Encinal High School


Encinal High School is a public coeducational high school serving grades 6-12. It is located in Alameda, California, United States, and is part of the Alameda Unified School District.

Threatened closure

The school was one of several in the Alameda district that was said to face closure depending on the success or failure of Measure E, a $150-per-parcel property tax increase voted on by mail-in ballot. Measure E was defeated when it failed to garner the required two-thirds majority; however, the school did reopen in fall 2010.

Demographics

The student body is 23% African-American, 20% White non-Hispanic, 39% Asian, 15% Hispanic or Latino, 1% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 1% Pacific Islander, and 1% multiple ethnicity or no response, according to the California Department of Education, for the 2005-2006 school year.

College and work preparation

SAT

April 1, 2010 budget teach-in

On April 1, 2010, about 200 students attending Encinal High School staged a "teach-in" protest in light of possible further budget cuts from the AUSD and closure of the school. Teachers and students planned a series of classes that were divided into two sessions with a break in between that included free food and live music from certain Encinal staff members. Most of the classes were led by teachers, but two were taught by seniors. The students who attended showcased their Jet Pride by participating in a variety of unique classes including how to make salt water taffy through chemistry, protest poetry and art, a music class with no musical boundaries, and cow eyeball dissection. A small point that the coordinators of this event wanted to get across was the date that was chosen for it: April 1, 2010 was the Thursday before Encinal's spring break began.

March 2008 student walkouts

On March 5, 2008, about 1,000 students from Encinal High School walked out of class to protest the budget cuts for the 2008–2009 school year. The budget cuts were a result of the $4 billion budget cut approved by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The cuts would eliminate many school sports and Advanced Placement classes, and lay off about 46 teachers. The walkout began at Encinal High where students marched to the Alameda Unified School District offices located on the Alameda High campus, where the 1,000 Encinal students were joined by many more students from Alameda High. After about a half-hour of chanting protests outside the District offices, AUSD superintendent Ardella Dailey invited the walking out students into the Kofman Auditorium to try to explain why the cuts were required.
Text messaging technology, as well as social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube, helped the students coordinate and announce the walkout. Before they reached the district office, many Encinal students text messaged students at Alameda High. Aware of the walkout only when the Encinal students reached the district office, Alameda High officials were unable to prevent their students from leaving class. They were all marked with cleared absences.

Other student activities

Athletics

Encinal High has several varsity sports, including:
The Jets are a member of the West Alameda County Conference.
Encinal High, Alameda High School, and St. Joseph Notre Dame High School collectively field men's and women's rugby union teams.

Partnership with Jetsetters

Jetsetters has partnered up with Encinal to provide ROP classes for students such as Drivers' Education, Dancing, and Arts & Crafts. They also have an after school program designed to help students in need.

Clubs

Sanctioned clubs at the school include:
The Encinal High Jets band, the Marching Jets, is the island's only high school marching band, and is led by Band Director Armen Phelps. Throughout the year, the musicians compete in band reviews all over Northern California and hold the Island Winterguard show every March. Perhaps one of the most anticipated events is the Encinal Extravaganza of Bands, where more than 3000 musicians, guard units and spectators come to watch the marching band competitions. During the 2005–2006 school year, the band placed in the top three in every review they entered. During the 2016–2017 school year, the band took first place in their division at every review they attended, including taking first place at the Santa Cruz Band Review for the third year in a row.
Encinal High School also has a rich dramatic arts program, run by Robert Moorhead. The drama department has in past years performed critically renowned productions of Les Misérables, Hamlet, and The Sound of Music. In the spring of 2006 Encinal High performed Cats. In the winter of 2007, Encinal High School performed Twelve Angry Men.
In 2008 they performed Angels in America. They were the first high school to do so, and were extremely well received. They also performed Carousel.
In 2009 they became one of the first schools in the country to perform the school edition of Rent.
In 2010 they performed the classic musical West Side Story.
In 2011 they performed their version of Seussical, a Dr. Seuss musical.
In 2012 they performed the classic musical Anything Goes.
In 2013 they performed a high school version of the musical Hair, although without the nudity of the traditional version.
In 2014 they performed the musical Hairspray.
In 2015 they performed In the Heights.
In 2016 they performed Annie.
In addition, the school has a nationally recognized JROTC program.
Encinal High students operate the low-power FM station KJTZ-LP.

Miscellaneous