to name the Football field at El Rancho 'Don Memorial Stadium'- "Ernie Johnson Field" in honor of his numerous and remarkable contributions and achievements during his tenure of Head Football Coach at El Rancho. A Banquet in the El Rancho Gymnasium with over 400 past players, Coaches and fans attending was held on August 28, 2011. The City of Pico Rivera also declared that day as "Ernie Johnson Day". Official Field dedication took place on September 23, 2011 at El Rancho's Homecoming football game.
El Rancho's campus was 45 acres (180,000 m2) and was named after what the land used to be a ranch. Before it was home to orange groves and avocados, soon it was made to serve the ever growing population of the two cities. No seniors were present during the first year of school until the Juniors of 1952 graduated as the first batch of seniors to leave the Ranch and head on to be the pioneering Dons of the future in 1954. Reflecting the local demographics, the school opened its doors to a population of primarily white, non-Hispanic students and a notable percentage of Hispanic students. When El Rancho was in the process of opening, the students who were planning to attend the school attended assemblies to decide their mascot. The Don was adopted as the schools mascot by a vote of the student population. Other mascot candidates included the Swallows, the Rocketeers, and Grizzlies. In 1990, the school was used for the film Zapped Again!.
On Tuesday, May 31, 2011, El Rancho High School became the only San Gabriel Valley high school to host a Teen Court.Teen Court begins its second year on October 3, 2012 hearing juvenile non-violent misdemeanor cases presided by a Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Olivia Rosales and James Horan with high school students serving as jurist to determine the guilt or innocence of the juvenile defendant with sentencing supervised by the Los Angeles County Probation Department. In the court’s first year of operation over 17 juvenile cases have been heard, 144 students have served as jurors and over 800 students observing the court sessions. Court is held at the City of Pico Rivera City Hall Council Chambers at 6615 Passons Blvd, Pico Rivera on the first Wednesday of the month beginning on October 3, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. The El Rancho High School Teen Court program is a collaboration between the El Rancho Unified School District and the City of Pico Rivera organized by Raul Elias.
Mission Statement
The community of El Rancho High School is committed to creating an environment in which students develop the skills and ethics to be college and career ready. This will be achieved through a student-centered, teacher-guided curriculum that recognizes diversity in a climate of positive parental involvement.[1] In addition to providing students with a college ready education, the school offers students Tier One SAT prep courses.
Sports
El Rancho High School football team during the 1960s established themselves as one of the most respected high school football programs in California. The Dons were led by head coach Ernie Johnson, who coached from 1956-1968. In 1966, the Dons were awarded the National Championship and California State Championship when they beat Anaheim High School by a score of 35-14, in the Championship game. Coach Johnson directed El Rancho High to nine League Championships in 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968. Three CIF Championships in 1960, 1966 1968, were CIF Runner-Ups in 1960 and 1963 and a National High School Football Championship in 1966. Coach Johnson ended his coaching tenure in 1968 with a 108-31-5 record.[2] El Rancho last won a league championship in 2014 under head coach Vinnie Lopez. El Rancho's last CIF Semifinals appearance was in 1991 losing to Nogales High School. El Rancho last made it to the CIF Championship game in 1988 losing to Los Altos high school 12-0.
El Rancho football's crosstown rivals are the Montebello Oilers, Pioneer Titans, Whittier Cardinals, and Santa Fe Chiefs.
Soccer
The varsity soccer team has won league 10 times. They were CIF champions in 2003 and CIF semi-finalists in 2008. Their most recent result in the CIF playoffs was a 3-1 win to Crescenta Valley in the quarterfinals after narrowly beating Hawthorne 1-0. The 2010-2011 Varsity team has recently won the CIF Division IV Southern Section Championship winning 4-2 against Oak Hills. During the Season of 1976-1977, a CIF-4A record (Southern Section), was set by GoalKeeper Duane Joel Daniel, who made a total of 257 saves in that season. Daniel also made 148 saves during Pacific League play the same year. In 2012 the team went undefeated in their season and lost in the CIF playoffs, ending their season at 21-1.
Cross Country
El Rancho's running dynasty has captured 8 Del Rio League titles in the last 10 years, making it the most successful team in the recent years. The team of 2005 was ranked 18th in the nation and finished 5th at the California State Championships.
Teen court
El Rancho Teen Court program is a juvenile diversion and prevention program in Pico Rivera, California. The program serves youths throughout Los Angeles County.[3] Students from El Rancho High School serve as jurors in the early intervention program, judging peers selected by the Los Angeles County Probation Department.[4] The Teen Court program works in conjunction with the El Rancho Unified School District.[5]
The Presiding Judges are Olivia Rosales and James Horan from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.[4] Blanca Pacheco esq. is the El Rancho Teen Court’s Court Attorney, who assists the jury in understanding the charges against the defendant and proctors the jury deliberations.[5] Raul Elias serves as the El Rancho Teen Court’s Judicial officer, which entails supervision of Teen Court participants’ attendance in order to curve extracurricular Teen Court participation negatively affecting academic progress.[5] Dr. Rebecca Marin is the Court's Psychologist and Raul Elias also serves as the Teen Court Coordinator for El Rancho high School, whose duties include overall supervision of the Teen Court Program and maintenance of a schedule for Teen Court sessions and Court tutorials with assistance from Alexis Hernandez.[4][5][6][7][8]
Notable alumni
- Rich Camarillo, former NFL punter.[9]
- Tom Egan, former MLB catcher.[10]
- Randy Flores, current director of scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals and former MLB left-handed relief pitcher.[11][12]
- Ron Flores, former MLB left-handed relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics.[13]
- Mickey Klutts (1954-), former MLB player from 1976 to 1983 for the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays.[14]
- Bill Nelsen, former quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.[15]
- Scott Reid, former MLB outfielder with the Philadelphia Phillies.[16]
- Jeanette Jurado, actress/singer
- Cesar Ramos (baseball), former pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. Current pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
- Cristian Roldan, current member for the Major League Soccer team Seattle Sounders FC.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Football Team Records, El Rancho High School Football. Accessed July 15, 2007.
- ↑ Los Angeles Superior Court. “LASC - About the Court”. Retrieved on November 15, 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Gonzalez, Ruby. “Pico Rivera Home to Latest Teen Court in County”] Whittier Daily News. May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 El Rancho High School Teen Court. Web. "El Rancho High School Teen Court Introduction." Retrieved on November 3, 2012.
- ↑ TeacherWeb®. "Biographical Information." Retrieved on November 4, 2012.
- ↑ Clients: U.S Army, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, the Mexican Investment Board, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, NBP, Philatron
- ↑ Zate, Maria. "100 Most Influential Hispanics." Hispanic Business Oct. 1997: 38-82. Print.
- ↑ Rich Camarillo player profile, database Football. Accessed July 15, 2007.
- ↑ Tom Egan player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
- ↑ Randy Flores player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Ron Flores player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
- ↑ Mickey Klutts, The Baseball Cube. Accessed September 19, 2007.
- ↑ Bill Nelsen player profile, database Football. Accessed July 15, 2007.
- ↑ Scott Reid player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
External links
- The Don Page, El Rancho High School.
- School overview at greatschools.net.
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