Arcadia High School Principal Martin Plourde's attempts at racial sensitivity over the school's use of an Apache mascot have not only left the mascot question unsettled, they have also incensed Los Angeles' Native American community.
Arcadia High School and music teacher, Mike Danielson from First Avenue Middle School, are among the nominees for the BRAVO awards presented by the Education Division of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County.
Arcadia High School has been honored with the 2002 BRAVO award for excellence in arts education by the Music Center of Los Angeles. The award recognizes art programs, including music and drama. Notable people Garry Marshall and Gayle Wilson, wife of former California governor Pete Wilson, attended the gala event.
Arcadia High School Apache marching band will perform at President Bush's second term inaugural parade on January 20, 2005. 312 students will travel to Washington, D.C., for the event. Tom Landes is the band conductor.
David Vannasdall, 38, formerly the principal of Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, has been hired as principal of Arcadia High School. Superintendent Mimi Hennessy and union are at odds over the process.
Arcadia High School to celebrate its 50th anniversary. See related stories Arcadia Weekly, p. 25 on September 27, 2001 and Arcadia Weekly, p. 8 on September 20, 2001.
Arcadia Unified School District (AUSD) operates a cable television channel to communicate with parents and the community. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, within Arcadia's city boundaries on Adelphia's channel 96 (with cable-ready television) or channel 58 (with converter box). "School Matters" is a talk show produced by AUSD.
Students in the Arcadia public schools will obseerve Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 27, a week after the national holiday. The change has been brought to the attention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Arcadia High School Class of 2001 graduated 780 students at the Santa Anita Park race track. Valedictorian Vincent Auyeung gave a speech. This was the second year the graduation was held at the race track.
Fewer than half of the high school students statewide scheduled to graduate in 2004 have passed both the English language arts and mathematics portions of the California High School Exit Exam. Arcadia High School sophomores who took the test last year had the strongest showing in the local area with 89% of the 738 students tested passing math and 88% passing English.
The Apache Pit, a new after-school teen center in the heart of the Arcadia High School campus, is funded and operated by the school district and Arcadia's Youth Services Coordinating Council. The project opened in mid-October.
Due to a lack of interest in the two seats on the school board opening up in April, the election may be cancelled. If election is cancelled, the school board can appoint the people who have been nominated-Annie Yuen and Joanna Steinmeier, or appoint any eligible voter.