The Loara Community & Enrollment

August 27, 2012 First Day of School

As I sit in my office waiting for the first bell of the first day of the next 50 years to ring, I find myself just as excited as I do every year.  What are my students going to be like?  What is the year going to be like?  Will our Anniversary Celebration be a hit?  Heck will the opening rally on September 7, 2012 be a hit?

Likewise, I have a ringing in my ears of each graduating class saying "The school has changed since I left" and then they ask "is it any good?"  My answer to them is, YUP and I think it is even better.  Sure we have the state and district politics that has posed many problems in education, but that's business and I'm not here for that.  I'm here for kids to make a memory "that always lingers" and "that last forever, built by Saxons loyal and true."  Each year brings it's problems and each year brings new kids ... kids of every color, race, religion, ethnicity and more.  Are they different? Not really, they are still kids.

Here are some current statistics and demographics taken from our successful WASC Report from 2012.  WASC stands for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and they review school sites to make sure they are doing what they say they are doing (okay, it's a simplified explanation but I think you get it) and at the end of the process you can get a 1, 3 or 6 year seal of approval ... we got a 6 year with a 3 year review and that is really good!  This year we are opening the school with close to 2700 Students.

THE LOARA COMMUNITY

Loara High School is located in the city of Anaheim, one mile west of “The Happiest Place on Earth.”  Disneyland, the Anaheim Resort area businesses, Kaiser, and Northgate Gonzalez Supermarkets are the top private employers in the city.  Anaheim is a tourist and convention destination with over 18 million visitors annually.  Anaheim is the second largest city in Orange County with a population of 348,467.  The population of Anaheim is 52.4% Hispanic, 29.6% White, 13.4% Asian, 2.6% Black, and 1.9% as more than one race or other race.  The city of Anaheim is largely middle class with a median household income of $59,644 and a median home value of $576,300 (Anaheim at a Glance 2009).

ENROLLMENT

Enrollment Trends

In 2008-09, Loara’s enrollment reached 2761 students (number does not include special day class students as they are considered district students).  This was an increase of almost 200 students from the previous year, primarily due to the elimination of the retention program at the junior high.  Since then, enrollment has remained relatively stable around 2700 students.

Student Enrollment by Grade Level

Grade level enrollment data indicates that there is generally a decrease in the size of a class as the grade level increases.  For example, in 2008-09, the 9^th grade class was 781 students, whereas, in 2009-10, the 10^th grade was 717 students. 

Student Enrollment by Gender

Gender enrollment data indicates that the percentage of males to female students is consistently close to 50-50.

Student Enrollment by Ethnicity

Loara’s mixed ethnicity continues to be a source of cultural exchange.  Currently, 73.4% of the student body is Hispanic/Latino, 10.8% is White, 8.7% is Asian, with 7.1% representing other ethnicities.

The past six years have brought changes in student ethnicity in significant subgroups.  The percentage of Hispanic/Latino students has increased by 12%, while the percentage of white students has decreased by 11% (this is a 50% decrease in the white population).

Student Enrollment by Primary Language

Student enrollment by primary language indicates a steady increase in the percent of Spanish and Vietnamese-speaking students and a decrease in the percent of English speaking students.  Data are based on number of EL and FEP students enrolled by primary language.

	2008-09		2009-10		2010-11		2011-12
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
English	858	31.0%	771	28.5%	743	27.2%	695	25.4%
Spanish	1608	58.2%	1615	59.6%	1659	60.8%	1715	62.6%
Vietnamese	114	4.1%	136	5.0%	142	5.2%	149	5.4%
Filipino	46	1.7%	54	2.0%	59	2.2%	52	1.9%
Other	135	4.7%	133	4.9%	127	4.7%	129	4.7%
Total	2761	100%	2709	100.0%	2730	100.0%	2740	100.0%