Point Loma High School

32°44′23.83″N 117°13′31.25″W

Point Loma High School
Address
2335 Chatsworth Boulevard

Point Loma

San Diego
,
California
92106

United States
Information
School typePublic high school
Opened1925
School districtSan Diego Unified School District
PrincipalKelly Lowry
Teaching staff77.22 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,500 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio24.70[1]
Color(s)   Maroon and gold
MascotPointer Dog
NicknamePointers
RivalMadison High School
NewspaperPointer Press
YearbookEl Portal
Websitehttp://www.pointlomahigh.com/

Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California, United States. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and Ocean Beach. Students who live in Mission Hills may choose to attend Point Loma High School as their neighborhood school.[2] Point Loma is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).[3]

History

PLHS is the third oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District. It was dedicated in 1925 as Point Loma Junior-Senior High school, serving grades 7 through 12. There were 386 students at its opening on September 22, 1925. The first principal was Pete Ross and there were 30 teachers. Some San Diegans opposed creating a school in Point Loma, contending it was too far away from town, but school board member Edgar F. Hastings pushed the proposal through. In its early days the school was sometimes referred to as "Hastings' folly".[4] The original three-story high school building was torn down in the 1970s as part of a statewide requirement to make all schools earthquake-safe. It was replaced by multiple two-story buildings.[5] During the 1950s it was converted to a three-year high school with the opening of Richard Henry Dana Junior High School. In 1983 it became a four-year high school. PLHS now draws from six elementary schools serving grades kindergarten through 4, and two middle schools: Dana Middle for grades 5 and 6, and Correia Middle for grades 7 and 8.

The school holds the distinction of having produced two major-league baseball pitchers who threw perfect games - David Wells and Don Larsen. Only 24 pitchers have thrown perfect games in Major League Baseball history. Wells also threw a perfect game while a student at PLHS.[6][7] Wells became the school's head baseball coach starting with the 2014–2015 school year. He had been volunteering as an assistant coach for several years. The team's home field was named David Wells Field in 2010.[8]

Demographics

Point Loma High School is the third largest of 16 high schools in the San Diego Unified School District. It is a four-year, comprehensive high school, serving grades 9–12. It houses a student population of approximately 2000 students who come primarily from the local community. Approximately 35 percent of the student body participates in specialized programs, such as the Voluntary Ethnic Enrollment Program (VEEP), the Choice Program, the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program, or the Seminar Program.

Academics

Point Loma High School offers a large variety of Advanced Placement classes, ranging from Music Theory to Physics. Video production is a class offered by Point Loma High that is uncommonly offered in high school, PLHS features a multimillion-dollar video production suite unmatched by any other high school in San Diego County.

Athletics

The school's colors are maroon and gold, although football uniform colors are typically unconforming with their traditional colors of a main maroon with an accent of gold. The mascot is the Pointer Dog. The school offers a variety of men's and women's competitive sports:[9]

Fall
  • Cross country (men and women)
  • Field hockey (women)
  • Football (men)
  • Golf (women)
  • Marching band (all genders)
  • Tennis (women)
  • Volleyball (women)
  • Water polo (men)

Winter
  • Basketball (men and women)
  • Soccer (men and women)
  • Water polo (women)
  • Wrestling (men and women)

Spring
  • Badminton (men and women)
  • Baseball (men)
  • Competitive cheer (men and women)
  • Golf (men)
  • Lacrosse (men and women)
  • Softball (women)
  • Swim (men and women)
  • Tennis (men)
  • Track & field (men and women)
  • Volleyball (men)

Club Sports
  • Surfing (men and women)
  • Sailing (men and women)

Football

The Pointer football team won CIF championships four times, in 1966, 1982, 1987 and 1991, all during the tenure of football head coach Bennie Edens.[10]

Women's basketball

The Lady Pointers basketball team was a powerhouse at the state level during the late 1980s, capturing the state championship for four straight years, 1984 to 1987.[11] Their victories inspired a graffiti-style mural at the athletic field. Under legendary women's basketball coach Lee Trepanier, known as "Coach T", the Lady Pointers posted an astonishing record of 335 wins and 51 losses between 1977 and 1990.[12]

Sailing

The nationally ranked PLHS sailing team has won the Baker Trophy, the national team-racing championship of the Interscholastic Sailing Association, sixteen times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2018[13]), making them the national champions in the sport of sailing. PLHS sailing teams also won the Mallory trophy, the national fleet-racing championship, eight times (1993, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2018), a record unmatched by any other school.[14] In 2003 PLHS Sailor Parker Shinn won the Cressy Trophy, the national singlehanded championship of the ISSA.[15]

Leap of Faith

The school became known among skateboarders for an infamous drop called the "Leap of Faith". This was a drop of 14 feet, 3 inches, consisting of 27 stairs, that had to be approached by an ollie over a railing.[16] Professional skateboarder Jamie Thomas made this spot famous in his filmed attempt to land it; he landed without injury, but his board snapped upon impact.[17] His attempt was included in the Zero video "Thrill Of It All".[18] Another skateboarder, Richard King[19] and several rollerbladers also attempted it, among them Ian Brown,[20] Brian Shima,[21][22] and Chris Haffey,[23] but no one was successful at landing it completely, and several people broke their legs or ankles in the attempt. The PLHS Leap of Faith was included as part of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and in a bonus level in Tony Hawk's Underground, the skateboarding-based video games. In 2005, the school built an elevator at the site to close it off to skateboarders.[24][25]

The Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance Company

English teacher Larry Zeiger taught a class in musical theater called “Contemporary voices in literature” from 1977 until his retirement in 2007. In the second semester the students became “The Gotta Sing Gotta Dance Company”, writing and performing an original musical show in which all 100+ students took part. The students were all seniors, and “Zeiger’s show” became a beloved senior-year school tradition during the 31 years of its existence.[26] The 2003 production "Sticky Fingers: A Tale of Saks, Lies and Videotape", which was inspired by the Winona Ryder shoplifting incident, received national attention.[27][28] The Performing Arts Center on campus was renamed the "Larry Zeiger Performing Arts Center" in 2007.

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. "Point Loma High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  2. San Diego Unified School District website
  3. PLHS letter to parents, November 4, 2009
  4. Held, Ruth Varney, "Beach Town", privately published, San Diego, 1975, page 109
  5. San Diego Union-Tribune, November 11, 2005
  6. Harms, Rob (March 27, 2016). "Wells' and Larsen's perfect games echo in Point Loma". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  7. Hopkins, Scott (June 10, 2016). "After tough season, Pointers baseball celebrates players". Peninsula Beacon. San Diego Community Newspaper Group. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  8. Hopkins, Scott (June 19, 2014). "MLB All-Star David Wells to helm PLHS baseball". Peninsula Beacon.
  9. PLHS website
  10. PLHS coach's legacy spans decades, Peninsula Beacon News, February 13, 2008.
  11. Brand, Steve (January 31, 2012). "One more song for these Pointers sisters". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  12. San Diego Union-Tribune, January 18, 2005
  13. Baker Trophy results
  14. Hopkins, Scott (May 17, 2017). "Point Loma High's sailing team wins seventh national title". San Diego Community Newspaper Group. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  15. Cressy Trophy results
  16. Fraebel, Rob; Michna, Ian (2023-01-17). "REVISITING THE LEAP OF FAITH, THE MOST FAMOUS TRICK NEVER LANDED". Jenkem Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  17. "- YouTube". YouTube.
  18. "Jamie Thomas". modernskate.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  19. Leap of Faith Richard King. kaseliii. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021 – via YouTube.
  20. Leap of faith. barcasj. November 19, 2007. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2021 – via YouTube.
  21. "Brain Fear Gone-Brian Shima - YouTube". YouTube.
  22. "Part 3: Brain Fear Gone - YouTube". YouTube.
  23. "Oldies Ep. 3.mov - YouTube". YouTube.
  24. https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzn58e/the-leap-of-faith-was-skateboardings-definitive-avant-garde-moment
  25. http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1057/1186630942_93b19b4edc.jpg
  26. Grant, Lee (May 20, 2007). "It's a wrap for English teacher Larry Zeiger after 33 years at Point Loma High". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  27. Perry, Tony (May 26, 2003). "High Schoolers Find Drama in Ryder's Trials". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  28. "People in the news: Students write play about Ryder's trial". Amarillo Globe-News. Associated Press. 28 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  29. Point Loma High grad sailing to Rio as an Olympian, Lainie Fraser, SDNews, Retrieved 6 August 2016
  30. Norcross, Don (September 27, 2018). "Point Loma senior displays sideline-to-sideline skills". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
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