Highland High School (Bakersfield, California)

Highland High School is a public high school in Bakersfield, California. Highland provides technology-based instruction across the curriculum. Highland just completed its sixth year of a full six-year term of accreditation. Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors classes are offered for juniors and seniors in English, calculus, statistics, math analysis (precalculus), U.S. History, government/economics, chemistry, physics, psychology, geology, environmental science, Spanish, and French. Starting in 2015, they offer an AP World History course for sophomores. The school offers a strong college preparatory and GATE/Honors program which includes four years of English, four years of mathematics through calculus, four years of Spanish and French, three years of social studies including world civilizations, U.S. history, U.S. government, and economics, and three years of science chosen from biology, earth science, chemistry, and physics.Approximately 10 percent of Highland's graduates go directly to a four-year college or university with an additional 40 percent attending community and technical colleges. The fine arts department provides a wide variety of enrichment courses including orchestra, intermediate and advanced band (Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble), five choirs, beginning, intermediate, and advanced arts/crafts, as well as beginning, intermediate, and advanced drama/theater studies. Forensics (public speaking) and journalism/ publications are taught through the English department. Additionally, Highland offers two four-year Project Lead the Way programs: engineering and biomedicine. Students are highly encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities and in athletics. Highland provides more than 30 clubs and 32 athletic teams. Highland has a very strong Academic Decathlon team which typically places in the top five teams each year in the county competition and a highly competitive Science Bowl team that has won the regional competition and represented the region in the national competition several times. Highland's athletic teams are competitive. Highland's students are very active in community service, typically among the top schools in the highest percentage of eligible donors giving blood.