Van Nuys Senior High

From Wiki Directory & Information Resource Guide for Schools, Universities, Learning Acadamies

Van Nuys Senior High School or simply known as VNHS, is a public secondary high school serving students in 9th through 12th grade levels. The school, with its campus situated in Cedros Avenue, Van Nuys, California, is part of Local District 2 of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Van Nuys follows a traditional single track school calendar and is also home to a Residential Program and three Magnet Programs: Math/Science, Performing Arts, and Medical. VNHS was opened in 1914 and serves several neighborhoods which include much of Van Nuys, portions of Sherman Oaks, Magnolia Woods, and Victory Park. The "Home of the Wolves" housed 3,577 students in school year 2005-06. VNHS's population is a mix of students from various ethnicities, majority of which are Hispanic or Latino. 79% of these students participate in free or reduced-price lunch program; and of the 32% English language learners, 87% of them use Spanish as their home language. Average Class Size Grade 9: 30 Grade 10: 31 Grade 11: 30 Grade 12: 27 Student-Staff Ratio Students per paraprofessional staff: 143 Students per office/clerical staff: 179 Students per other classified staff: 119

Van Nuys Senior High School Configuration Grade: 9-12 Year Opened 1914 School Type Public Principal Judith Vanderbok Location 6535 Cedros Ave, Van Nuys, Ca 91411 Students 3577 (approx.) Telephone 818-778-6800 Website Official Website

Contents 1 Ranking 2 History 3 Map & Directions 4 Faculty & Staff Information 5 Ethnic Diversity 6 Parent & Staff Comments 7 About the Neighborhood 8 Famous Alumni List 9 School Trivia 10 External Links

Ranking

• State Rank: 3 (based on API...1 Being Lowest, 10 Being Highest)
• API Score: 647 (The API Score is a number between 200 and 1000 that reflects a school’s or school district’s performance)

From the 2006 California Academic Performance Index (API) Base report.

History

1914 - Van Nuys High School opened as one of three high schools in the San Fernando Valley serving what was then a rural community.

2006 - In October, Panorama High School opened to relieve the overcrowding at Van Nuys High School.

Map & Directions

1] Head south on Van Nuys Blvd toward Blythe St.

2] Turn right at Haynes St.

3] Turn left at Cedros Ave.

Faculty & Staff Information

• Judith Vanderbok - School Principal

• Teachers with full credential: 90%
• Teachers with emergency credential: 3%
• Average teaching experience: 12 years
• Average teaching in district: 12 years
• First year teachers: 4%

Ethnic Diversity

66% Hispanic/Latino

13% Asian

12% White

5% Filipino

4% African American

<1% American Indian/Alaskan

<1% Pacific Islander

Parent & Staff Comments

(parents and staff members can post their comments about this school here)

About the Neighborhood

Van Nuys is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The TV show Beverly Hills 90210 was filmed on a set in Van Nuys. Van Nuys is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley and home to about 100,000 people; the main thoroughfare, Van Nuys Boulevard, is noted for its car dealerships. It also functions similar to a "county seat" for the Valley, with its Government Center (Erwin Street Mall) containing a branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Van Nuys police station, the Van Nuys offices for Los Angeles City Hall, Van Nuys State Office Building and a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Notable locations

• Van Nuys Airport, the busiest general aviation airport in the world, the 5th busiest airport in the United States, and among the 20 busiest airports in the world by aircraft movements.
• The Japanese Garden
• Sepulveda Dam
• Busch Gardens Theme Park (1964-1979)
• Van Nuys FlyAway Bus service

Famous Alumni List

Much like two other LAUSD high schools, Fairfax High School and Hollywood High School, Van Nuys High School has been a breeding ground for Hollywood talent over the years. There have been hundreds of famous graduates of Van Nuys High School, including:

• Bob Waterfield, football player
• Don Drysdale, baseball player
• Jane Russell, actress
• Jonathan Postel, one of "the giants of the internet"
• Vint Cerf, one of the "fathers of the Internet"
• Steve Crocker, inventor of the RFC series
• Julie Brown, actress/comedienne/producer/singer/writer
• Marilyn Monroe, actress
• Natalie Wood, actress
• Paula Abdul, entertainer
• Robert Redford, actor
• Stacy Keach, actor
• Stephen M. Cohen, fraudster and sex.com hijacker
• David J. Skorton, President of Cornell University
• Bruce Kovner, multibillionaire
• Steve Kanaly, actor
• Kim Darby, actress
• Erika Eleniak, actress
• Danny Wilde, musician
• Mark Adair-Rios, actor

School Trivia

• The campus was used as a location for the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Ridgemont High's mascot in the movie was the same as Van Nuys High School--a wolf, which remains VNHS' mascot today.

• The horror films Christine and Sleepwalkers, both written by Stephen King, were filmed at Van Nuys High School.

• Other, more forgettable movies filmed at Van Nuys High include Kid 'n Play's Class Act and My Stepmother is an Alien (featuring Kim Basinger.)

• The Pilot episode of The Wonder Years, and several episodes of Highway to Heaven, as was The Ramones' punk rock movie classic Rock 'n' Roll High School.

• The music video of Vitamin C's Graduation song was filmed at Van Nuys High School.

• An episode of Seventh Heaven was filmed at Van Nuys High School, as was an episode of Twin Peaks.

• Parts of 'Grease' were also filmed at VNHS.

External Links

• Van Nuys Senior High School LAUSD Profile Page
• Van Nuys Senior High School Website
• Van Nuys Senior High School Events
• Van Nuys Senior High School Rules & Policies
• Van Nuys Senior High School Departments
• Van Nuys Senior High School Faculty
• Van Nuys Senior High School @ Answers.com
• Van Nuys Senior High School Statistics
• Van Nuys Senior High School Rankings