Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California, United States. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and Ocean Beach. Students who live in Mission Hills may choose to attend Point Loma High School as their neighborhood school. Point Loma is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Video Point Loma High School
History
PLHS is the third oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District. It was dedicated in 1925 as Point Loma Junior-Senior High school, serving grades 7 through 12. There were 386 students at its opening on September 22, 1925. The first principal was Pete Ross and there were 30 teachers. Some San Diegans opposed creating a school in Point Loma, contending it was too far away from town, but school board member Edgar F. Hastings pushed the proposal through. In its early days the school was sometimes referred to as "Hastings' folly". The original three-story high school building was torn down in the 1970s as part of a statewide requirement to make all schools earthquake-safe. It was replaced by multiple two-story buildings. During the 1950s it was converted to a three-year high school with the opening of Richard Henry Dana Junior High School. In 1983 it became a four-year high school. PLHS now draws from six elementary schools serving grades kindergarten through 4, and two middle schools: Dana Middle for grades 5 and 6, and Correia Middle for grades 7 and 8.
The school holds the distinction of having produced two major-league baseball pitchers who threw perfect games - David Wells and Don Larsen. Only 21 pitchers have thrown perfect games in Major League Baseball history. Wells also threw a perfect game while a student at PLHS. . Wells became the school's head baseball coach starting with the 2014-2015 school year. He had been volunteering as an assistant coach for several years. The team's home field was named David Wells Field in 2010.
Maps Point Loma High School
Demographics
Point Loma High School is the third largest of 16 high schools in the San Diego Unified School District. It is a four-year, comprehensive high school, serving grades 9-12. It houses a student population of approximately 2000 students who come primarily from the local community. Approximately 35 percent of the student body participates in specialized programs, such as the Voluntary Ethnic Enrollment Program (VEEP), the Choice Program, the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program, or the Seminar Program.
Academics
Point Loma High School offers a large variety of AP classes, ranging from Music Theory to Physics.
Athletics
The school's colors are maroon and gold, although football uniform colors are typically unconforming with their traditional colors of a main maroon with an accent of gold. The mascot is the Pointer Dog. The school offers a variety of men's and women's competitive sports:
Offered
Fall
- Cross country (men and women)
- Field hockey (women)
- Football (men)
- Golf (women)
- Tennis (women)
- Volleyball (women)
- Water polo (men)
Winter
- Basketball (men and women)
- Soccer (men and women)
- Water polo (women)
- Wrestling (men and women)
Spring
- Badminton (men and women)
- Baseball (men)
- Golf (men)
- Lacrosse (men and women)
- Softball (women)
- Swim (men and women)
- Tennis (men)
- Track & field (men and women)
- Volleyball (men)
Club Sports
- Surfing (men and women)
- Sailing (men and women)
Awards and championships
Marching Band
The Point Loma "Vanguard" marching band have gotten first place in the Arcadia Festival of Bands tournament two years in a row making them the reigning champions in their class. The Point Loma Colorguard, which accompanies the Vanguard during fall season, have gotten first place in Winterguard Championships in 2017 over all of Southern California in their class.
Football
The Point Loma "Pointers" football team has won or shared the CIF championship five times in the past fifty years, all under head coach Bennie Edens. In 2005-2006, under head coach Mike Hastings, the Pointers reached the championship game but lost to Saint Augustine High School both times. They reached the championship game again in 2007 and 2009 but lost to Cathedral Catholic High School both times again led by first team All-C.I.F. selection Anthony Joyner and second team All-C.I.F. selection Jordan Sparkman. In recent years the Pointers have had 16 Division 1 football athletes.
Women's soccer
The Lady Pointers went to the CIF Championship game in 2009, defeating many higher seeded teams to get there. The game ended in a tie, with Point Loma winning it in PKs. In 2015 the Lady Pointers soccer team won the CIF Division II Championship against Valhalla with a score of 1-0.
Women's basketball
The Lady Pointers basketball team was a powerhouse at the state level during the late 1980s, capturing the state championship for four straight years, 1984 to 1987. Their victories inspired a graffiti-style mural at the athletic field. Under legendary women's basketball coach Lee Trepanier, known as "Coach T", the Lady Pointers posted an astonishing record of 335 wins and 51 losses between 1977 and 1990.
Men's water polo
The Point Loma High water polo team had the distinction of making it to the CIF tournament, seeded eighth in 2007. In the 2015 season, water polo won first place in their division.
Men's tennis
The Point Loma High men's tennis team won CIF twice, in 2008 and 2009. Their strongest team rivaled teams from all divisions, losing only one match, to Torrey Pines.
Sailing
The nationally ranked PLHS sailing team has won the Baker Trophy, the national team-racing championship of the Interscholastic Sailing Association, fifteen times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014), making them the national champions in the sport of sailing. PLHS sailing teams also won the Mallory trophy, the national fleet-racing championship, seven times (1993, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, and 2017), a record unmatched by any other school. In 2003 PLHS Sailor Parker Shinn won the Cressy Trophy, the national singlehanded championship of the ISSA.
Leap of Faith
The school became known among skateboarders for an infamous drop called the "Leap of Faith". This was a drop of 18 feet, 8 inches, consisting of 27 stairs, that had to be approached by an ollie over a railing. Professional skateboarder Jamie Thomas made this spot famous in his filmed attempt to land it; he landed without injury, but his board snapped upon impact. His attempt was included in the Zero video "Thrill Of It All". Another skateboarder, Richard King and several rollerbladers also attempted it, among them Ian Brown, Brian Shima, and Chris Haffey, but no one was successful at landing it completely, and several people broke their legs or ankles in the attempt. In 2005 the drop was blocked when the school installed a new elevator. The PLHS Leap of Faith was included as part of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, a skateboarding-based video game.
The Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance Company
English teacher Larry Zeiger taught a class in musical theater called "Contemporary voices in literature" from 1977 until his retirement in 2007. In the second semester the students became "The Gotta Sing Gotta Dance Company", writing and performing an original musical show in which all 100+ students took part. The students were all seniors, and "Zeiger's show" became a beloved senior-year school tradition during the 31 years of its existence. The 2003 production "Sticky Fingers: A Tale of Saks, Lies and Videotape", which was inspired by the Wynona Ryder shoplifting incident, received national attention. The Performing Arts Center on campus was renamed the "Larry Zeiger Performing Arts Center" in 2007.
Notable alumni
- Jamal Agnew, NFL defensive back for Detroit Lions
- Eric Allen, six-time NFL Pro Bowler; Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders; ESPN analyst
- Margaret Avery, actress, nominated for an Academy Award, The Color Purple
- Todd Benjamin, CNN business reporter
- Graham Biehl, 2008 and 2012 Olympian in men's 470 sailboat
- Florence Chadwick, swimmer, first woman to swim English Channel in both directions
- Bill Cleator, former San Diego City Councilmember, District 2
- Dennis Conner, sailor, four-time winner of America's Cup
- Miles Doughty, co-founder of band Slightly Stoopid
- La'Roi Glover, NFL defensive tackle, St Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints
- Sandra Good, Manson Family member
- Justin Halpern, writer
- Waad Hirmez, six-time pro soccer champion with San Diego Sockers; 1981 CIF player of the year
- Ben Hueso, state legislator
- Joe Hutshing, Academy Award-winning film editor
- Don Larsen, Major League Baseball pitcher, pitched only perfect game in World Series (1956)
- Bill Lowery, former Congressman
- Kyle McDonald, co-founder of band Slightly Stoopid
- Briana Provancha, Olympic sailor in 2016
- Mark Reynolds, four-time Olympian in sailing with two gold medals and one silver; two-time Star World champion
- Marion Ross, actress, Happy Days
- Jason Scheff, member of rock band Chicago
- Suzy Spafford, creator of Suzy's Zoo line of greeting cards, calendars and cartoons
- JJ Stokes, NFL wide receiver, San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Wavves musician Nathan Williams
- David Wells, Major League Baseball pitcher, pitched perfect game in 1998
- Dan White, football player, quarterback for 1994 Fiesta Bowl champion Arizona
- Jimmy Wilson, defensive back, Miami Dolphins
- Aaron Zigman, songwriter and Hollywood film score composer
See also
- Primary and secondary schools in San Diego, California
- List of high schools in San Diego County, California
References
External links
- Point Loma High School website
- PLHS '75 photo gallery
Source of article : Wikipedia
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