Westlake High School (California) Explained

Westlake High School
Motto:-->
Established:1978
Grades:9–12
Principal:Jason Branham
Address:100 Lakeview Canyon Road
Zipcode:91362
Country:United States
Campus Type:Suburban
Enrollment:2,083 (2022–23)
Colors: Blue
Orange
White
Team Name:Warriors
Pushpin Map:California#USA

Westlake High School (also known as Westlake High, Westlake, or WHS) is a public high school in the Westlake neighborhood of Thousand Oaks, in Ventura County, California. Westlake High School serves grades 9–12 in the Conejo Valley Unified School District. Middle schools that feed into Westlake include Colina Middle School and Los Cerritos Middle School.

The first graduating class was the class of 1980. The first principal was William Albers. All students entering Westlake High School in 1979 signed a charter, which sits in the office today. Ron Lipari was the principal of WHS for 15 years.[1] In 2015, Jason Branham was selected as the new principal.[2]

Academics

Rankings

Newsweek has consistently ranked WHS as one of the top high schools in the United States. In 2015, Westlake's average score on Advanced Placement exams was 3.65.[3] In 2016, Westlake ranked as the 119th top high school in the United States and the 15th-best high school in the state of California.[4]

It is one of four high schools in the Conejo Valley Unified School District, that consistently has significantly above-average AP and SAT scores, and 96% of graduating seniors go on to attend some type of college or further education.[5]

Academic teams

Westlake High School is home to several organized competitive academic teams, including: VEX Robotics, Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial, Science Olympiad, FBLA, and HOSA. In 2016, Westlake High School won the Ventura County Academic Decathlon for the fifth year in a row.[6]

Advanced anatomy

Westlake High offers a course called Advanced Anatomy. In the course, students work on a human cadaver.[7] Nancy Bowman, a physiology teacher, started the program in 1990.[7] As of 1994, the school was the only school in the United States to have a second-year program in advanced anatomy.[8] Jordan Michaels, co-founder of Ringadoc, participated in the program.[9] In 2015, Dr. Ira Byock spoke to the honors class about Death With Dignity laws.[10]

Athletics

Westlake High School offers a wide variety of sports and activities, including football, basketball, cross-country, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading, water polo, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, softball, swimming, and track and field. Many Westlake athletic teams compete in the Marmonte League of the CIF Southern Section, and are known as the Warriors.

Aquatics program

From 1995 to 1999, the WHS boys' swim team won five consecutive Marmonte League titles.[11] In 2001, WHS opened an aquatics complex on its campus.[12] As of 2014, WHS boys' swim team had won three straight Marmonte League titles.[11] [13] WHS grad Veronika Weiss, who played on the girls' water polo team, was killed in the Isla Vista shooting.[14] In 2015, the school retired her number 11.[14]

Baseball

Several Westlake players have gone on to play professional baseball, including Matt Franco, Kevin Howard, Mike Lieberthal, John Snyder Mike Nickeas, and Christian Yelich. Westlake has never won a CIF Southern Section title, but played in championship games in 1998 and 2001.[15] In 2018 it was coached by Zack Thornton.[16]

Football

Westlake won the CIF Southern Section championships in 1999, 2003, 2009, and 2011[17]

Several professional football players have played at WHS, including Billy Miller, Gary Wellman, Rudy Carpenter, Mike Seidman, and Patrick Mekari.

Golf

Westlake has had successful golf teams. In 2002, Senior Brian Van Heel won the CIF/CGA California State High School Championship. In 2014, the Westlake High School boys golf team won the CIF/CGA California State High School Championship.[18] In 2015, the boys golf team again won the CIF/ CGA State Championship, becoming the first school to ever win back-to-back state titles in California.[19]

Soccer

In the late 1980s, Eric Wynalda and Cobi Jones played on the boys' soccer team. In the 1986–87 season, Jones and Wynalda helped the team post a 22-2-2 record and led them to the semifinals of the Southern Section 4-A Division playoffs.[20]

The Arts

The Carpenter Family Theatre

In 2010, Westlake High School's theatre, built in the 1970s, was expanded and renovated, and its name was changed to The Carpenter Family Theatre. It is named after The Carpenters, who initially approached the school about expanding and renovating the theatre, and donated an initial contribution to jumpstart construction.[21]

Filming site

Notable alumni

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Whitnall. Becca. Lipari out at Westlake High School. The Acorn. 6 September 2015.
  2. Web site: Whitnall. Becca. Los Cerritos' Branham to follow Lipari at Westlake. The Acorn. 6 September 2015.
  3. Web site: Bertholdo. Stephanie. T.O., Westlake ranked among top HS. The Acorn. 6 September 2015.
  4. Web site: Bertholdo. Stephanie. Newsweek showers Westlake with love. The Acorn. 25 August 2016.
  5. Web site: Westlake High School School Profile 2013/2014. October 1, 2014.
  6. Web site: Moore. Jean. Westlake High School wins Academic Decathlon again. Ventura County Star. 6 September 2015.
  7. News: November 2, 1990. Goodman. Adrianne. Body of Knowledge : High School Anatomy Students Work on Human Cadaver. LA Times. 6 September 2015.
  8. News: December 28, 1994. Wilson. Tracy. There's No Room for the Squeamish in Westlake High's Anatomy Class. LA Times. 6 September 2015.
  9. News: March 28, 2013. Belmond. Sylvie. Childhood friends develop tele-medicine tool to improve communications between doctors, patients. The Acorn. 23 November 2015. 2015-09-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929122235/http://www.theacorn.com/news/2013-03-28/Community/Childhood_friends_develop_telemedicine_tool_to_imp.html.
  10. News: April 6, 2013. Brown. Eryn. Palliative care expert is a vocal opponent of Death With Dignity law. LA Times. 6 September 2015.
  11. Web site: Appelbaum. Eliav. Power trio boosts Westlake boys' swim team. The Acorn. 6 September 2015.
  12. Web site: Picarella. Michael. Westlake High breaks ground on new aquatics venue. The Acorn. 6 September 2015.
  13. Web site: Ledin. Loren. Puczkowski, Westlake win titles at Marmonte swimming finals. Ventura County Star. 6 September 2015.
  14. Web site: Crouch. Angie. SoCal School Retires Team Number of Teen Killed in Isla Vista Shooting. NBC. 6 September 2015.
  15. Web site: Sondheimer. Eric. Are overbearing parents ruining the Westlake baseball program?. Los Angeles Times. February 25, 2016. 9 September 2016.
  16. News: Westlake's hot stove. May 17, 2018. The Acorn. Eliav . Appelbaum. 12 December 2018.
  17. Web site: Ledin. Loren. Benkert leaving Westlake for Oaks Christian. Ventura County Star. 6 September 2015.
  18. Web site: Westlake High School wins 2014 CIF/CGA High School Boys Golf Championship. SCGA.org. 6 September 2015.
  19. Web site: Andrade. Jonathan. Warriors make California history. The Acorn. 6 September 2015.
  20. News: Dominguez. Fernando. Westlake Enjoys Taste of World Cup : Soccer: Former high school teammates relish roles of Wynalda, Jones on U.S. team.. LA Times. 6 September 2015.
  21. News: June 3, 2010. Westlake's Carpenter Theatre opens. 2020-08-11. Thousand Oaks Acorn.
  22. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109847/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt A Friend to Die For (TV Movie 1994) - Filming & Production - IMDb
  23. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421206/locations Gridiron Gang (2006) - Filming & Production - IMDb
  24. Raley . Dan . Fabiculanan Will Be PA Announcer's Nightmare . Sports Illustrated . 19 July 2020 . 13 July 2024.
  25. News: How a Westlake High School grad became U.N. human rights expert. Jazi. Mo. Ventura County Star. en. 2019-08-22. mdy-all.
  26. News: Local chatter: T.O. native Moore enjoying first taste of playoff hockey in Toronto. Curley. Joe. April 24, 2019. Ventura County Star. en. 2019-04-24. mdy-all.
  27. Web site: USC's balanced attack led by Marinovich . Terry . Hess . September 14, 1990 . March 11, 2008 . The Daily Collegian, Pennsylvania State University.
  28. Web site: Charlie Wi has another solid showing . Bob . Buttitta . February 18, 2008 . February 28, 2008 . Ventura County Star.

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