Mission San Jose High School

Mission San Jose High School (abbreviated MSJHS or MSJ), is a public, co-educational, four-year secondary school founded in 1964 and located in the Mission San Jose district of Fremont, California, United States. It consistently ranks as one of the top high schools in the United States and is known for its strong academics, sending 95.1% of its graduates to post-secondary schools. Mission San Jose High School is the largest high school in Fremont.

Mission San Jose High School
Address
41717 Palm Ave. Fremont , California 94539 United States
Coordinates	37°32′40″N 121°56′0″W
Information
Type	Public
Opened	1964
School district	Fremont Unified School District
CEEB code	050970
Principal	Zackary Larsen
Faculty	200
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	2,212 students (11-12)
• Grade 9	539 Freshmen
• Grade 10	545 Sophomores
• Grade 11	548 Juniors
• Grade 12	537 Seniors
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Green, Black, and White
Mascot	Mission Man
Team name	Warriors
USNWR ranking	36th (2009)
Newspaper	The Smoke Signal
Yearbook	Costanoan
Feeder schools	Hopkins Junior High School
Information	(510) 657-3600
Website	Mission San Jose High School

Academics

In December 2015, U.S. News & World Report ranked Mission San Jose High as the 56th best high school in the United States as well as the 4th best (open enrollment) public school nationwide. The school is ranked 6th within California with an Advanced Placement participation rate of 90%.

Mission San Jose has a very strong AP program, demonstrated by both the high percentage of students participating in AP testing and students' extremely high pass rates on multiple exams. Over 70% of juniors and over 60% of seniors took at least one AP exam, with 97% receiving a passing score of 3 or above. Mission San Jose students also showed a mastery of a wide range of subjects, with 100% of test-takers scoring a 3 or higher on the World History, Japanese language, and Chinese language AP exams, and over 95% of test-takers scoring a 3 or higher on the Chemistry, Physics B, and US History AP exams. Among large public high schools, Mission has the highest passing rate for both AP Statistics and AP French.

Mission San Jose students also perform well in other state and national tests. The school holds an API (Academic Performance Index) of 952 in 2010. A ranking by Newsweek places Mission San Jose 10th in the United States for Math and Science, and 1st when excluding private schools. The school claims many other achievements and honors, among them the high number of students earning National Merit Scholarships. The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1987, 1996, and 2008. In addition, 87% of the students are on the honor roll with a GPA of 3.0 or higher and students' SAT scores are in the top 95% of the nation. In 2014, Mission San Jose had 107 National Merit semifinalists.

Extracurricular activities

Academic competitions

Research Symposiums

In 2009, Mission had its first ever Intel STS finalist. In 2008, Mission sent two students to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, as they had won Grand Prize at the local San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair (SFBASF.) In 2011, Mission again sent a student to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair after that students Grand Prize award at the local SFBASF. Mission has also had a consistent showing in the Siemens Competition, the best years being 2007 and 2011, with 4 semifinalists each. In 2013, student Raghu Dhara qualified for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. In 2014, Mission San Jose sent two students to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, including Raghu. In addition, Mission students have been participating in many other research symposiums, such as the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

Quiz Bowl-style Tournaments

Students have participated in various quiz bowl tournaments, often qualifying for the National Ocean Sciences Bowl and National Science Bowl. From 2003 to 2005, MSJ placed in the top 39 at the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (runner-up in 2003, champion in 2004, and third place in 2005). In 2005, MSJ achieved its best-ever showing at the National Science Bowl, finishing runner-up to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Also, later that year, they placed 50th overall.

In 2007, MSJ also made solid showings in both national competitions, placing in the top 16 out of 64 in NSB and 10th out of 25 in NOSB. In 2008, Mission San Jose's Science Bowl team lost to Monte Vista High School at the regional competition, placing third behind Albany High School and Monte Vista and failing to advance to the national competition. However, in that same year, Mission San Jose's National Ocean Science Bowl Team placed first at the regional competition, advancing to the National Competition and placing second behind Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

In 2009, Mission San Jose's Ocean Science Bowl team finished fourth in nationals, and its Science Bowl team finished in the top 12 at nationals. Mission San Jose has also sent teams to the HSNCT, the quizbowl national championship. In 2009, they sent two teams to the HSNCT, their A team placing 11th and their B team placing 43rd, out of nearly 200 teams that went to the event.

In 2010, despite missing all of their seniors, Mission San Jose's Quiz Bowl Team A took 11th place nationally. Team B made a strong appearance as well, but did not place. The same year, their Science Bowl C team defeated their own A team to go on to nationals, where they failed to place. In 2011, MSJ's Science Bowl A team defeated Bellarmine College Prep to win their regional event, the first time in 3 years that MSJ's A team has won (as opposed to its B and C teams). The team placed ninth in nationals.

In 2015, Mission San Jose's Ocean Science Bowl team finished fourth in nationals.

Speech and Debate

Mission San Jose's Lincoln-Douglas Debate team (also known as OHSODEF) is a nationally renowned program - in 2004-2005, the team was ranked first in the country. Notable accomplishments for the team include winning the National Tournament of Champions in 2003 and closing out (having two debaters meet in the final round of) the 2004 Fall Classic tournament at the Greenhill School.[4] From 2007-2009, the Speech and Debate club was suspended. However, by the 2010-2011 school year the team regained its footing - qualifying three students for the CA State tournament and qualifying three students for the NFL National tournament in speech events. As of 2010-2011, the debate team has bounced back to have close to 110 members, with multiple varsity members reaching elimination rounds at regional invitational tournaments and the addition of a public forum division in 2011. It has only continued to flourish on campus as one of MSJ's premier clubs.

After the 2012-13 season, Mission San Jose High's coach Stephan Brooks left the Debate program for Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose.

During the 2013-14 season, Alfonso Lara and Victor Rivas Umana became the two debate coaches. Together, they worked into building this team into a highly competitive and recognizable squad. They lead the team of Mission San Jose WS to the championship of the University of the Pacific debate tournament. Unfortunately, Coach Lara left due to personal reasons and Victor Rivas Umana has taken up the responsibility as head coach of the team.

In the 2014-2015 season, Salim Damerdji joined the MSJ squad as the coach of Lincoln-Douglas debate. With his help, the LD program at MSJ qualified two LDers to the Tournament of Champions. They are Mission San Jose SS (Shivane Sabharwal), with 5 bids, and Mission San Jose AB (Anand Balaji) with 2 bids. The Public Forum team has also seen a huge amount of success, with nine TOC bids at the conclusion of the season and 3 teams qualified to the TOC. They are Mission San Jose KS (Devesh Kodnani and Ankush Swarnakar), with 4 bids, Mission San Jose WS (Max Wu and Nikit Shingari) with 3 bids, and Mission San Jose PS (Rohan Saxena and Ansh Patel) with 2 bids. Both programs are now nationally recognized and ranked. In LD, Mission San Jose SS is ranked 17th. In PF, Mission San Jose KS is ranked 15th.

In the 2014-2015 season, the LD program at MSJ qualified three LDers to the Tournament of Champions, under new a coach, Tom Kadie. They are Mission San Jose SS (Shivane Sabharwal), with 5 bids, Mission San Jose LS (Lavanya Singh) with 4 bids, and Mission San Jose PB (Prachit Bhike) with 1 bid as an at-large. With new assistant coach Miranda Le, the Public Forum team also excelled nationally, with nine TOC bids at the conclusion of the season and 3 teams qualified to the TOC. They are Mission San Jose CK (Robert Chen and Devesh Kodnani), with 2 bids, Mission San Jose KW (Max Wu and Keshav Kundassery) with 4 bids, and Mission San Jose PS (Steven Shi and Ansh Patel) with 2 bids. Both programs are now nationally recognized and ranked. In LD, Mission San Jose SS is ranked 6th, while Mission San Jose LS is ranked 19th. In PF, Mission San Jose KW is ranked 10th. At the Tournament of Champions, MSJ saw enormous success, comparable to the school's illustrious 2004-2005 season. In LD, MSJ LS and MSJ SS both reached quarterfinals, while in Public Forum, MSJ KW reached the final round of the Tournament of Champions. Additionally, Mission San Jose earned the 1st Place Sweepstakes award, for overall achievement.

2014-2015 Public Forum TOC Bids

Mission San Jose KS (Ankush Swarnakar and Devesh Kodnani)	Mission San Jose WS (Max Wu and Nikit Shingari)	Mission San Jose PS (Ansh Patel and Rohan Saxena)
2014: Apple Valley Octofinals	2014: Harker Quarterfinals	2015: Arizona State Octofinals
2015: Arizona State Semifinals	2014: Presentation 1st Place	2015: Stanford Octofinals
2015: Stanford 2nd Place	2014: Alta 1st Place
2015: Berkley 2nd Place

2015-2016 Public Forum TOC Bids

Mission San Jose KW (Max Wu and Keshav Kundassery)	Mission San Jose CK (Robert Chen and Devesh Kodnani)	Mission San Jose PS (Ansh Patel and Steven Shi)
2015: Harker Quarterfinals	2015: Apple Valley Quarterfinals	2016: Alta 1st Place
2015: UOP 1st Place	2016: Stanford Octofinals	2016: Berkeley Octofinals
2015: Apple Valley Quarterfinals
2016: Stanford Quarterfinals
2016: Autoqualifier - TOC Finals
2016: Autoqualifier - NCFL Quarterfinals

Local (Bay Area) Competitions

In 2006, Mission San Jose took second at the first Bay Area Regional Science Olympiad. In its first year of Science Olympiad competition, Mission advanced to the 2006 NorCal State Championships at which it placed 7th. In 2007, it took 1st at the regional level and 2nd at the state level. In 2008, Mission sent 2 teams to the Bay Area Regional Science Olympiad, capturing 1st and 4th place, and at states, the A team captured 4th place, losing out to 3rd place by only 1 point. In 2009, Mission sent 3 teams to the Bay Area Regional, capturing 1st, 5th, and 6th.

Mission San Jose has consistently sent strong teams to the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium WonderCup Challenge. MSJ has won the Challenge 4 out of the 6 years the Challenge has existed; three of those wins were in a row (2004–2006).[5] MSJ managed to get 2nd in 2007 and 2008, losing to Albany High School.

The school's robotics club has seen some recent successes, with a FIRST Tech Challenge team taking first place at a local regional event. A FIRST Robotics team was organized at the school in 2008 and won an outreach award, and has since grown to include students from other schools in the district.

National Olympiads

When in its prime in both 2006 and 2007, Mission San Jose had 14 USA Biology Olympiad semifinalists, 635% higher than the national average by numbers of semifinalists and 350% higher by the ratio of semifinalists to participants (those who did not qualify). In both years, one student advanced to the National finals, an intense 14-day training camp at George Mason University that decides the 4-member USA IBO team. In 2011, 21 students were named semifinalists, and two students advanced to the National finals at Purdue University.

Mission San Jose's math team has consistently scored among the top in the nation on the American Mathematics Competition, AIME, and USAMO tests. In 2003, Mission San Jose's team produced 2 USAMO qualifiers: Kevin Koai and Yuchen Mao, and has consistently produced multiple USAMO and USAJMO qualifiers since. In 2005, one student was invited to participate in MOSP. Furthermore, the team won 1st place in the California Math League in 2006, edging out rival Lynbrook High School by one point. In 2007 and 2008, Mission settled for second place, whereas in 2009, the team tied for first place with a perfect score with three other schools. In 2011, Mission produced 3 USAMO qualifiers and 3 JMO qualifiers.

In 2008, Mission San Jose High School had a student qualify for the United States National Physics Olympiad, and in 2009, two students, sophomore Bowei Liu and senior Marianna Mao, qualified. Those two students later moved on to compete for the US at the International Physics Olympiad, where they both received gold.

In 2011, Mission San Jose had two students advance to the National finals (top 20, training camp) of the United States National Chemistry Olympiad at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.

In 2012, another two students advanced to the National finals in USABO. One of them, Raymond Liu in the class of 2013, further advanced to IBO levels, as one of the four members of USA's Biology Olympiad team. He won gold (3rd place) at IBO.

In 2013, student Raghu Dhara qualified for the USABO National finals.

In 2014, student Kelvin Lu qualified for the USAPhO National finals.

Go Tournaments

Mission San Jose's Go team has taken first place at the California High School Go Championships 3 years in a row (2005–2007), beating out Piedmont High School and Monta Vista High School. In 2008, the MSJ go club sent a team of 4 to compete in the ING National School Tournament and won 1st place in the Open Division to become the national champions. In 2009, the club won 2nd place in the Division B Tournament. In 2010, Mission won first place in Division A at the newly formed Bay Area High School Go Tournament.

Chess Tournaments

The chess team has taken 2nd place in the Northern California Chess Championship for three years straight. In 2005, the team tied for 1st at the CalNorthYouthChess regionals. In 2000, the team took 1st at the State Scholastic Championship.

Athletics

Mission San Jose High School's old bell tower, which was replaced with a less prominent structure similar in design after a section of one of the legs began to deteriorate.

Mission San Jose High School belongs to the Mission Valley Athletic League (MVAL), which comprises the five high schools in Fremont as well as Newark Memorial High School, the only high school in Newark, respectively. The MVAL is a league of the North Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation.

Sports at which Mission high-school typically excels at includes badminton (2004-2015 NCS champions), tennis (2004 & 2009 NCS champions), wrestling, golf and swimming (League champions for over 26 consecutive years). The Boys' Tennis team became a dominant force in MVAL surrendering only 6 individual matches during the 2008 season, and 4 during the 2009 season. In 2008, the (ninth-seeded) boys' team upset the #1 seeded team Redwood Giants (Larkspur); equally as impressive, the 2008 girls' team (seventh-seeded) upset the San Ramon Valley High School team (second-seed).

In 2009, the Boys' team headed to the NorCal Championships after upsetting both the #2 seeded team from Redwood, but also defeating #1 powerhouse Monte Vista in a rousing come-from-behind victory at Logan High School. Monte Vista led 3-1, with MSJ winning the final four sets that were in play, to win 4-3, capping an NCS Championship. The following fall, the girls' team set an impressive record as well, with an undefeated 84-0 league individual record, 1st place in the MVAL team tournament, 1st and 3rd place in the MVAL singles tournament, and a clean doubles sweep in the MVAL doubles tournament. The previously number two seeded 2009 Girls' Tennis Team went on to the NorCal Championships after they placed first in Division 1 NCS, upsetting the number one seed, Foothill High School, at Golden Gate Park.

The Mission Girls' Golf team has been consistently strong over the years, winning the MVAL Tournament every year for the past few years. In the 2011 season, the team placed second at NCS Championships and first at NorCal Championships. In the 2012 season, after losing three seniors and getting a new coach, the team placed first at NCS Championships and third at Norcal Championships.

In recent years the Mission water polo team has come out very strong. In the 2008 season, the Water Polo team has won the MVAL Tournament.

Mission's volleyball program has increased in strength in recent years. In 2009, the Mission Girls' Volleyball team, composed of 9 juniors and 3 sophomores, won the MVAL league championship with an 11-1 record, losing only to Logan High School. In the 2009-2010 season, Mission Girls' Volleyball headed up to second round North Coast Sectionals. In 2009, the Mission Boys' Volleyball team seized the MVAL league championship with a 12-0 season and scored 2nd place in Division 1 NCS. In the 2009-2010 season, MSJ Boys' Volleyball went up to North Coast Sectionals first round.

In recent years Mission's men's soccer team has excelled under the coach of Joe Marden. In 2007 the Warrior's men's soccer team were Division 1 National Champions with an astonishing season of 14-1 led by captains Cody Foster and Christopher Wright. Their reign continued when coach Marden led the Warriors to another NCS championship in 2008 after Greg Loski's last minute goal against St. Mary's. As Joe Marden stepped down as head coach in the 2009-2010 season Mission's soccer teams struggled as they ended the season with a 4-7 record.

Mission San Jose has also traditionally fielded a strong wrestling program, often placing at the top of the team standings in the North Coast Section Tournament. Mission hosts its own tournament towards the end of the season, generally considered to be the toughest wrestling tournament in the North Coast Section, and is often seen as a predecessor to the standings of the NCS tournament for each weight class. Led by Coach Thomsen, Mission has sent several warriors to the medal podiums in the last couple of years at NCS.

Historically, Mission San Jose High School has been known for its strong football teams. In the 1978 football season, the team was the first in MVAL history to win the North Coast Section 4A Varsity Football Championship going undefeated 12-0. They were coached by Jim Randall and led by the record breaking running back Michael Carnell, who rushed for a record 2,364 yards and 44 [6] touchdowns in one season. The Warriors also produced former SF 49er and Super Bowl XXIX Champion Gary Plummer. Weaver, Mike (1987-12-09). "Ex-Mission star tries to break into NFL". San Jose Mercury News * The Weekly. pp. 14 -. Staff, Writer (1977-11-07). "Faces In The Crowd / Mike Carnell". Sports Illustrated. p. 93.

However, in recent years the performance of Mission's football teams has fallen. In 2002, the team was disbanded due to lack of interest, but was reformed the following year and in 2005, it won their homecoming game. In the recent 2008 football season, the freshman football team won its first game in 4 years. The team won against Santa Teresa High School by a score of 7-6. This team was led by captain Jay Shah who ran for the only touchdown and intercepted the ball to seal the game. The 2009 Freshman football team beat Irvington High School 32-0, but only during preseason. The 2010 Varsity football team beat De Anza High School 27-6 in the preseason, but it should be noted that the star player on the De Anza team was injured and many players were not present. The 2010 Freshman football team beat American High School 30-6 in regular season on their last game. In 2012, Coach Sam Baugh would step in as the new head coach. In 2013, Mission lost its homecoming football game 0-41. On 10 October 2014, the Mission football team defeated Irvington High School by a score of 29-16 for their first league victory in 11 years and 57 games Mission's Winter Guard team recently won Champion status in the 2006 Novice Division competition against fifteen other Guard Units at Del Oro. The team also placed 1st at the 2011 NCBA Winterguard Championship at Del Oro in 2011, for the Intermediate Division. The baseball program enjoyed a run of success in the late '80s through the mid '90s, but has seen a lack of interest recently. Johnny Abrego, Greg Moore, and Bobby Hill are former Mission San Jose baseball players who have enjoyed professional success. Abrego and Hill played a number of years within the Chicago Cubs organization, while Moore played with the Anaheim Angels and Colorado Rockies.

More recently, the freshman (class of '13) football and baseball teams have consistently placed high in their leagues. The freshman football team has placed an outstanding record against other teams in the Tri-Valley district, despite their mercurial loss of 45-0 against American High. The baseball team is also receiving praise for placing top in many of its respective games, with an amenable 17-2 seasonal record.

The school colors are green and white and the mascot is the warrior. Its logo was the Mission Peak (a mountain easily visible from campus) until recently when a new warrior logo was designed and implemented by student vote. The school's previous logo was a feathered arrow, but this was changed in the late 1990s in response to controversies surrounding the use of Native American mascots and symbols by American schools. Currently, the school designates the "Mission Man" as a mascot.

Student activities

Mission has numerous different clubs organized by students. They cover a variety of categories, including sports, volunteering, languages, publications, and academics.

Student Activities are directed by the Associated Student Body, or ASB, Council, composed of a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and an Activities Coordinator.

Elections (with votes from the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors) are held annually to determine the new officers for the following school year. The ASB Council meets every Wednesday at lunch to approve checks, pass new clubs, and discuss important announcements.

The two major student publications are the Smoke Signal, an award-winning, self-funded student newspaper which is printed every three weeks, and the Costanoan, the school's full-color yearbook. A student literary magazine, the Phoenix, also is published by the Phoenix club once a year. The Smoke Signal was founded in 1964 and continues to publish local and high school news, opinion articles, and world news on the arts, entertainment and sports. MSJTV was recently founded and broadcasts during read period.

Students

Demographics

As of the 2012-2013 school year, 85% of the students were Asian American (primarily Indian and Chinese), 10% were European American, and 5% were other races.

Campus

Mission San Jose High School building.

Campus Design

Marquee in front of the school

Mission has a somewhat unusual and spacious campus design. Built in the 1960s, the campus was designed for about 1,600 to 1,800 students and has eight wings and a main office. B-wing classrooms are typically for the math and social science department, and the C-wing is primarily for the science department. The main auditorium, C-120, is part of the C-wing. The English and fine arts departments are located in the E-wing.

The G-wing includes the large and small gyms, the boys' and girls' locker rooms, swimming pool, and weight training room. Likewise, L-wing is the library section. Located just across from the main office, it also includes the copy center and other rooms.

The drama and foreign language classes are found in the M-wing. N-wing classrooms typically hold the freshman classes (i.e. health, geography, etc.), but the culinary arts classroom, foreign language classrooms, and some English classes are found there.

The P-wing is composed entirely of portable buildings. As of 2013, some of the portables have been torn down to allow for construction of a new two-story building for the science department.

A new A-wing was constructed and used during the 2010-11 school year. The building is used mostly by the math department.

Overcrowding

Students on their way to class.

The school has nearly 2,000 students, exceeding its design capacity and resulting in overcrowding and many other major problems. Fremont's population has grown from less than 50,000 when the school was built in 1964 to well over 200,000 today. Almost every school in the city has space issues stemming from this population explosion (four of the five high schools in the district have at least 1,500 students), but Mission has been among the most impacted. Even after a significant redistricting by the Fremont Unified School District in the late 1990s, which reassigned much of the Warm Springs area students (mostly from Weibel Elementary School, causing significant unrest in the community) from Mission to Irvington High School, Mission's enrollment is once again at about 2,200.

Notable alumni

• Consuelo Maria Callahan (Class of 1968), Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Judge
• Mic Gillette (Class of 1969), renowned musician and former trumpeter for Tower of Power
• Joseph McVein (Class of 1974), former handball player who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1988 Summer Olympics
• Scot Marciel (Class of 1976), American diplomat and current United States Ambassador to Burma (Myanmar)
• Gary Plummer (Class of 1978), former NFL linebacker
• Johnny Abrego (Class of 1981), former Major League Baseball pitcher
• Scott Fisher (Class of 1981), former National Basketball League MVP player and coach
• Joe Krakoski (Class of 1981), former NFL linebacker
• Dina Ruiz-Eastwood (Class of 1983), Television personality and ex-wife of Clint Eastwood
• Christopher Gerteis (Class of 1986), SOAS, University of London historian
• Lev Kirshner (Class of 1987), San Diego State University men's soccer coach
• Kristi Yamaguchi (Class of 1989), Olympic Figure Skating gold medalist, Champion of Dancing with the Stars season 6
• Ryan Edwards (Class of 1994), former professional soccer player
• Don Hertzfeldt (Class of 1994), Academy Award nominated animator
• Natali Del Conte (Class of 1996), Host of CNET Loaded.
• Kevin Sakuda (Class of 1998), Defender/Midfielder of Montreal Impact
• Kevin Tan (Class of 2000), 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medalist for men's team gymnastics
• Joe Lonsdale (Class of c. 2001), entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. Founder of Palantir, CEO of Addepar, and President of Anduin Ventures
• Justin Medlock (Class of 2002), Placekicker, Carolina Panthers
• Vinith Misra (Class of 2004), scientist
• Ritankar Das (Class of 2010), scientist, author, poet, and entrepreneur

External links

• Mission San Jose High School website