This school, all though academically pristine, lacks racial diversity and the town surrounding the school comes off as white and conservative. As a senior at SVHS, I have seen a nearly 30% turnover rate each year for teachers who have quit because of inadequate support from the administration, lack of
... Read more funding, etc. The administration is difficult to say the least, with a close minded vice principal and an ignorant principal. The school, founded in 1999, has had 6 principals over the course of 9 years. I would recommend sending prospective students to nearby Santa Cruz High instead. Read less
Posted by a student on 12/04/08
mr gunkel doesnt see things through the students eyes therefore is a poor principal.
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Posted by a student on 09/30/08
I am a freshman at svhs. And yet, i already have quite a good feeling about the school. My favorite thing about it is the amazing drama department, headed by Karin Babitt, the drama teacher. She puts a lot of effort into the winter play and even more into the spring musical. Great extracirricular
... Read more activities, needs better staff. Read less
Posted by a student on 02/11/08
I went to SVHS and was a member of the first graduating class. I was highly involved in student government, so I saw a lot of what was going on in terms of leadership. It's a brand new school with horrible facilities that are already falling apart. While I was there we dealt with a highly conservative
... Read more school board that didn't listen to anything coming from the student body. Programs were disorganized. I was unprepared for basic college english. Great memories, but horrible administration. Read less
Posted by a student on 03/28/07
Many virtues. 5-stars to English teacher Suzanne Herzman, physics teacher Naomi Lyall, math teacher Richard Salome and drama teacher Karin Babbitt. For the past 3 years, every senior in IB college prep English passes the IB exam. Bill Turner of Lintelle Engineering just gave $1,000 for scholarships for
... Read more students taking advanced physics and planning to major in engineering, which should spur more donations. Students scored high in the American Mathematics Competition. Spring musical earned a record nine nominations for American Musical Theater of San Jose awards. Terrific talent in art teacher Emily Brandt's graphic design classes. Outstanding community service performed by students. Hugely popular sports program. Excellent and informative parent newsletter. Made Washington Post list of best high schools last year, based on the number of IB & AP exams taken. Needs more support for teacher leadership and principal continuity. Read less
Posted by a parent on 05/18/06
Scotts Valley High has many fine attributes, some excellent teachers, especially in the IB program, many parents who volunteer and students with talent. Three of the valedictorians, also in the IB program, were accepted to Ivy League colleges in spring 2005, and 67 percent of those who applied for scholarships
... Read more got one. The drama dept is excellent, and the video production class is one of a kind. Half the students participate in sports. Students won national recognition in French and math. More should be done to insure classroom consistency and new teachers deserve more support; department chairs deserve more pay. Students need more guidance in choosing appropriate classes to prepare for college and ranking should be eliminated because it benefits only 10 percent of the students. It is up to the principal and assistant principal, who are new, to make a difference in areas where there is room for improvement. Read less
Posted by a teacher on 10/27/05
Administrative staff always 'puttting out fires' instead of moving the school forward by working toward long-term goals. No administrative leadership in office: peers telling peers what to do; Highly unprofessional and inefficient secretarial support to principal; few efficient clerical systems in place;
... Read more archaic telephone system wastes thousands of dollars in human resource time; High efficiency in attendance office, but low support. Attendance office (Lentz) relied upon for all answers and direction from student and adult community. College counseling support is minimal, at best. School policies written, but not enforced: e.g., dress code, tardies/class attendance, which causes student community to take advantage of system. Little or no discipline for student abuse of policies. Teaching in English dept is strong; science chair is excellent. Not enough available on-site tutoring support. Oppressive political correctness atmosphere. Read less
Posted by a parent on 08/20/05
School lacks leadership (five prinicipals in six years, very weak superintendent). Best known for ability to punish. Not proactive in adressing problems faced by students or staff. Severley underfunded from beginning. Critical lack of support staff. Only competency is performance of N. Lentz in office.
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Posted by a parent on 08/09/05
This is a new high school, June 04 was only the 2nd Sr class. While the teachers are excellant, the drawback is that they have only college-prep classes. As a public school, they need to meet the needs of the community, and not every child can handle college-prep classes. They also require 2 yrs
... Read more foreign language, only hs in county that requires it. They should take one of the conceptual physics classes and change it to something like Sea Science/Life Science/Environmental Science. They also require Chemistry to graduate. Parents are looking at other districts, as their 9th grader has already been told they may not graduate due to poor performance. Another issue is that some students that would like to participate in after school sports, cannot do so because they cannot maintain C average in college prep classes. SVHS, be realistic - and available to all, not just high achievers! Read less
Posted by a parent on 06/14/04
SVHS is still new and still experiencing some growing pains. However, under the fantastic leadership of Ken Thomas and the many dedicated teachers, those pains are subsiding and things are settling and running smoothly. The campus is beautiful and the facilities improve each year. While the school
... Read more doesn't offer all the extracurricular activities or electives that other larger, more established schools offer, they have grown an incredible arts program as well as a highly competitive sports program. One of the things that impresses me most about SVHS is the dedication of the teachers and coaches. Most of them are young and excited to be teaching. They have alot of respect for the students as individuals and they truly want to see them succeed. They are committed to not only teaching them and providing them a quality education, they are mentoring them and striving to help them be successful in life. Many times I've experienced them going above and beyond the call of teaching or coaching to reach out to my kids to help them whether they're struggling with something academically or personally. I'm very grateful to have my kids attend SVHS and see the impact the school has had on their lives. Read less
*The resources listed are programs that the institution is staffed to support. Staffing for a program does not guarantee that it will be offered. This content is provided by the institution and may be incomplete. The institution may offer programs not listed here. Please contact the school directly for additional details.
Advanced Placement
AP classes are college-level classes offered at the high school level. Once a student completes an AP class and passes a final comprehensive examination conducted by the College Board, the student earns college credit for the course. AP classes are specific and not to be confused with other higher-level classes such as honors classes.
Before/After School
"Extended day" programs where the school day is extended before and after school to accommodate working parents. These programs should not be confused with common after school clubs or athletic activities.
Gifted and Talented
A school system may identify 10% to 15% or more of its student population as gifted and talented. A brief description of each area of giftedness or talent as defined by the Office of Gifted and Talented:
general intellectual ability or talent - high intelligence test score (usually two standard deviations above the mean), and high levels of vocabulary, memory, abstract work knowledge and abstract reasoning;
specific academic aptitude or talent in one area such as mathematics or language arts;
creative and productive thinking, the ability to produce new ideas;
leadership ability, the ability to direct individuals or groups to a common decision or action;
visual and performing arts, special talents in visual art, music, dance, drama, or other related studies;
psychomotor ability, such as practical, spatial, mechanical, and physical skills.
Vocation/Technical Curriculum
Vocational and/or technical courses offered within a comprehensive school, usually a senior high school.
Special Education Classes
A school or program within a school that provides services and training to students with moderate to severe mental and/or physical disabilities.
Adult Education Classes
Programs offering GED or equivalent courses for adults within regular schools, whether classes are held during evening or daytime schedules.
English as Second Language
English language classes for students whose first language is not English.
Scotts Valley schools — Scotts Valley High School is located at 555 Glenwood Dr, Scotts Valley CA 95066. 555 Glenwood Dr is in the 95066 ZIP code in Scotts Valley, CA The school district for Scotts Valley High School is the Scotts Valley Unified School District. Scotts Valley High School is a Public school that serves grade levels 9 - 12.
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