Leland High School (San Jose, California)

Leland High School
Address
6677 Camden Ave San Jose, California United States
Information
Type	Public
Established	1967
School district	San Jose Unified School District
Principal	Deepa Mukherjee[1]
Faculty	75.9 (on FTE basis)[2]
Grades	9, 10, 11, 12
Enrollment	1,849
Student to teacher ratio	24.3[2]
Color(s)	navy blue, columbia blue, white and gold
Mascot	Chargers
Information	[phone]
Website	www.sjusd.org/leland/index.html

Leland High School is a public high school located in the Almaden Valley in San Jose, California, USA in the San Jose Unified School District. Leland is well known for its nationally ranked Speech and Debate team (as of 1999 - May 2012), as stated by the National Forensic League, a national speech and debate league.^[3]

Awards and recognition

During the 2004-05 school year, Leland High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,^[4] the highest award an American school can receive.^[5]

In 2002, Leland received a clear six-year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

In 2006, 413 Leland students took a total of 877 Advanced Placement tests. 79% of the Placement scores were three or above, with 29% scoring a five. The school average score was a 3.94, while 177 students qualified as AP Scholars.

In 2014, Leland was ranked number 20 in the United States for high standardized test scores between 2012-2014.^[6] Newsweek ranked Leland High School 54th in the nation.^[7]

Notable extra-curricular activities

• Robotics^[8] - Team 604, also known as Quixilver, has participated in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Since the team was restarted in 2005,^[9] the team has been rather successful, winning the 2005 Pacific Northwest Regional, 2010 Sacramento Regional and the 2008 and 2009 CalGames Competitions, the team has also won the Regional Chairman's Awards' at the 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 Silicon Valley Regional, 2010, 2011 Sacramento Regional and the 2015 Central Valley Regional.^[9]
• Journalism - Leland's school newspaper, The Charger Account, is completely student run and has received numerous awards from the American Scholastic Press Association, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and Quill and Scroll.
• Speech and Debate - Leland's Speech and Debate team is one of the top teams in the nation. The National Forensic League has ranked the Leland Speech and Debate Team as number one in the nation over recent years.^[10] The team has around 400 members, and has won numerous awards, including the 2015 state championship.
• Soccer - Leland Soccer set a national record and are current holders of the state record for an undefeated streak with 75, when they posted a 65-0-10 record from 1987-1990.^[11]
• Track & Field – The team participates in the Central Coast Section. The female Chargers took home the CCS Track championship in May 2009.^[12]

Notable alumni and staff

The Leland High School Quad.

• Steven Beitashour '05 - Major League Soccer player, formerly with the San Jose Earthquakes.^[13][14][15]
• Jason Hardtke - Former professional baseball player
• Jerry Hsu - Professional skateboarder.^[16]
• Brent Jones '81 - Former American football player and Pro Bowl tight end for the San Francisco 49ers.^[17][18]
• Evan Low '01 - California State Assembly member, and former Mayor of Campbell, California.^[19][20]
• Joe Murray - Creator of TV animated series Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Lazlo.^[21][22]
• Steve Smith '77 - Astronaut, holds all-time second place for cumulative spacewalk time.^[23][24]
• Pat Tillman '94- Former American football player, notable for turning down a multimillion-dollar contract and enlisting as a United States Army Ranger in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 by friendly fire. The football/track stadium at Leland is named Tillman Stadium after him.^[18][25]
• Patrick Graham '77- Former NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys^[26]
• Kim Yubin - Rapper in the K-pop girl group Wonder Girls.^[27]
• Reggie Smith '88 - Former NBA player for the Portland Trail Blazers.^[28][29]

References

1. "Official site of Leland High School". Retrieved 2012-08-17.
2. Leland High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
3. Carbone Lewis, Jeanne (2006-03-23). "Leland’s award-winning speech, debate team talks fund-raising". Almaden Times.
4. U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 through 2006 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
5. "CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve." Archived January 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
6. "High Schools With Highest SAT Scores". Business Insider. 2014-01-21. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
7. "America's Top High Schools 2014". Newsweek. 2014. Retrieved 2015.
8. "Leland Robotics Team 604". 604robotics.com. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
9. "Leland Robotics - Quixilver 604 - Home". 604robotics.com. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
10. "National Speech & Debate Association: Speech, Debate, Interp, Honor Society". nflonline.org. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
11. Scudder, Bob (May 5, 2005). "Gold Discovered Leland, Then Led Chargers to Soccer Titles". Almaden Resident. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
12. "Central Coast Section Track Championships". Athletic.net. 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
13. Baxter, Kevin (May 6, 2014). "Steve Beitashour wants to play for Iran in World Cup". Los Angeles Times.
14. Stranzl, Frank (March 31, 2010). "Beitashour a Hometown Hero". San Jose Earthquakes website. Major League Soccer. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
15. "Sports shorts: Leland to honor alum Steven Beitashour Jan. 15". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
16. "Jerry Hsu Biography". Emerica Skate. January 3, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
17. "2005 Hall of Fame inductee biographies". San Jose Sports Authority. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
18. "Leland High honors its own with Pat Tillman Legacy Classic". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
19. "Low Takes Oath as Newest Assemblymember for 28th District - Assemblymember Evan Low Representing the 28th California Assembly District". asmdc.org. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
20. "Silicon Valley 40 under 40: Evan Low, city of Campbell". Silicon Valley Business Journal. December 13, 2013.
21. "The wrath of Leland | After School". Blogs at San Jose Mercury News. January 11, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
22. Rodriguez, Joe (May 8, 2011). "Art matters, but art students matter more". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
23. "Steven L. Smith: NASA International Space Station Program Liaison to the European Space Agency". Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, NASA. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
24. "Astronaut Bio: Steven L. Smith 8/98". Spaceacts.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
25. Knight, Dennis (November 4, 2004). "Pregame Ceremony to Honor Local Hero". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved November 8, 2007. When Pat Tillman was a freshman at Leland High School, he didn't make the varsity baseball team, despite being one of the best players his age in the South Bay.
26. Milpitas Post Staff (December 5, 2012). "Pat J. Graham". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
27. "Meet The Wondergirls". Goodvibe (Wordpress). August 3, 2009. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
28. "Reggie Smith". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
29. Knight, Dennis (April 2, 2009). "All-Mercury News basketball teams dating back to 1960". Varsity Extra – San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved June 17, 2015.

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 37°13′02″N 121°50′40″W / 37.217136°N 121.844326°W