Mira Loma High School


Mira Loma High School is a public high school located in Sacramento, California, United States. It is located south of Interstate 80, and east of Watt Avenue. It is a part of the San Juan Unified School District with a student body of approximately 1700 students.
Mira Loma High School has been an IB World School since 1989, and is the largest International Baccalaureate program in Northern California. Mira Loma also achieves consistently high pass rates for IB exams, taken in May. Mira Loma has encouraged implementation of the International Baccalaureate program in other school districts with noted success.
According to Mira Loma, in 1996–1997 the school had a pass rate of 93%, with a 100% diploma attainment rate for students. In 2007–2008 the pass rate was 93% with a 100% diploma attainment rate. Both statistics are well above both the North American average and the world average for diploma attainment. For the 2015–2016 school year, Mira Loma has the highest average SAT score in the Sacramento area.

Students

Students are enrolled from throughout the Carmichael area, but many of the students participating in the International Baccalaureate program enroll from as far as Davis, California. As of 2016, Mira Loma enrolled 1681 students. The plurality were White, at 41%, with Asian, 26% and Hispanic, 19% being the other major ethnic groups. The school has a high rate of poverty, with 47% of the students being considered socioeconomically disadvantaged. The school has a graduation rate of 91%. 64% of 11th grade students met or exceeded the English language-arts standards as set by the California Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, and 54% of 11th grade students met or exceeded the mathematics standards as set by the same organization.

Education

Mira Loma offers a large number of International Baccalaureate courses that prepare students for IB examinations every spring. The IB tests are either Standard Level or Higher Level based on the amount of coursework prior to the examination. Mira Loma students tested in 18 different IB subjects in 2016.
It is one of the few campuses in its district to offer Mandarin Chinese as well as Japanese. It also offers Spanish and French as other foreign languages.
Additionally, AP Calculus is offered to eligible students. Other Advanced Placement courses were previously offered at Mira Loma, but have since been discontinued in favor of a total IB campus.

Extracurricular activities

Academic competition

The Mira Loma National Science Bowl team won the national championship in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015. With five victories, the school has more than any other in the history of Science Bowl, and their 3-year win streak is the second-longest in the history of the competition.
The Mira Loma Science Olympiad team regularly competes in the regional, state, and national level in various competitions sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. In 2016, the team won the National Tournament, and has placed highly in national competitions in other years. Mira Loma High School hosts the Sacramento Regional Science Olympiad every year.
Mira Loma's Speech and Debate team was founded in 2005 by a small group of students. It continues to compete in the state and national level with great success.
Mira Loma has developed a strong National History Day team, sending several teams to the state competition regularly as well as the national competition. In 2006, a Mira Loma team competed in the Senior Documentary category and won 3rd place in the nation. In 2007, two Mira Loma teams reached the California State Finals in the Senior Documentary category and one advanced to nationals. In 2008, Mira Loma sent 3 Senior Documentary teams to the state competition as well as a number of other teams from Senior Website, Senior Dramatic Performance, and Senior Historical Paper. The Senior Documentary team went on to win 11th in the nation.
Mira Loma's FBLA club, which frequently ranks at local, state, and national levels. Recently, competitors placed first in Marketing, Business Law, Personal Finance, and Business Math in 2009, and ranked in Business Calculations, Business Communication, and in the Entrepreneurship Team event.
Mira Loma participates in the International Science Olympiads including Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, and Astronomy.

Athletics

Mira Loma also offers a full range of athletic teams including football, soccer, cross country, volleyball, water polo, wrestling, basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, golf, dance, and swimming.

Clubs

Mira Loma also offers a variety of extracurricular clubs that meet at lunch and after school. Some of these clubs include Science Bowl, Robotics Club, Astronomy Club, Mira Loma Programming Club, Speech and Debate, Young Republicans Club, Young Democrats Club, Math Club, Economics Club, Ping Pong Club, Pickleball Club, Youth Court, Mock Trial, Moot Court, International Relief Club, B Sharps, as well as ethnic organizations such as Latinos Unidos, Jewish Student Union, Black Students Union, and Desi Plus Club. Religious organizations include the Slavic Christian Club and Muslim Students Association. Other extracurricular clubs include Matadors Against Cancer, Future Business Leaders of America, Climate Crisis Club, Habitat for Humanity Club, Key Club, and a chapter of the National Spanish Honor Society. French, Japanese, and Chinese clubs are also active on campus.

Arcade Creek Project

The Mira Loma Arcade Creek Project is an ongoing study of the riparian corridor of an urban watershed in Sacramento, California. It consists of eleven studies which measure the health of the Arcade Creek and is run by students of Mira Loma High School and five faculty advisers. The project has received awards and recognitions including the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award. In 2010, the project was awarded $10,000 from the National Sea World / Busch Gardens' Environmental Excellence Award.
On September 23, 2017, the film Arcade Creek Project: A Mosaic of Sustainability was premiered at the Sacramento Film and Music Festival. This documentary, directed by Jierel Almario, tells the story of the Arcade Creek Project, and the efforts of many students to restore it. It has been nominated for and awarded several awards at national and local film festivals.

Notable alumni