Analy High School


Analy High School is a public high school in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California. Analy was established in 1908 and celebrated its centennial in May 2008. In 2011, the school was listed at #184 on Newsweeks list of "America's Best High Schools" for California schools. Analy was the only school in the Redwood Empire listed in the top 500, and ranked 20th overall out of all California private and public high schools.
The school is located in Analy Township, which derives its name from the Annaly Ranch which was located in the township in the 1840s, which in turn was named for an Annaly in Ireland, which had connections to the settler Jasper O'Farrell.
The school and several facilities, including the library and some classrooms were used as setting of the popular Netflix TV show 13 Reasons Why, in which the school is called Liberty High School.

History

Analy was established in the town of Sebastopol in 1908, where it stood as the town's local school. It is primarily a college preparatory school. Many local parents are Analy graduates. The community supports the school; in 2004 they passed a $13,000,000 bond issue, and in 2006 they renewed a four-year parcel tax for another seven years.
Although the town's population is small, the school serves an area of 50,000. The town it serves has changed from a rural community to a more suburban community in recent decades; many residents commute to metropolitan areas. Approximately 85% go directly to two or four-year colleges; the school ranks in the 98th percentile on sending students to two or four-year public schools.
Analy is one of two comprehensive high schools in the West Sonoma County Union High School District, the other being El Molino High School in Forestville, California.

Curriculum

The high school district has 11 feeder elementary districts. Over the last three years these districts together have developed grade level standards K-12 in English, math, and social studies, and work continues in technology and science.
Analy has a seven-period day and offers a wide variety of electives, including 11 programs in practical arts. Analy provides an almost entirely untracked curriculum for all students and a full range of AP and Honors classes in the five academic areas.
Students participate actively in athletics, performing arts, and debate. There are thirteen clubs with a total membership of over 600 students. 30% of the student population is involved in the band, choir, or theater departments.

AP and honors courses

Analy offers 11 AP courses and 5 honors courses.
;Laboratory science
;Mathematics
;English language
;Foreign language
;Social studies
A minimum of 240 semester units are required for graduation from Analy High School. Ten units equal one year of work for each period. In order to graduate, students must also pass the CAHSEE, which can be taken during the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. Santa Rosa Junior College courses may also be taken in lieu of Analy courses, with 1 SRJC unit equaling 3⅓ Analy credits toward graduation.

Demographics

Analy High School served 1,317 students in the 2014-15 academic year. Its population is 75.1% Caucasian and 14.7% Latino. 3.1% are Limited English Proficient. Less than 8% are on free or reduced lunch. 9% are in Special Education programs. Analy provides a support class and a Spanish-speaking aide for Latino students and their families. The 2011 Newsweek report on America's Best High Schools found that Analy has a 99% graduation rate, a 95% college matriculation rate, a 38.1 student teacher ratio, an average 1743 SAT Reasoning Test score, and an average of 1.3 Advanced Placement tests per student.

Athletics

Analy has over 600 athletes on 38 teams in 21 sports each year. In 2009, the varsity boys' basketball team at Analy won the NCS Division III Final for the first time in the school's 101-year history. Other sports offered include football, volleyball, cross country, soccer, softball, baseball, swimming, tennis, golf, track and field, wrestling, and badminton.
The Analy High School football team was mentioned by Bruce Campbell's character, Sam Axe, in . He stated that the tactics he used to train the rebels were the secrets of the Analy High School football team.

Music

Band

There are four band classes and one orchestra class at Analy, with an average combined student participation of well over 200. The school has one of the highest instrumental music students per capita ratios in the State of California.
The bands include a 0 period jazz band that starts at 6:45am every morning, an intermediate band, advanced band, honor band, and an orchestra, which were all under the direction of Vance Regan until 2013.
The bands perform in two scheduled concerts per year and host the annual Band Wagon Fall Festival. The bands annually perform the national anthem at a San Francisco Giants game, travel to southern California to participate in the Disney Magic Music Days main street parade, and march in the local Apple Blossom Festival Parade. The honor band has received numerous awards and has participated in several Festival of Gold National competitions. The Analy bands are well known for masterful performances and exquisite class.
Once a week, the orchestra winds and percussion meet at 6:00pm and adjourn at 7:30pm for rehearsal. The band has won numerous awards for their jazz, concert and orchestra programs. The jazz band and orchestra annually participate in the California Music Educators Association festivals and competitions.
In 2011, the Analy orchestra was given a unanimous superior rating at a California Music Educators Association festival at Sonoma State University, the highest rating possible; this was the second consecutive year that the orchestra earned this honor.

Choir

Analy's choir department performs three concerts each year. The first concert is performed in the fall, the second in the winter, and the third in the spring. The choir department is divided into different choirs, which perform music at differing styles and levels of complexity.
During the 2009/10 school year, the Analy High School Honor Choir was selected by DCINY to sing the entire piece of Faure's Requiem Mass at the Lincoln Center in New York City. The concert was set to take place in April, 2010, and was to be sung under the directing of Daniel Hughes. However, a call was received in mid-October saying the show was cancelled. Another show was set up at Carnegie Hall during the same time period, and the choir was to sing songs directed by contemporary composer Eric Whitacre. This was the first such cross country trip encountered by the Analy Honor Choir.
The Drama department was headed by teacher/director Starr "Hergie" Hergenrather, who produced two shows per year, a non-musical in the fall, and a musical in the spring. The department annually attended the Lenaea Festival, a high-school theatre event held on the California State University, Sacramento campus. However, as of the 2017-2018 school year, Hergenrather is retiring, and the budget for the drama department has undergone a controversial budget cut by the district, in spite of the celebrated tradition of art at the school and in Sonoma County. The full-time position formerly held by Hergenrather has been reduced to a part-time position for a beginning theater class.

Speech and debate

Since its inception in 1995, Analy's High School's Speech and Debate Team has qualified varsity members to the state championships. It has also qualified members to many national championships for the last three years. Analy's team is a member of the Golden Gate Speech Association league, the California High School Speech Association, and the National Speech and Debate Association. In addition to competing in local league tournaments and national invitationals, team members speak at local service club organizations such as the Lion's Club and Rotary Club, where they earn hundreds of dollars every year in scholarship money. Analy speakers place in the finals at nearly every league tournament, often going undefeated. The league is ranked #1 in the state and is among the top ten in the nation.
Analy's debate coach, Lynette Williamson, was named the Golden Gate Speech Association's Coach of the Year in 2000, and in 2005 she was inducted into the California High School Speech Coaches' Hall of Fame.

Awards

Newsweek ranked Analy #184 on their list of the top 500 high schools in the country for 2011, #95 for 2014, and #352 for 2016. Analy was named a California Distinguished School four times: in 1986, 1994, 1999, and 2009.

Notable alumni