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Public high school in Mission Viejo, California, United States
In the 2014–2015 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,438 students and 92.7 classroom teachers (on an
FTE basis), for a
student–teacher ratio of 26.3:1. There were 333 students (13.7% of enrollment) eligible for
free lunch and 100 (4.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
Academics
International Baccalaureate
Mission Viejo has been an
International Baccalaureate (IB) school since July 1985. This program, taught to 80 students, is for academically talented and highly motivated students sponsored and administered by the IB Organization. The students who meet the IB requirements are eligible for the International Baccalaureate Diploma. This school received approximately 80 diplomas in the 2015–2016 school year.[2]
The school's
marching band is part of the
Western Band Association. They have competed in the 5A division every year until 2016, in which they began competing in 4A and won their division at the WBA Class Championships.[10]
The
drumline won High Percussion at
WBA State Championships each year from 1997 to 2003, excluding 2000.[11]
Choir
The school offers four different choir classes: Concert Choir, Diablo Chorus, Treble Choir and the Chamber Singers.[12]
Sex abuse allegations
On March 23, 2022, two former Mission Viejo High School students filed a civil suit in Orange County Superior Court alleging that James Harris, husband of longtime drama teacher and performing arts coordinator Kathy Cannarozzi Harris and a substitute teacher at the school, groomed them and sexually abused them in the late 1990s. One of the plaintiffs was 15 at the time. The women allege that Kathy Harris personally observed the abuse, which allegedly occurred on the Mission Viejo High School campus and at her home. According to the filing,[13][14] they reported the abuse several times over the course of two decades, including to the police and to the
Saddleback Valley Unified School District, but no decisive action was taken. Jim Harris denied the allegations to the Los Angeles Times. The district said it was investigating.[15] Kathy Harris was given paid leave, and no longer teaches at the school.[16]
^Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; The Washington Post. September 29, 2005
^Schools take state honors, The Orange County Register, April 13, 2001, "Two Mission Viejo high schools were named California Distinguished Schools this week. It was the first recognition for 15-year-old Trabuco Hills High School and third time around for Mission Viejo High School."
^Mission Viejo High band wins state title, The Orange County Register, November 28, 2003, "Mission Viejo High School Marching Band and Color Guard competed with 25 bands to win the Western Band Association State Championship in Fresno on Saturday. It is the first time in six years that the school band, which practices 14 hours a week, won the title."
^"Mark O'Meara profile". pga.com. Archived from
the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2014-02-17. As a freshman at Mission Viejo High School he made the golf team and in his junior year the team won the state championship.
^"U.S. women get cheers from afar",
CNN Sports Illustrated, July 4, 1999. Accessed July 10, 2007. "New England and U.S. international forward Joe-Max Moore said he graduated from Mission Viejo High School in California with U.S. women's star Julie Foudy."
^"`Diablo Heat' grad pursuing TV career", The Orange County Register, January 24, 2003. "Brianna Keilar had it figured out. She was working as a reporter and fill-in anchor at KIMA TV, a CBS affiliate in Yakima, Wash., and looked at bigger media markets such as Tucson, Ariz., to eventually work her way up to a job in Los Angeles or New York. But the Mission Viejo High School alumna will not be reporting from Tucson anytime soon."