Granada High School

 

Granada High School is one of two comprehensive public high schools in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District located in Livermore, California. Currently a suburban community with a population of more than 85,000 residents, Livermore has an agrarian history that continues to be active today along with a strong technological focus. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, begun in the 1950s, is a major employer in the community, as is Sandia National Laboratories. With the Altamont Corridor Express—the ACE train—connecting to Silicon Valley, many residents contribute to California’s technological boon. Livermore’s annual rodeo celebrates the ranching element of its history, while its wine industry builds upon a past tradition that was begun in the 1840s. The Livermore Cultural Arts Council is active, and the Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce represents a wide variety of active businesses. Livermore is also home to Las Positas College. Granada High School opened in January 1963. The largest campus in the district, Granada spans over 40 acres. A science wing and a remodeled Media Center, completed in 2008, show off the newest construction on campus. Most of Granada’s classrooms follow the traditional furnishing model, with some notable and positive exceptions, particularly in the Visual & Performing Arts Department. Granada is home to a broadcast studio and a photo studio, along with an expansive ceramics room. The entire campus benefits from wireless internet, and all classrooms are equipped with ceiling-mounted projectors to allow teachers to share online curriculum. Granada High School runs on a trimester schedule. Now in its eighth year, the trimester schedule allows students to have up to five periods each day of 70-minute classes. Each course is 12 weeks long, at the end of which the students earn five semester units for each course. Ten-unit courses—the equivalent of a yearlong course—typically last for 24 total weeks, or two trimesters, though those trimesters may not be consecutive. This schedule provides the opportunity for longer class periods than a traditional schedule and allows students to include a more robust variety of electives and intervention classes. Granada offers students 65,800 instructional minutes, more than 13 hours above the time required by the state of California. Granada remains dedicated to ensuring that all students receive and complete four academically rigorous years of study that will prepare them for whatever postsecondary life they choose to pursue. Most of our students elect to continue their education, and Granada is dedicated to making sure that all students have the skills and prerequisites necessary to succeed at a college institution. Granada has found ways to create and fund innovative intervention measures, such as the English workshop, three-trimester math and Academic Support and Enrichment (ASE), and continues to find ways to meet the needs of all students. In 2015, Granada earned the honor of being named a California Gold Ribbon School, recognized for the assessment and intervention system based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and modeled by the English department as a prototype for the entire school. Granada has an active School Site Council composed of three parents, three students, four teachers, one classified staff member and one administrator. The Site Council provides significant input on the Single Plan and Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) budget and helps create direction for the school. Other support groups on campus are the Granada Supporters and the Granada Music Boosters. Both groups actively support student activities on campus. The Granada staff is committed to seeking and developing innovative ways to meet the needs of students in the 21st century. Beginning in 2005 when a group of 10 attended the High School Summit in 2005, Granada administrators and teacher leaders have participated in conferences focused on improving high schools: the High School Reform Conferences in 2006 and 2007; the California League of High Schools Conferences in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014; the ASCD National Conference in 2010; and several workshops that address current needs of the school (Response to Intervention [RTI] Conference with Mike Mattos in 2012, Academic Literacy Workshop with Kate Kinsella in 2012, and Common Core Standards Workshop in 2012). Teachers from subject areas participate in professional development through attendance at state and national conferences on an annual basis (e.g., California Science Teachers Association, National Science Teachers Association, California Association of Teachers of English, California Council for the Social Studies, California Language Teachers Association and Cars Plus) along with Advanced Placement workshops and, since June 2014, International Baccalaureate workshops. The staff continues to develop as a professional learning community, focused on improving student achievement for all students. The Granada staff is strongly committed to the ongoing review and improvement so that our students will be prepared to contribute and thrive in our rapidly changing global community. 2018 will be the first year students can graduate from Granada with an IB diploma.