Our school presently serves approximately 1,930 students drawn primarily from middle to upper-middle-class residential housing comprised of single family homes, condominiums, and apartment homes. Recent student survey data indicates that we are effectively meeting the needs of our students. Recent student data indicates that 73.1% of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “My teachers are invested in my personal success.” Nearly 86% agreed or strongly agreed that, “El Dorado cares about students’ academic and personal achievement” and 80% that, “There’s a teacher on campus who supports me.” Almost three-quarters of our students are involved in demanding and highly successful extracurricular activities and academic pursuits. Those activities include: sports teams that have won 31 CIF and 220-plus League championships, academic competition electives that routinely score in the top of the county, national champion cheer and dance teams, Digital Media Arts productions that earn acclaim at community film festivals, and a Marching Band that has appeared in the Rose Parade more often than any other school in Southern California.
El Dorado High School offers myriad opportunities to promote community and parent involvement in academic and extracurricular activities. Local post-secondary schools and community organizations provide partnerships, equipment, and internship and job-shadowing opportunities. Parents are essential to our students’ success and provide valuable direction and volunteer support. Many are involved in PTSA, Back to School Night, AP Showcase, Senior Project Boards, Booster Clubs, and academic competition electives. They frequent after-school activities, chaperone ASB events, and volunteer for school-site committees. Furthermore, they encourage our staff with their Moms in Touch program. Parents validate the effectiveness of these partnerships and the positive impact they have on students through anecdotal and survey data. Nearly 77% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that, “My son/daughter is presented with opportunities to be successful based on his/her individual needs and the curriculum taught,” while 81.3% agreed or strongly agreed that, “My son/daughter’s courses are preparing him/her for college and the workforce and teaching him/her skills that will be valuable in those pursuits.”
The El Dorado staff is a living testament to our history of excellence, our proud traditions, and our sense of community. Twelve of our 86 teachers are alumni, as are our principal, our activities director, our women’s athletic director, and one of our counselors. The longevity of our staff and faculty as a whole provides an institutional memory to sustain the culture and traditions that distinguish us.
Our active commitment to serve our students with excellence and distinction is demonstrated through our Student Learning Outcomes, our Action Plan theme of “We CAN Do It!” and the extensive collection of student support programs. In keeping with our mascot, El Dorado expects all of our students to be HAWKS – Honorable Academic Achievers who are Well-Rounded, Knowledge-Seeking, and Service-Oriented. Our action plan encompasses efforts to Connect with our students,Analyze and act upon data, and help students Navigate text as we incorporate Common Core standards. At El Dorado, we strive to meet our students where they are and inspire them to continue to grow. We do so by continuing to improve long-standing programs such as AP/Honors, SERVE (targeting socially and academically at-risk students), Senior Projects, ROP, athletics, activities, and our nationally acclaimed performing arts electives. We also have adopted new programs such as Link Crew, AVID, Digital Media Arts Academy, SOAR (a series of targeted intervention courses), and a co-teaching model to better serve Special Education students.
The success of the above measures is demonstrated through a series of statistics:
What distinguishes El Dorado is that the above achievements were earned by students while they simultaneously engaged in a rich extracurricular experience. El Dorado is profoundly unique in that our students leave us as prepared and successful adults who engage in their communities and achieve even greater accolades in their collegiate and career endeavors.