La Quinta High School

For the 2022-2023 school year, La Quinta High School educates and serves 2,446 students from all over the Coachella Valley -- mainly the cities of La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, and Palm Desert. Yearly, LQHS conducts Panorama Surveys that focus on students' “Sense of Belonging" on our campus. When we conducted our survey in the 2017-2018 Academic Year (AY), we found that only 54% of our students felt that they were positively connected to LQHS and had a positive relationship with the adults on our campus. This is the baseline data driving our current project: The La Quinta High School Rebranding Committee. The committee came to existence this school year to answer core questions like, "how can we make our students feel more connected to campus?" Staff conducted a Culture Walk and asked ourselves another important question: "what message does the current look of our campus convey to our community and stakeholders?" Both of these questions are dependent on each other and we found a major need on our campus: La Quinta High School did not feel like a school. Presently, about 50 picnic tables exist on our campus to seat over 2,400 students, which is impossible. Any time during lunch or before/after school, hundreds of students can be found sitting on concrete floors, grassy areas, or concrete planters simply because we do not have enough seating on our campus. The purchase of benches for LQHS will allow our student body to become more connected and will aid us in our journey to increase community and positive culture at our school. Though it may seem to be a small part of our campus goal, benches are essential to giving students new spaces to meet, collaborate, and create memories with their peers at the same place they spend the majority of their time -- school! These benches will improve the culture of our school and will benefit the sense of belonging, community, and agency that is developed in our students. The lack of seating around campus can create a sense of urgency amongst students, where they feel there is no time to sit or bond with their peers; with the addition of these benches, our students will feel at ease, safe, and comfortable at LQHS.

Contact: James Martin, AVID Coordinator

Phone: (760) 772-4150 ext. 25506

Email: James.Martin@desertsands.us

The La Quinta High School Culinary Arts Academy is a CTE program that is designed to promote college and career readiness for at-risk youth.

Our program reaches students that are in special education, english learners, low-income students, students with low attendance, low grades, and low test scores.We are very active in the community, and promote public service in addition to career readiness. The Culinary Arts Academy strives to prepare students to be successful working in various culinary-related careers, and to learn valuable life skills to use in their own homes on a daily basis.

A very big aspect of our program is the continual need for materials such as food and other kitchen supplies, so that students can actually practice the skills that they are learning. The Anderson Family Grant will help us meet the needs of our students by providing food, supplies, and kitchen uniforms, and enable us to focus more on learning and community service instead of spending so much time and effort on fundraising.

Contact: David Wood, Culinary Arts Teacher at LQHS
Phone: (760) 702-1875
Email: david.wood@desertsands.us

The LQHS Art Club will take its second trip to the Huntington Art Collection, Library and Gardens. Last year, the trip was an overwhelming success with interest from more students than could be accommodated. Students from last year enjoyed the glass figurines and other artworks which were different from anything they’ve seen. They also walked through different cultural gardens and were excited by different aspects of agriculture. Because of the size of the Gardens alone, many students wished they could have stayed longer. Advanced students (AP and IB) were able to get ideas for their portfolios from this trip. Help from the Anderson Children’s Foundation allowed the LQHS Art Club to provide this field trip to students regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Nearly 70% of LQHS students are from low-income families eligible for free or reduced-priced meals. Many of these students never have the opportunity to leave the Coachella Valley for cultural enrichment reasons. Art experiences in a student’s career have been shown to encourage critical and creative thinking which are greatly needed for advancement in core courses such as math, ELA and science. Studies have shown that educational trips contribute to better students outcomes in high school and beyond. Regardless of gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, youth who take educational trips have better grades and higher graduation rates from high school.

For children in the Coachella Valley, specifically at LQHS, seeing and experiencing things first hand, outside of their usual environment can increase confidence and inspire them to achieve new skills.

2019 was a huge milestone in La Quinta High School Aquatics. With ACF funding a new electronic timing system, we were able to host our first Team Relay Meet with multiple schools from all over Southern California attending. The league and referees enjoyed our system so much that they requested La Quinta to host the first DEL Finals Meet, a great honor that we accepted. During the entire season, there was not a single error in a swimmers time for CIF, accounting for over 950 swimmers. That is an amazing accomplishment in itself. We are excited for the years to come.

In 2020, we are going to reach yet another amazing milestone. ACF approved funding for the top of the line Colorado Timing System (CTS) Scoreboard. Now swimmers, referees, and spectators will be able to view live times as the swimmers participate. This portion of the project is very important to the program, we can now use it as a fundraising tool for years to come. It will be used in all year in both men and women water polo and swim. We are looking forward to hosting large competitive swim meets this year, drawing teams and from all over the west coast.

La Quinta High School is the only remaining aquatics program in DVL without an electronic timing system. This project has three phases with an estimated completion time of three years. This phase consists of purchasing the System 6 Sports Timer from Colorado Timing Systems.

The new timing system is very important and impactful to the swimmers at LQHS. The computer system and touch-pads will give extreme accuracy to the swimmers times during competition. Currently, we use three volunteers per lane and the referee chooses the middle time. If one timer makes a mistake, the athlete is unable to submit that race for CIF. This electronic system reduces the percentage of human error to virtually zero. This system is available for all meets as well as practices.

The La Quinta High School Blackhawk Brigade began in 1993 to enrich the experience of students at La Quinta High School through music. Members of the Band appear not only on the marching field, but as the pep band at school athletic events, and performers at community events in the Coachella Valley and beyond. The most important function of the Bands of La Quinta is service to its students. Students who participate in the band program not only learn skills they can use for the rest of their lives, but they become more connected to each other in a social environment that is both positive and educational. What more could you want from your high school experience?

This year, the Band will increase its capacity by adding much-needed storage space for instruments and equipment. By installing a permanent storage container, the Band will be enabled to increase the amount of supplies available to students through the Band Program. Students will benefit from additional opportunities for musical enrichment and learning at La Quinta High School.

The LQHS Men's Leadership Academy is to inspire at-promise male youth with an adult one to one mentor to support the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional health of each student. With the support of the Anderson's Children Foundation, the LQ MLA will be used to provide one to one mentoring, college field trips, team building field trips, monthly speaker luncheons and activities to connect students to La Quinta High School as a pathway to college and career readiness for historically disadvantaged students.

The Robotics Club will host a trip to the Global Conference of Educational Robotics. This trip will expand the horizons of the STEM offerings at LQHS, and allow us to build on the thriving robotics program at John Glenn Middle School which feeds into the LQHS program. It will help equip students with the knowledge necessary to pursue careers in STEM fields, and helps students engage in a creative and exciting way.

Currently the Robotics club already attends the regional BotBall competitions, and the student interest is growing. Giving these students the opportunity to connect with the KISS institute, who host this conferences and competitions, allows them to expand their STEM education.