Palos Verdes Peninsula High School

Public school in Rolling Hills Estates, California

Black and goldMascotPanthersRivalsPalos Verdes High SchoolOriginal nameRolling Hills High SchoolRenamed1991Websitehttp://www.pvphs.com

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public high school in Rolling Hills Estates, Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of 2023, it is a top-ranked school in the Los Angeles, CA Metro Area (#16) and California (#42), according to US News & World Report.^[2]

History

The school was formed in 1991 when Miraleste High School, Palos Verdes High School, and Rolling Hills High School were merged into a single high school.^[3] The former Rolling Hills High School campus (opened 1964) had the highest capacity and was used for the combined school. When overcrowding became a problem after 1999, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District elected to re-open Palos Verdes High School in 2002.

Demographics

In the 2021-22 year, there were 2,338 students enrolled in Palos Verdes Peninsula High School.^[4] Enrollment by race/ethnicity was 39.09% Asian, 37.08% White, 12.49% Hispanic, 2.44% Black, and 8.9% other.^[4] Enrollment by gender was 49.87% male and 50.13% female.^[4]

Enrollment By Grade
	9th	10th	11th	12th
Students	623	588	551	578

Athletics

In 2014, as a senior, future major leaguer Eli Morgan had a 10–2 win–loss record with a 1.23 earned run average.^[5] He was named Bay League Co-Pitcher of the Year and All-California Interscholastic Federation First Team.

Extracurricular Activities and Programs

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School offers a large variety of extracurricular activities including, but not limited to, Model United Nations, Speech & Debate, Mock Trial, CyberPatriots, FRC Robotics, Science Research, and Academic Decathlon. Its Speech & Debate and Model United Nations programs are nationally ranked.^[6]

In October 2022, the school's Model United Nations program, together with Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Sunset and Rotary E-Club of District 2750 Tokyo Yoneyama, hosted the 1st Rotary Peace Conference with speakers such as Best Delegate CEO, Kevin Chan, and Ihor Kukhlevsky, a Ukrainian refugee. It was dedicated to bringing awareness to the atomic bombings in 1945 and nuclear weapons. A tree from Heiwa (Hiroshima Survivor Trees) was planted by California Assemblymember, Al Muratsuchi, afterwards.

Notable alumni

Academics and writers

Julie Otsuka, author
Julie Reuben, historian
Lauren Williams, mathematician

Entertainment and media

Steven Appleton, visual artist and ecological activist
Duane Chase, actor
Duane Davis, actor
Vince DiFiore, jazz trumpeter
Liz Gateley, TV producer
Stephanie Hsu, actress
Joe Inoue, singer-songwriter, music producer, You Tuber
Lauren Iungerich, TV producer
Jon Jafari, Youtuber
Jirard Khalil, Youtuber
Kellen Goff, voice actor
Araksya Karapetyan, Television News Anchor
Van Ling, special effects coordinator for motion pictures^[7]
Tom Martin, TV writer
Petros Papadakis, radio/television personality^[8]
Debbi Peterson, member of The Bangles
Vicki Peterson, member of The Bangles
Lee Ritenour, jazz guitarist
Yoko Yazawa, Japanese singer-songwriter

Sportspeople

Bill Auberlen, professional race car driver
Tracy Austin, professional tennis player
Jay Bilas, ESPN commentator
Dave Butler, NBA basketball player
Greg Butler, NBA basketball player
Whitney Engen, professional soccer player
Nick Frasso, professional baseball player^[9]
Clark Haggans, NFL football player
Kevin Hartman, professional soccer player
John Hennigan, WWE professional wrestler
Scott Jackson, NFL football player
Robin Leamy, 1984 Olympic gold medalist in swimming
Erik Lorig (born 1986), NFL football player
Kevin Moen , University California Berkeley, football player famous for "The Play"
Eli Morgan (born 1996), MLB pitcher (Cleveland Indians)
Merrill Moses (born 1977), Olympic water polo player
Don Slaught (born 1958), MLB catcher
Craig Stevens, NFL player
Eric Stevens, NFL player
Steve Sharp, professional soccer player
Shawn Weinstein (born 1985), Filipino-American professional basketball player
John Welbourn, NFL football player

References

^ "Palos Verdes Peninsula High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
^ "Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in Rolling Hills Estates, CA - US News Best High Schools". US News and World Report.
^ Kuznia, Rob (August 2, 2012). "Reunion: Students from 3 schools merged to form Peninsula High's first class". Daily Breeze. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Palos Verdes Peninsula High". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
^ "Peninsula grads Max Green, Eli Morgan taken on Day 2 of MLB draft". Daily Breeze. June 13, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
^ erik (August 29, 2016). "The 150 Best High School Model United Nations Teams in North America from the 2015-2016 School Year". Best Delegate Model United Nations. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
^ "Van Ling". IMDb.
^ https://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/31/sports/sp-40460 articles.latimes.com. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
^ "Nick Frasso - Baseball". Loyola Marymount University Athletics.