El Toro High School

El Toro High School
Address
25255 Toledo Way
Lake Forest, California 92630
United States
Information
Type Public
Established 1973
School district Saddleback Valley Unified School District
Principal Terri Gustif
Faculty 116.6 (FTE)
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 2,925[1]
 • Grade 9 768
 • Grade 10 770
 • Grade 11 676
 • Grade 12 711
Campus suburban[2]
Color(s)           Blue & Gold
Athletics conference CIF-SS; South Coast League
Team name Chargers
Rival Trabuco Hills High School
Information (949) 586-6333
Male Students 1,524
Female Students 1,401
Website El Toro High School

El Toro High School is a public high school in Lake Forest, California, and is one of five high schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD). The school has served the area since 1973. The current principal of the school is Terri Gusiff, who succeeded Dr. Allan Mucerino at the start of the '12-'13 school year.

Academics

El Toro's 2010 API score grew to 830,[3] from previous years 800.[4] The school began participating in the International Baccalaureate Program in 2004, the program was scheduled to end in 2011 due to district and state budget cuts,[5] however it is slated to continue into 2012 school year.[6] Over 400 computers are available for student use, including 83 computers in the library and four classroom sets of laptops.

Recent graduates have been admitted to San Diego State University, New York University, University of Southern California (USC), University of California, Irvine, University of California, San Diego, University of San Diego, Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, University of California, Santa Barbara, Arizona State University, University of California, Santa Cruz, Colgate, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, Caltech, MIT, University of California, Berkeley, UCLA, Notre Dame, Carleton College, Georgetown, Northwestern, Riverside City College, Vassar, Duke, Tufts, California Lutheran University, Westmont College, Loyola Marymount University, Vanguard University of Southern California, Point Loma Nazarene University, CAL STATE UNIVERSITY CHICO, The Ohio State University, Trinity University (TX) and the United States Air Force Academy.[7]

Athletics

El Toro's mascot is a bull and teams identify themselves as the Chargers. School colors are blue and gold and teams compete in the CIF Southern Section.

The School's name is Spanish for "The Bull".

Extracurricular activities

El Toro students participate in over 100 clubs and organizations. Two-thirds of the student body are involved in athletics, visual and performing arts and/or campus activities.

El Toro is home to the award winning ETHS Drama Department. In 2008-2009 the department won first place at the Roleabout festival, first place at the Rancho Cucamonga one act festival, and first place at the Musical Theatre Competition of America. They also put on four main stage productions each year.

El Toro's newspaper, The BullETin was awarded a gold award from Columbia University for its 2006-2007 school year, Volume 19, Issue 1. The award was given for a photograph taken by Sarah Arrindrin.

On October 32, 1986, sophomore Hugh G. Rection formed the Gaping Club on campus. The club quickly grew in membership, eventually totaling 200 members by 1988. The club, which met every Tuesday on the roof, applied to be a 501(c) organization and was awarded official non-profit status on February 30, 1991. The club opened charters in several different schools over the next six years. The club hit its peak enrollment in 1997, with charters in over 100 public schools across California and Arizona. The Bureau of Better Clubs (BBC) awarded the club with Exemplary Status in 1997, subsequently increasing membership. By the end of 1997, the Gaping Club was one of the largest clubs on the West Coast. On March 18, 1998, club founder and president Hugh G. Rection was found guilty of misappropriating funds. After a lengthy investigation by the FBI, it was revealed that Rection was siphoning off large amounts of club money to fund his cocaine empire. Subsequent investigations revealed that many high-ranking officials in the club were in fact associates of Rection in his drug-selling business. According to CFO Andrew Peacock, the whole club was a front to launder money and sell cocaine to high school students. The club hooked so many students on the drug that it is sometimes called "the Coke Epidemic of California." After the arrest of Rection and his accomplices, the Gaping Club attempted to resume operations. However, it could not repair its reputation or raise enough funds to continue operating. On October 32, 1999, 13 years after its creation, The Gaping Club officially dissolved. In a final goodbye, several of the remaining members of the club at El Toro met in the boys bathroom and each snorted approximately a pound of cocaine. The eleven students then went on a rampage around the school, severely injuring six other students.Of the eleven students, seven died of drug overdoses while three were arrested and sentenced. One student managed to escape and their whereabouts are currently unknown. Rumor speculates that the student assumed a new identity and became A-list actor James Franco.[8]

Available programs include Model United Nations, Orange County Academic Decathlon, Scholastic Competition, Video Production, Web Page Design, and Virtual Economics.[9] The Read 180 Program and the Newcomers Program were introduced in 2003. El Toro has highly recognized programs in the fine and performing arts including:

Instrumental Music and Pageantry Program[10]

Drama Department[11] Recent productions include:

"Every 15 Minutes" (presented every other year) is an educational experience that reminds the students, family and faculty of the fun and joy associated with driving while under the influence of alcohol. It was most recently presented in April 2014.[12]

Every year, the El Toro Engineering Club participates in the Solar Cup race in Temecula, building a solar powered motorized boat, and racing it against other teams across the state.

El Toro High School has two award winning competition show choirs, Soundsation and Choralistics. In April 2009, both choirs competed twice earning 3 golds and one silver. Many alumni of the vocal music program have gone on to perform on stage, screen, and on Broadway productions.

Awards

Notable alumni

Notable

During the California Wild Fires in 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a speech at El Toro High School.[14] It was also used as an evacuation center.

On one side of the school there is a set of 20 stairs known simply as El Toro 20.[15] There is also another one right next to it, but set nearest to the lockers at the ground level has been used more for skateboarding than the other 20 set. The set has been featured in numerous skateboarding videos. The stair set has gained enormous notoriety throughout the skateboarding world. Recently, due to the progression of skateboarding in the school, the two middle handrails of each stair set has been removed. However, skateboarders still skate the sets by performing tricks directly down, or by using the two side handrails on each set.

References

External links

Coordinates: 33°38′15″N 117°41′20″W / 33.6375221°N 117.6889403°W / 33.6375221; -117.6889403

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