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Whittier Union High School District

  • Whittier Union Senior with Gift for Designing Receives $50,000 Edison Scholarship

    Whittier High School senior Erik Villa rarely stops to catch his breath. Between his schoolwork, mentoring classmates in the school’s Cardinal Academy of Technology (CAT), volunteer work for the Whittier Chamber of Commerce, and managing a Whittier juice bar, Villa goes nonstop from sunup to sundown with a goal of helping anybody who needs his assistance. An unsuspecting Villa was sitting with his CAT classmates when a representative from Edison International came into the class with a surprise announcement – Villa had been named a 2024 Edison Scholarship winner, an honor that comes with $50,000 in tuition support for students pursuing a major in a STEM field. Following the announcement, Villa’s classmates erupted in applause. Villa is one of just 30 Southern California high school students to receive the award.

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  • Santa Fe High School Students Witness Dangers of Driving Impaired with ‘Every 15 Minutes’ Program

    Whittier Union High School District’s Santa Fe High School hosted an “Every 15 Minutes” program, a two-day event featuring a simulated car crash, rescue efforts, and the dramatized deaths of students. The program consisted of a mock funeral that aimed to emphasize the dangers of operating a vehicle while under the influence. “Every 15 Minutes” is a national campaign that focuses on high school juniors and seniors and aims to challenge students to think about the dangers of drunken driving. The campaign also encourages students to think about the impact that their decisions can have on their family, friends, and community.

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  • Santa Fe High Prepares Students for College and Careers, Revalidated as AVID National Demonstration School

    Santa Fe High School's Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, known for its commitment to preparing students for college, careers, and beyond, has secured revalidation as an AVID National Demonstration School, affirming its dedication to academic excellence and student success. With its revalidation, Santa Fe High serves as a model for other schools looking to improve their AVID programs by hosting showcases, conducting AVID trainings, offering classroom visitations, and more. Since 2001, Santa Fe High School has been recognized as an AVID National Demonstration site, showcasing its commitment to the AVID College Readiness System. More than 380 students are enrolled in Santa Fe High’s AVID program. Students in the program boast high A-G course completion rates, with more than 90% of AVID seniors on track to graduate and to be accepted into universities.

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Rio Hondo College Staff, Faculty Emphasize Care and Compassion for Students during Pandemic

Río Hondo College leaders on Aug. 14 emphasized the need to show care and compassion to students struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic while delivering online instruction in fall 2020-21. The message was the core focus of FLEX Day, an annual training program held the day before classes began for fall semester. Faculty and staff leaders praised College employees for their swift and effective shift to distance instruction in spring 2020 but said the new year will require a redoubled focus on the needs of students.

Whittier Union to Begin 2020-21 with 100% Distance Learning

Whittier Union High School District will begin the 2020-21 school year with a 100% distance learning schedule, converting the fall semester into a quarter system in which students will take three online classes in each of two nine-week periods starting Wednesday, Aug. 12. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 3x9 instructional model and launching the school year in Stage 1 of the District’s four-stage reopening plan during a July 28 virtual board meeting.

Whitter Union Wellness Collaborative Supports Students, Families, Staff

Whittier Union High School District has created a Social/Emotional Collaborative team to develop class lessons, tools and videos to support students, staff and parents who have experienced stress, difficulties and trauma due to the COVID-19 pandemic and help ease their transition to the 2020-21 school year. The social/emotional supports address a plethora of issues confronting students and families, including the effects of trauma on student learning, time management strategies, practicing mindfulness, the benefits of taking breaks from social media, coping strategies and the benefits of optimism, gratitude and resilience.

Whittier Union Celebrates Class of 2020 with Pomp and Circumstance

Whittier Union rolled out the red carpet and gave over 2,700 members of the Class of 2020 the star treatment during one-of-a-kind drive-up graduations that saw students walk across grand stages on their campuses and collect diplomas as families, sounding air horns and holding custom big-head cutouts, cheered from decorated vehicles, limousines and party buses. Every day during the week of July 20, each Whittier Union campus hosted socially distanced graduation ceremonies that provided students and families safe venues in which to celebrate after traditional ceremonies were canceled due to public health restrictions.

Whittier Union to Begin 2020-21 Fall Semester with 100% Distance Learning

Whittier Union High School District will begin the 2020-21 school year with a 100% distance learning schedule, converting the fall semester into a quarter system in which students will take three online classes in each of two nine-week periods starting Wednesday, Aug. 12. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 3x9 instructional model and launching the school year in Stage 1 of the District’s four-stage reopening plan during a July 28 virtual board meeting.

Whittier Union Develops Flexible Learning Plan for Fall 2020

Whittier Union High School District is exploring adopting a quarter system for the fall semester of the 2020-21 school year, which begins Aug. 12. The instructional model is part of a four-stage teaching and learning plan that is adaptable to the continuously changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the recommended instructional model and one of the four stages in which schools will reopen, which range from 100% online to 100% in-person, during a special meeting Tuesday, July 28, when health conditions will be clearer.

Harvard-bound Whittier Union Valedictorian Partners with PIH Health for COVID-19 Awareness Campaign

Before spending the next four years studying biomedical engineering at Harvard University, Whittier High School graduate Julia Casas is dedicating her summer to working with PIH Health Whittier Hospital to develop a volunteer social network and raise awareness of COVID-19 and the available health services in the community. Casas, who is one of Whittier High’s seven valedictorians for the Class of 2020, is working with PIH Health volunteer services and health marketing administrators to compile a large volunteer database; create a volunteer website, social media accounts and weekly newsletter; coordinate donations of personal protective equipment; and organize online fundraisers.

Whittier Union Develops Flexible Back-to-School Learning Plan for Fall 2020

Whittier Union High School District is exploring adopting a quarter system for the fall semester of the 2020-21 school year, which begins Aug. 12. The instructional model is part of a four-stage teaching and learning plan that is adaptable to the continuously changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the recommended instructional model and one of the four stages in which schools will reopen, which range from 100% online to 100% in-person, during a special meeting Tuesday, July 28, when health conditions will be clearer.

Whittier Union to Host Socially Distanced Drive-thru Graduations

Over 2,800 members of Whittier Union’s Class of 2020 will have the opportunity to walk across a stage set up on the campuses they’ve called home for the last four years while being cheered on by families who will have a front-stage view during socially distanced drive-thru graduation ceremonies. California High will hold its ceremony from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 20; La Serna will hold its ceremony from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 21; Santa Fe High will hold its ceremony from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22; Whittier High will hold its ceremony from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 23; and Pioneer High will hold its event from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 24. On Wednesday, July 22, the Transition program will honor students from 4 to 5 p.m.; Sierra Vista will celebrate students from 5 to 7 p.m.; Frontier will honor grads from 7 to 8:30 p.m.; and Whittier Union Adult School will celebrate graduates from 8:30 to 9 p.m. at the Sierra Education Center campus.

Whittier Union Develops 4-Stage Back-to-School Learning Plan that Ensures Flexibility Amid Uncertainty

Whittier Union High School District is exploring adopting a quarter system for the fall semester of the 2020-21 school year, which begins Wednesday, Aug. 12. The instructional model is part of a four-stage teaching and learning plan that is adaptable to the continuously changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the surge of positive coronavirus cases across the state and Los Angeles County, school districts are developing flexible back-to-school learning plans that ensure the safety and well-being of students and staff and provide robust instruction to students – whether delivered online or in-person.