Miramonte High School

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Miramonte High School
Miramonte High School logo
School type	Public high school
Established	1955
Principal	Raul Zamora
Students	1,452
Colors Mascot	Green and White Matador
Location	750 Moraga Way Orinda, California
Information	(925) 280-3930
Website	http://www.acalanes.k12.ca.us/miramonte/

Miramonte High School is a high school which is part of Acalanes Union High School District. It has a strong college preparatory program, with 14 Advanced Placement courses currently offered. Miramonte High School has performed well in national high school academic tests and over 98 percent of its graduates go on to college. 320 students graduated in 2005, with 75% attending a four year college. 35% are attending out-of-state colleges. Miramonte High School ranks 273rd of all high schools in the nation, according to Newsweek's Challenge Index [1].

Miramonte High School participates in the Virtual High School Consortium, a response to the problems of distance education which allows courses to be taught over the Internet. The high school students can participate in these virtual classes from on-site Internet access, or from a home connection. No core classes are currently being provided as virtual classes. More recently, Miramonte has incorporated the Blackboard Learning System into its curricula; most teachers now post assignments and course documents on this system.

Also, MHS has a Mock Trial team which participates in the nation-wide mock trial program. This team has been extremely succesful in the past 5 years (being invited to the state championships every time). This year they received 3rd place in the county with a completely fresh team, due to the loss of seniors the previous years. The Mock Trial members hope to attend state championships next year.

Miramonte High School offers its seniors the choice of a WISE project their senior year. WISE replaces the senior's second semester of English with a project of the student's choice. The choices of subject matter are varied; although film and fiction writing are consistently popular, project subjects have included astrophysics, choral conducting, and democracy in Iran. Teacher Pete Clauson established this program at Miramonte after participating in it at a New York high school.

In 2005, a private group raised $17,000 to present a program at Miramonte addressing drunk driving, entitled "Every Fifteen Minutes". The program consisted of a reenactment of a drunk driving accident and was presented in a two-day-long assembly concluding with an imitation funeral. The program resulted in much controversy among the student body. Many perceived that the money donated for the program was wasted, in light of the district's constant budget problems. In addition, many others felt that the program was an overly elaborate show that played off its audience's emotions without enough rational substance. Indeed the second part of the program included a two hour mock funeral complete with caskets, wreaths, and eulogies. Regardless, the school will continue this program in future years. However, many students responded positively saying that the experience was "educational, and extremely moving."

Miramonte continues a "high school rivalry" with nearby Lamorinda high schools Campolindo High School and Acalanes High School; the rivalry with Campolindo is more visible, although most of the students have no strong feelings for a rivalry. Many students of Miramonte sport a "Beat Campo" t-shirt.

[edit] History

Miramonte High School and the shocking 1984 murder of cheerleader Kirsten Costas by less popular classmate Bernadette Protti were the basis for an article in Rolling Stone magazine entitled Death of a Cheerleader and the subsequent TV movie A Friend to Die For starring Tori Spelling.

In 1984 the Miramonte Matadors, aka Mats, were voted State Champions in N.C.S. 2A football after defeating Cardinal Newman H.S. on December 3, 1983 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in the F.A.L. Championship game. The Mats were also, North Coast Champions, South Area Champions and F.A.L. Champions.