Principal's Message
Hello Valencia High School Community,
I am thrilled and honored to have just completed my third full year as VHS principal (and my 4th VHS Graduation)! This was my 7th year at Valencia (3 1/2 as assistant principal, 3 1/2 as principal) and my 29th year in high school administration. I have had the pleasure of serving as principal at two other excellent high schools in Orange County, but I am completely amazed at the quality of programs and commitment of the staff, students and community of Valencia High School. This truly is a remarkable school, as you know already or will come to discover.
VHS boasts top tier programs for everyone. We are an AVID National Demonstration school and nearly our entire staff is trained in effective AVID instructional techniques. We have the largest and most successful International Baccalaureate (IB) program in the County with double the amount of diplomas over the past five years as the nearest competitor. Our Val Tech program offers deep curriculum in technology (including programming, networking, cybersecurity robotics, mechatronics and more), media production, graphic design and business. Val Tech students complete a 150 hour internship working in their chosen field. VHS is now a Cambridge International school as well, offering yet another highly respected international diploma to prepare students for the most competitive universities and the demands of global problem solving. VHS offers a full culinary program for those aspiring chefs, a building and industrial trades program (BITA) for construction careers and an aspiring teachers’ pathway Tigers Leading Cubs. We reach out to all students with a comprehensive English Language Learner program, GEAR Up and HOUSE for students who may have struggled in the past, and a highly trained Special Education team for those with disabilities and unique needs.
Update July 9, 2024:
Congratulations to our 575 graduates who are now on their way to whatever is next in their lives. 93% will be attending college, university, military or other formal training. Others will be going directly into the workforce well prepared. This year's class included 55 IB Diploma recipients, 158 Val Tech Diploma recipients and 40 Dual Val Tech/IB diploma winners. VHS also celebrated our first 3 Cambridge diploma candidates with 25 Cambridge candidates for next year. Our Nationally recognized AVID program celebrates 68 graduates this year all of whom were accepted to 4-year universities. This is remarkable because AVID is a program that helps identify students who may be the first in their family’s history to go to college.
Several summer programs are now in full swing at Valencia High School including the Extended School Year program for special needs students, the IMPACT credit recovery program for those needing to take a class over, select ACCESS courses for original credit, CollegeLink classes for certain electives and the ROP Internship course for Val Tech. Many summer sports and activities camps are beginning now (see this link to sports camps matrix including dance and cheer).
Looking ahead, we will be deep cleaning the school as soon as the summer programs are completed.
Staff are re-charging their batteries and most are participating in additional training and planning this summer. At this point, we will have five new teachers and one new Assistant Principal to take the place of those who have moved on to other educational opportunities. I will introduce them in my August letter to the community.
We look forward to building on the considerable successes of the past school year as we prepare to welcome students to the 2024-25 school year. Parents - look for periodic update e-mails from me this summer. Thank you for your continuing support of Valencia High School and the VHS community.
Chris Herzfeld - Principal
Go Tigers!