Poway High School

Overview

The four-year secondary school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It has approximately 2,408 students and employs 90 teachers, 62 support staff, four administrators, four counselors, one psychologist and one librarian. The length of its class periods vary, and total 297 minutes per week. Every Wednesday is a "late start day", with 59-minute periods. It is on a trimester-based system with class periods 70 minutes long from Tuesday through Thursday. Periods are 65 minutes on Friday.

The high school has a campus with several buildings. Elective course offerings include agriculture, floral design, architectural design, and computer animation. Other activities include automobile repair and design, choir, marching band, and photography. Its athletic teams are called the Titans. It has a Theatre Guild. The school also offers PLTW engineering courses and has a campus-affiliated FIRST robotics team, Team Spyder 1622.

History

In 2004, the school forbade a student from wearing an anti-gay T-shirt during the school's gay–straight alliance's Day of Silence. The student, Tyler Chase Harper, filed suit, claiming that the school had violated his constitutional rights. The case was Harper v. Poway Unified School District. In 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a divided decision, denied the student's claim and held that the school's regulation of student speech in this case was constitutional. The student sought review in the U.S. Supreme Court; in 2007, the court vacated the judgment as moot because Harper had graduated.

In 2011, in a separate case, * Johnson v. Poway Unified School District*, the Ninth Circuit found that the school board could order a teacher to remove religious decorations (specifically, 7-foot wide, 2-foot high banners bearing Christian phrases) from his classroom, holding that the speech of teachers in school settings is government speech.

Community overview

The school was established in September 1961 as the first of five comprehensive high schools in the Poway Unified School District. The general population in the district reached about 186,195 in 2014, of whom about 33,000 were students, including kindergarten through twelfth grade. The students of Poway High School are from the suburban communities of Poway and Rancho Bernardo, which are 15 miles northeast of the City of San Diego. In rare cases, students living in the nearby town of Ramona attend Poway High School because it is better funded.

Enrollment

As of the 2024–2025 school year, 2,101 students attended Poway High School. When divided by grade level, 502 students were in 9th grade, 530 in 10th, 519 in 11th, and 550 in 12th. Student enrollment was 51.8% White, 30.1% Hispanic or Latino, 4.7% Asian, 11% two or more races, 1.1% African American, 2.5% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 0% Native American or Alaska Native.

Academics

Students take required classes in English, Social Science, Mathematics, Physical Science, Biological Science, Health, Physical Education, and Fine Arts. They must pass the CAHSEE in English Language Arts and Mathematics. They also take a required number of elective classes. There are three majors: university-bound, college-bound, and high school graduation. The last take electives based on their vocational interests. There are advanced placement, honors, and occupational courses. There are also English language and remedial courses.

In the 2012–13 school year, Poway students scored higher than the national mean on the SAT test, 784 students took AP exams, and four were National Merit semi-finalists. Student pursuits following graduation have been 5% in the military, 3% full-time employment; 1% in special schools, 37% in two-year colleges and 54% four-year colleges and universities.

Notable alumni

• Agent 51 – the band's three original members
• John Baldwin – figure skater
• Albrey Battle – football player
• Lacey Beaty – politician, mayor of Beaverton, Oregon
• Walter Bernard – football player (transferred to Rancho Buena Vista High School senior year)
• Miguel Berry – soccer player
• Brett Bochy – baseball player
• Jud Buechler – basketball player
• Kellye Cash – Miss America 1987
• Kraig Chiles – soccer player
• Marie Anne Chiment – set and costume designer
• Greg Dalby – soccer player and coach
• Nathan Darmody - former member of the pop/rock band Allstar Weekend
• Tom DeLonge – guitarist/vocalist of Blink-182, Box Car Racer, and Angels and Airwaves
• Alex Dickerson (born 1990) – Major League Baseball player for the San Francisco Giants
• Lauren Elaine – actress, celebrity fashion designer
• David Goeddel – biotechnology pioneer
• Tina Guo – cellist associated with Hans Zimmer
• Tony Gwynn Jr. – baseball player
• Charley Hoffman – PGA Tour member, won the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, the 2010 Deutsche Bank Championship, the 2014 OHL Classic at Mayakoba, and the 2016 Valero Texas Open
• Nate Houser – soccer player
• Connor Joe – baseball player
• Bradley Klahn – tennis player
• John Knotwell – Utah politician
• Bobby Lee – comedian/actor on MADtv, host of TigerBelly and Bad Friends podcasts
• Brian Maienschein – California politician
• Susan Meissner – author
• Thomas Neal – baseball player and coach
• Tom Norris - Grammy winning music producer, former member of the pop/rock band Allstar Weekend
• Tyler Nevin – baseball player
• Kevin Newman – baseball player
• Anisha Nicole – R&B and hip-hop singer
• Mitch Palmer – football player
• Phil Plantier – baseball player
• Zach Porter - former member of the pop/rock band Allstar Weekend
• Cameron Quiseng - former member of the pop/rock band Allstar Weekend
• Brian Rast – professional poker player
• Xavier Scruggs – baseball player
• Stephanie Seymour – model
• Dave Smith – baseball player and coach
• Jesse Taylor – wrestler; currently a professional mixed martial artist
• Darshan Upadhyaya – professional League of Legends player. He also goes by the nickname ZionSpartan, which even his teacher calls him ZionSpartan.
• Drew Wahlroos – linebacker for the St. Louis Rams
• Marvell Wynne II – soccer player
• Austin Wynns – baseball player for the San Francisco Giants

References

References

1. "Poway Unified School District Board of Education Names New Superintendent". [[Poway Unified School District]].
2. "New principal brings new possibilities".
3. "Poway High". National Center for Education Statistics.
4. "Feeder.pdf". [[Poway Unified School District]].
5. [http://www.powayusd.com/pusdphs/campusInfo/PHSProfile.pdf General Information], Poway High School Profile, 2017–2018.
6. [http://www2.powayusd.com/pusdphs/campusInfo/campus_map.pdf Site Plan, Poway High School. Retrieve August 18, 2014]
7. [https://www.google.com/maps/dir//Poway+High+School,+15500+Espola+Rd,+Poway,+CA+92064/@32.9976562,-117.0262522,812m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x80dbf07886eeeb51:0x8e448533a7bd9f44!2m2!1d-117.025429!2d32.998581!3e2?hl=en Poway High School, Google Maps. Retrieved August 18, 2014]
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11. Boyce Garrison. December 30, 2007. "[http://yp.entertainment.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/communitysports/20071230-9999-lz1mi30poway.html Actions speak louder than words for Poway]". Retrieved August 18, 2014 San Diego, CA: The Union-Tribune
12. North County Times. February 5, 2004 "[http://web.utsandiego.com/news/2004/Feb/05/north-county-school-briefs-2404/6/ PHS Theatre Guild to perform 'Bus Stop']". Retrieved August 18, 2014 San Diego, CA: The Union-Tribune
13. U-T. October 15, 2004. [http://legacy.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041015/news_m1m15ifyi.html "North Inland FYI"]. Poway High School Theatre Guild. Retrieved, August 18, 2014. San Diego, CA: The Union-Tribune
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17. (2012). "Recent Case: Ninth Circuit Holds that Teacher Speech in School-Related Settings Is Necessarily Government Speech.". [[Harvard Law Review]].
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36. (2005-08-03). "PHS grad captains national U-20 soccer team". [[U-T San Diego]].
37. (September 13, 2013). "Alex Dickerson's Baseball Stats".
38. "PHS grad stitches together fashion career". Pomerado News.
39. (24 April 2014). "Titan alums selected for Hall of Fame - Pomerado News".
40. "Cellist Tina Guo honored by Titan Hall of Fame". U-T San Diego.
41. (2023-10-19). "Poway Titan Hall of Fame inductee Tony Gwynn Jr. to be honored for pro baseball career". [[U-T San Diego]].
42. [http://www.charleyhoffman.com/biography/ Charley Hoffman Biography] {{webarchive. link. (2009-05-29 . Accessed October 3, 2009.)
43. (2021-11-14). "Former Baker and professional soccer player became leader on Baldwin City campus". [[Baldwin City Signal]].
44. Jeff Sanders. (3 April 2019). "Poway grad Connor Joe makes MLB debut with Giants". San Diego Union Tribune.
45. (2012-08-29). "U.S. Open Tennis: Poway High grad Klahn wins thriller, advances to Round 2". [[U-T San Diego]].
46. Grant, Lee. (2004-09-17). "'Mad' man". [[The San Diego Union-Tribune]].
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48. "Poway High's Titan Hall of Fame welcoming six new honorees". U-T San Diego.
49. (2012-09-03). "LOCAL BRIEFS: Ex-Poway standout makes debut with Indians".
50. "Tyler Nevin Stats, Fantasy & News".
51. Michael Bower. (7 August 2011). "Prep baseball: Poway High's Newman commits to University of Arizona". Pomerado News.
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55. "WSOP: Poway High grad Rast has chance at largest prize ($18.3M) in poker history". Pomerado News.
56. (2014-09-05). "Scruggs makes big-league debut". [[U-T San Diego]].
57. (March 13, 1988). "San Diego's Super Models : Agencies Have Discovered Area and Best Talent Under the Sun".
58. (2008-12-17). "BASEBALL: Former Padres coach Dave Smith dies". [[U-T San Diego]].
59. (2013-10-02). "MMA: Poway's Jesse Taylor seeks belt". [[U-T San Diego]].
60. Steven Asarch. (April 18, 2016). "'League of Legends' CLG Manages To Beat Crowd Favorite TSM In NA LCS Finals". iDigitalTimes.com.
61. "Soccer star Marvell Wynne II joins PHS Hall of Fame". U-T San Diego.
62. (2018-02-07). "Poway High grad Wynns to battle for big-league roster spot at spring training". [[U-T San Diego]].