Carlmont High School

Carlmont High School
Entrance sign to the high school
Address
Map
1400 Alameda De Las Pulgas

,
California
94002

United States
Coordinates37°30′23″N 122°17′24″W / 37.5063°N 122.2901°W / 37.5063; -122.2901
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1952; 72 years ago (1952)
School districtSequoia Union High
NCES District ID0636390[1]
NCES School ID063639006194[1]
PrincipalGay Buckland-Murray[2]
Teaching staff114.48 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades912[1]
GenderCoeducational
Enrollment2,322 (2022–2023)[1]
Student to teacher ratio20.28[1]
Campus size42 acres (17 ha)[3]
Campus typeSuburban
Color(s)   Blue and Grey
MascotMonty
AccreditationWestern Association of Schools and Colleges[3]
PublicationScot Scoop[4]
NewspaperThe Highlander[4]
YearbookVistas
Websitewww.carlmonths.org

Carlmont High School is a public high school in Belmont, California, United States serving grades 9–12 as part of the Sequoia Union High School District. Carlmont is a California Distinguished School.

Carlmont was founded in 1952 as "a school within a school" at Sequoia High School, with four hundred fifty freshman and sophomore students.

Name

[edit]

Its name derives from the campus straddling the two adjacent cities of San Carlos and Belmont (thus the portmanteau of San Carlos + Belmont). Because this hilly area is referred to as "the highlands", the school team was named "The Scots", and the mascot is a kilted Scottish highland warrior, named Carl Monty.[citation needed] The Carlmont campus was built on 42 acres (17 ha)[3] at a cost of about $2.5 million.[citation needed] Carlmont students come from Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, and East Palo Alto.[3]

Dangerous Minds

[edit]

The novel My Posse Don't Do Homework by LouAnne Johnson and subsequent movie adaptation Dangerous Minds (1995) were based upon her experience as a teacher at Carlmont in the 1990s.[5] In the film, the school was named Parkmont. Most of her students were African-Americans and Hispanics bused in to Carlmont from East Palo Alto, a town at the opposite end of the school district from Carlmont.

With the closure of Ravenswood High School in East Palo Alto in the late 1970s, instead of the school district complying with the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and Mendez v. Westminster (1947), 2 US Supreme Court rulings that a student is legally required to attend the closest school to their home, the predominantly African-American, Hispanic and Pacific Islander students were forced by the District to be bused to other high schools in the Sequoia High School District, including Carlmont, which had a predominantly Caucasian population at the time.[citation needed]

Staff conduct investigation

[edit]

In 2020, the Sequoia Union High School District discussed in a closed meeting the possibility of firing former Vice Principal Jennifer Cho of Carlmont High School for inappropriate relationships with male students. The investigation of Cho's actions emerged from a Change.org petition launched by a former student, which had gained large traction among students and families of Carlmont High School. During the investigation, Cho was placed on administrative leave. In late May, Cho was removed from her position as Vice Principal of Carlmont High School and relocated elsewhere in the district.

This incident followed Cho's previous investigation in 2017, when a former Carlmont coach reported her to the district and Child protective services after overhearing student athletes talking about inappropriate interactions with Cho in the locker room.[6][7]

Transportation

[edit]

Carlmont can be accessed by driving and Samtrans routes 60, 61, 62, 260, and 295.[citation needed]

Demographics (2020–2021 school year)

[edit]
  • 2,309 students: 1,137 Male (49.2%), 1,172 Female (50.8%)[1]
White Asian Hispanic Two or More Races Black Native Hawaiian /

Pacific Islander

American Indian /

Alaska Native

1,135 621 326 164 27 21 15
49.2% 26.9% 14.1% 7.1% 1.2% 0.9% 0.6%

Notable alumni

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Carlmont High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  2. ^ "About CHS: Administration". carlmonths.org. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Carlmont High School" (PDF). carlmonths.org. 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Newspaper section
  5. ^ Guthmann, Edward (August 11, 1995). "Teacher Role Hokey, But It Works for Pfeiffer". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  6. ^ "Carlmont vice principal investigated for inappropriate conduct with male students". The Mercury News. September 3, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  7. ^ "Vice Principal Jennifer Cho Investigated for Allegedly Sleeping with 5 Students". Asian Dawn. September 4, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
[edit]