Independence High School (San Jose, California)
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| Principal | Ms. Cec Bell |
| Associate Principal (APED) | Mr. John Najac |
| Associate Principal (APA) | Mr. Ray Valverde |
| Villa Principal (A Villa) | Mr. Jesus Rios |
| Villa Principal (B Villa) | Mr. Paul Mansingh |
| Villa Principal (C Villa) | Mr. Warren Strouse |
| Villa Principal (D Villa) | Mr. Greg Meissner |
| School type | Public |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Location | San Jose, California |
| Enrollment | 3,711 (05-06) |
| Anthem | "The Star Spangled Banner" |
| Faculty | 270 |
| Campus surroundings | Suburban, upper middle-class |
| Advanced Placement Courses | Biology, Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C, Spanish Language, French Language, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, English, English Literature & Composition, English Language & Composition, US History, US Government & Politics, Studio Art, Art History, Microeconomics |
| Honors Classes | English |
| Student Legislature | Associated Student Body Council of Independence |
| Student Newspapers | The Declaration of Independence; The Independent Voice |
| Yearbook | The American |
| Mascot | 76er |
| School Colors | Red, White, and Blue |
| Address | 1776 Educational Park Dr. San Jose, CA 95133 |
| Website | ih.ca.campusgrid.net |
Independence High School (IHS) is a public high school located in the Berryessa area of San Jose, California, USA. It serves the neighborhoods of Berryessa and East San Jose. The high school is located on Educational Park Drive and is just north of Overfelt Gardens. Student population is approximately 3711 as of 2005-2006, with approximately 180 teachers serving the school. Independence is part of the East Side Union High School District.
The school mascot is the 76er, represented as Sammy the Sixer. This is because Independence High School not only has the address number of 1776 (mirroring the year the United States Declaration of Independence was signed), but also was founded in the year 1976. The 76er is usually interpreted as a patriot of a founding father; the mascot is usually depicted as a cartoonish George Washington caricature, although the mascot is officially name Sammy the Sixer (perhaps alluding to Samuel Adams).
Independence High School began renovating its campus in 2003, and finished renovation in 2006 with the reopening of D Villa and the Fukushima Gym.
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[edit] Campus
Independence High School consists of over fifty buildings, each labeled with a specific letter (there are no indoor hallways). The four primary sets of buildings are referred to as the villas, including A-Villa (American Hall), B-Villa (Bicentennial Hall), C-Villa (Constitution Hall), and D-Villa (Democracy Hall). During the fall of 2005, E-Villa (Eagle Hall) was removed indefinitely, only to be used as the name place for all music rooms. All villas are architecturally identical and surround the Clock Tower.
Areas of Interest:
- Fukashima Gym
- Frankenstein Fiscalini Pool Tower
- Independence Planetarium
- Clock Tower & Senior Stage
- Memorial Grove Park
- School / Public Library
Sports Structures:
- Small Gym
- special Olympic-sized racing and diving pools
- special Olympic-sized track
- Four baseball fields
- Seven tennis courts
Other Academic Structures:
- E-Building, the music center, dedicated to all and any music-related classes
- G-Complex, the art complex, composed entirely of all art classes on campus.
- H-Building, the main office, located in the front of the school.
- K-Complex, the science building, generally used for all lab sciences, and home to the ASB room and bank.
- L-Complex, mainly used for real-life courses, including Business and Childcare.
- M-Complex, the industries building, predominantly used for industrial classes such as Woodshop and Space Technology
- N-Complex, the foreign languages building, essentially used for most foreign language classes and the book room.
- P-Buildings, or the portable buildings, which are now in use by MACSA, a charter school on Independence's campus
[edit] Yearbook
With an annual budget of $65,000, students advised by Ms. Stacy Johnson write The American, Independence High School's CSPA Gold- and Silver-winning yearbook. The 2006-2007 edition of The American will be all in color, a first in Independence High School's history.
[edit] Band
Independence High School's band program, led by Mr. Ken Ponticelli, includes Concert Band, Symphony Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Symphonic Band, as well as the audition-only class Wind Ensemble.
The school's marching band, the 76th Cavalry Marching Band and Color Guard, was World Champion in 1981, but has since fallen from that rank. In 2006, the 76th Cavalry became WBA Class AA Champion with Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony, garnering 85.85 points at preliminaries and 87.69 at the finals -- the first championships the Cavalry had won since 1991. The 76th Cavalry placed fourth in the overall A/AA/AAA classing.
[edit] Choir
Independence High School offers two choirs for student enrollment: Concert Choir and Chamber Choir. Chamber Choir is audition-only, and holds auditions during May/June. Both choirs present concerts in December and May, as well as a fundraising one in mid-January.
[edit] Dance
Dance classes offered at Independence include Jazz Dance 1 &and Jazz Dance 2-3, Ballet 1 & Ballet 2-4, Modern Dance 1 & Modern Dance 2-4, and Theatre Dance (also known as the IndepenDANCE Company, or iDance, audition only).
[edit] Athletics
Most sports teams are divided among only a Junior Varsity (JV) team. Independence is one of the schools in the BVAL that does not offer a Men's Volleyball team, a Golf team, or a Field Hockey team.
[edit] Fall Sports Season
- Cross Country (Co-ed)
- Football
- Tennis (Women's)
- Volleyball (Women's)
- Water Polo (Men's & Women's.)
[edit] Winter Sports Season
- Basketball (Men's & Women's)
- Soccer (Men's & Women's)
- Wrestling (Co-ed)
[edit] Spring Sports Season
- Badminton (Co-ed)
- polo
- Baseball (Men's)
- Softball (Women's)
- Swimming (Co-ed)
- Tennis (Men's)
- Track and Field (Co-ed)
[edit] Current Yearly Traditions
[edit] Welcome Back
A few weeks into the school year, the students are welcomed in a large kickoff assembly. This event includes class competitions, several performances, and is usually decorated by a theme from each class. Club Day is held at lunch in an attempt to gather all the 40+ clubs together to try and recruit as many members to their club as possible. The Welcome Back Dance is also held the same week of the assembly and is traditionally beach themed. The kickoff dance held the title as the outside dance, but that tradition has eventually ended.
[edit] Homecoming
Usually held in either October or November, the separate classes each choose a theme to branch off of an overall theme (e.g. 2003 Overall Theme: Disney; Class Themes: Sr: Alice in Wonderland, Jr: The Jungle Book, Sph: Aladdin, Fr: Peter Pan). Homecoming Week is incorporated with a Spirit Week, in which students choose to dress a certain way, for example, Polo Day, where students would demonstrate school spirit by wearing a Polo. Lunchtime activities are held every day of Homecoming Week, including 2 interactive activities, Airband (every class performs a Dance-Skit related to their theme), and a Quad Day event (classes set up an outside dance/food fair in each of the quads and decorate with their theme). The assembly is held on the final day of the week. Peformances include the Spirit Squad and IndependenDANCE, as well as the first place winners of Airband, and the traditional waltz of the Homecoming Court. The Homecoming Court is chosen through nominations from all Club and Class Officers. The Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Prince and Princess is only voted at the weekly Wednesday Class Meetings, whereas the Senior Court goes through an entire nomination and interview process. Following the assembly, the Homecoming Tailgate is held beneath the Bus Loading Zone, where every Club is given an option to sell food and other objects of interest. The Homecoming Parade runs through this area, as well as the neighborhoods adjacent to the school and lasts on average one hour. The parade opens up with the 76th Cavalry Marching Band and Color Guard and closes with the Homecoming Court. The Homecoming Game is held at night with a performance from the 76th Cavalry Marching Band and Color Guard performing their winning show and an introduction to the Class Floats and the Homecoming Court, and sometimes, a Firework Show. The Homecoming Dance closes the entire week, and the Homecoming King and Queen are announced at 10 pm of the night.
[edit] Holiday
Beginning 2006, the week prior to Holiday Break is given the title of Holiday Sixer Spirit Week. Lunchtime events are held to pit class competition. Activities used include eating contests, Limbo, and Musical Chairs. The 12 Days of Christmas (which has only been a lunch activity beginning 2004 after it was removed from the Winter Assembly) is performed at lunch in which every class is given four of the three days to perform (e.g. Freshmen peform a one minute of skit of the Partridge in a Pear Tree, Five Golden Rings, Nine Ladies Dancing). The week closes with a food fair entiled "Holiday in the Grove," which all the clubs may sell food during lunch to raise money for their club.
[edit] Winter Games
Established in 2007, Winter Games in the newest addition to the yearly traditions. This event is the first assembly to demonstrate a competition between the unity of the Classes against the Staff Members. This assembly replaced the Jack Emery Assembly, which was a dedication to Jack Emery and the Annual Food Drive, since the can count had been depleting yearly since it's initiation. However, the award ceremony of the Jack Emery Assembly had been transferred into the Winter Games. The awards, to commemorate John Tuggle, has been given to two dedicated students of each class, a staff member, and a community member. The Humanitarian Award has been given to two seniors who have demonstrated dedication to their school and community beyond the normal expectations.
[edit] Battle of the Classes
The themes are chosen the same way as that of Homecoming (through several fighting comptetitions). However, rather than interactive lunchtime activities, the first two lunches of Battle of the Classes is presented as a Basketball Tournament with a team for each Class, held at the Basketball Courts (This event used to be held in the Large Gym before the construction of the new Fukashima Gym). The remaining lunches are performances at the Senior Stage by Airband and Powderpuff Cheerleading, with separate teams for each class. After school, students are welcomed to spectate the Powderpuff Football tournament as well as the Powderpuff Cheerleading half time show. The Battle of the Classes Assembly is held on the final day, and demonstrates intense Class Rivalry through all the competitions, and peformances from the winning Airband and Powderpuff Cheerleading, as well as the Jazz Dance Students.
[edit] Multicultural
This event depicts the diversity of the students at Independence High School. Cultural Clubs peform their cultural dances at lunch in several quads or the Senior Stage. Multicultural night, and Interact sponsored event is held at the theatre, and is composed of performances from many of the clubs. All profits go to a just cause. The Multicultural Assembly is the only assembly to be held in darkness with a spotlight on the performances. The cultural clubs again peform their dances and the assembly closes with a Parade of Nations, where the flags of every ethnicity of Independence is walked out on the gym floor in a creative manner. After school, students can purchase food from all the different cultures at the Multicultural Food Fair. This event is looked at as the most anticipated event of Independence High School and its community.
[edit] Other Events
- Charity Event (est. 2006)
- Winter Ball
- Secrets Show
- Sadie Hawkins
- Slut Renting
- got image? Fashion Show (est. 1997)
- Spring Dance
- Talent Show (est. 2006)
- Renaissance Faire
- Junior Prom
- Senior Ball
- Senior Farewell Assembly
- Senior Farewell Dance
[edit] Trivia
Although urban myth dictates that Independence High School was originally planned to be a college, presumably because of its massive area compared to other high schools in California, this rumor is false. In actuality, Independence High School was planned to be not just one high school, but two or three, all sharing the same facilities (i.e. the multitude of sports structures now in use by Independence). However, due to financial and practical problems, the idea was scrapped, and Independence opened as a single high school in 1976.[citation needed]
On Tuesday, June 6, 2006, the first official day of finals for all non-seniors of the 2006 school year, students were greeted by a senior prank committed the previous night. One hundred and eighty doorknobs had been sabotaged with the supergluing of tanbark into their key inserts, thus forcing the custodians to blast open the doorknobs, costing the school thousands of dollars in repairs. The San José Police Department became involved, referring to the incident as a criminal offense, and all culprits faced adult prosecutions. The consequences of the prank included the canceling of the Senior Picnic scheduled the same day.
