School Profile
SCHOOL/COMMUNITY PROFILE
Community
El Dorado High School (EDHS) is one of three comprehensive high schools in the Placentia/Yorba Linda Unified School District with a student population of approximately 2400 students. Established in 1966, it is located in Placentia, California on a forty-acre site in a residential neighborhood that offers no opportunity for expansion. The attendance area includes much of north Placentia and west Yorba Linda, but also covers small sections of the neighboring cities of Brea and Fullerton. There is very little industry and most of the surrounding area is lower middle to upper-middle class residential housing. In the last three years, El Dorado has experienced growth from several new home projects in our surrounding area providing over 300 additional students to our school. However, given that the district opened a fourth high school in September 2009, the enrollment at El Dorado will decrease in upcoming years.
El Dorado has a very strong connection to the community. This link is clearly shown through various activities that occur at EDHS on a regular basis. Every year the entire school participates in community support activities, including a canned-food drive and our annual “Giving Tree” campaign. On a more global level, our students have raised funds and collected good for various natural disasters, the Invisible Children Organization, Ronald Mc Donald House, Pennies for Patients, and many other organizations. Another connection El Dorado makes with the community is through the Senior Project program that pairs up students with a mentor in business for fifteen hours in order to expose them, on a first-hand basis, to that particular job. The community also supports EDHS through recognition and scholarships that are awarded on a yearly basis. At the Senior Awards Night, over 50 scholarships from different community members and organizations are awarded. Some organizations that are active on campus include the PTSA which provides services and donations to both the school and individual students and various booster clubs. Many groups on campus, including athletics, band, vocal music, and drama enjoy both the monetary and participatory support of booster clubs. These organizations help provide opportunities for students, not otherwise available. Another aspect of community support is provided by the Placentia Police Department, who, along with the District, provides a full-time police officer on campus, which is vital in maintaining a safe and secure school environment. Finally, El Dorado has an excellent working relationship with local post-secondary schools, including California State University at Fullerton (CSUF) and Fullerton Community College. For example, El Dorado students are enrolled at CSUF’s bridge program for calculus. Annually, El Dorado also aids in the training of future educators by mentoring student-teacher candidates. Many teachers make themselves available for classroom observations by prospective student teachers.
State and National Recognition
El Dorado High School is a California Distinguished School and, in 2006, received the coveted honor of being named a National Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor a school can earn.
WASC Accreditation History
The WASC accreditation history for El Dorado has been fairly consistent. El Dorado has earned 6-R status in the last two reviews. The impact of this process can be found throughout the campus in various ways. New classes have been established such as our Critical Reading class and the HOUSE program, both of which are designed to assist students who are struggling academically. Another example is the increased integration of technology into instruction and student learning with the introduction of SMART technolofy. A notable step the school took following the last WASC review was the development of Expected School-wide Learning Results (ESLR’s). These detailed descriptions of student expectations gave the staff a clearer focus on schoolwide goals and has sparked discussions over the last six years on how to provide a challenging education for all students. As the Focus on Learning process began last year, we revisited the ESLR’s, along with the school’s mission statement, to see if a stronger connection could be made between the two. The staff coined a short phrase, “Empowering students for success”, that stated El Dorado’s mission in a more concise and recognizable way. Home Groups then determined what EDHS envisioned as its “core values,” the guiding principles that represent what El Dorado High School stands for. The five core values the staff, students, and parents agreed upon are: respect, compassion, perseverance, integrity, and responsibility. Along with these core values, Focus Groups discussed possible goals for the school. After considerable debate and discussion a consensus was reached and the six goals chosen to be provided to all El Dorado students are: a Comprehensive Curriculum, Engaging Instruction, a Compassionate School Culture, Positive Connections, a Secure Environment, and a Unified Community. These six goals were then integrated into the previous ESLR’s to form the current Student Learning Outcomes. With these philosophical beliefs in place, the ELSR’s can be evaluated and assessed in a more relevant and consistent way.
Student Enrollment
In the last five years El Dorado High School has experienced a steady, but moderate growth. The growth rate is fairly consistent with the other two high schools in the district. During the 1999-2000 WASC visitation, the total student enrollment was 2033. El Dorado remained around that number for the next few years until 2003-04 when it grew to a student population of 2152. The past two years, with a large incoming freshman classes, EDHS experienced another growth spurt that put it at almost 2400 students. Over the last five years there has been no disparity in the ratio of males to females. One noticeable trend since the last WASC review is that the freshman and sophomore classes have been significantly larger than the junior and senior groups. However, the opening of the new high school will even out class sizes.
Ethnicity Data
The ethnic makeup of El Dorado High School’s student population as of 2008-09 is 73% Caucasian, 16.5% Latino, 8% Asian, 1.5% African American and 1% Other (American Indian or Alaska Native and Filipino). Although El Dorado does have some ethnic diversity, the student population is predominately Caucasian, especially when compared to district, county, and state statistics.
Language Proficiency Data
El Dorado has a very small English Learner (EL) population, totaling 5% of the overall school population. Looking back over the past ten years, the school has seen a slight increase. In 1999-2000 when the school had only 2.75% of the population qualified as English Learners. When compared to the district and the county EDHS has a significantly smaller EL population. There are about five times more EL students district-wide and almost ten times more countywide than at El Dorado. Even though these students are a comparatively small percentage of our school population, some important improvements have been made at El Dorado to ensure these students receive the support they need to be successful. To insure better communication, quarterly meetings are held with EL parents. A newsletter has also been created that outlines issues that were discussed at that meeting and any other important information that is germane to the EL program. Although the EL population at EDHS has remained small, the school anticipates growth in this subgroup due to planned changes in school boundaries in the near future.
Special Needs and Other Program Data
El Dorado has implemented many programs to address the diverse needs of our student-body. In the last three years, there has been a significant increase in AP and Honors class offerings due to the overwhelming need expressed by students. El Dorado also has a SERVE (Social, Emotional, Recreation, Vocation, and Education) program that helps to support and prepare “at-risk” students for the rigors and complexities of a high school environment. This course offers assistance in completing four-year college entrance requirements including: tutoring, training in note taking, study skills and social skills, such as peer interaction and conflict resolution. Each year for the last three years the SERVE students have shown marked improvement in terms of both attendance and achievement in the classroom. This means almost 50% of students in the SERVE program made significant improvement in their GPA’s after only one semester. The HOUSE program, introduced during the 2008-2009 school year is designed to assist freshmen who struggled with attendance and/or academics in middle school. Students receive more individualized attention and share common teachers in core subject areas. The district also provides a variety of options as an alternative to the comprehensive high school.
Special Education
The Special Education Program at El Dorado has been growing steadily over the last four years at a slightly higher rate than the overall school population. Within the Resource Program, there are “pull-out” classes in Language Arts, Social Science, and Math (Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1A & 1B). The remainder of the RSP students are mainstreamed into the general education classes and monitored by their case carrier. SDC-LH and SDC-SH classes are self-contained for the most part with students mainstreamed in accordance to their needs and abilities. Beginning last year, the Special Education Department reorganized into a “Learning Center Model”. One of the goals of this restructuring was to help more special education students make a complete and successful transition into the general education program. This model includes a “Learning Center Specialist” who supervises students needing to be monitored by a case carrier. This specialist, whose other responsibilities include testing referrals to the special education program and cohesively working with teachers of monitored students, also supervises a study skills class.
Socio-economic Status
El Dorado High School draws from a mainly middle to upper-middle class community and has significantly fewer students involved in Federal Aid programs than the district, county, and state averages. The parent education level is also very high with 62% of parents earning a college degree or attending graduate school while only 3% of parents have not graduated from high school. This could explain the high number of students who graduate from El Dorado with post-secondary plans.
School Safety, Cleanliness, and Facilities
El Dorado High School is committed to maintain a safe and orderly environment for all students. Classroom facilities, landscaping, parking spaces and security lighting have been upgraded within the last five years. Areas of special need and attention, such as planters, lawns and flowerbeds, have been addressed. Recently, a multi-million dollar bond measure provided funds for a campus-wide building modernization. This included the complete renovation of 48 classrooms and the administration office, as well as a partial renovation of the gym, and eight other classrooms. Through modernization, students and staff have been reminded of the positive effect a clean campus has on attitude, pride, and productivity.