Miramonte High School Background

Community

Miramonte High School was founded in 1955 by the Acalanes Union High School District as a comprehensive public high school serving grades 9-12. With an enrollment of about 1200 students, Miramonte offers a wide variety of academic and elective courses to encourage students to explore diverse avenues of learning. In addition to a strong college preparatory curriculum, we offer a broad spectrum of Advanced Placement and Honors classes to challenge students and prepare them to excel at the college level.

The school year consists of two 18-week semesters. The school week class schedule is a modified block plan with an “Anchor” day on Monday where students attend all of their classes for 45 minutes each.  On Tuesday through Friday, students attend three or four classes for a 90 minute “Block” class.  Wednesday and Friday feature an Academy period for students to seek individualized support from their teachers.

Located 20 miles east of San Francisco, Orinda is a family-oriented suburban community of 17,600 on the east side of the Oakland/Berkeley hills. Demonstrating a strong commitment to education, the community and parents continue to give significant financial support to the academic and extracurricular programs at Miramonte. Three parent organizations work together to enhance the high school experience for all students by conducting fundraising activities and recruiting volunteers to support student programs and activities that otherwise would not be available. The Orinda Network for Education, through donations to ONE-Miramonte, makes a substantial yearly contribution to help fund all academic classes and programs at Miramonte. The Rotary Club of Orinda sponsors a yearly Career Night for students to explore career options.

Miramonte ranks in the top 5% of comprehensive public high schools in California and received a 6-year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). MHS has been recognized as a California Distinguished School, a Blue Ribbon School, appears on the Gold Medal List of Best California High Schools and is routinely acknowledged in US News and World Report’s ranking of the Best High Schools in the country.

Mission Statement

Miramonte High School aspires to provide a supportive, engaging, and equitable environment to help students become positive contributors to our world community.

Specific Learner Outcomes (SLO)

Miramonte High School graduates will be:

Learners who:

• Demonstrate proficiency of curricular standards and essential skills
• Maintain a growth-mindset to improve and develop, particularly when challenged
• Engage in learning opportunities to not only expand their future opportunities, but to improve their personal development

Communicators who:

• Listen objectively and empathetically
• Express themselves effectively and creatively
• Utilize reliable evidence to support their ideas and claims

Collaborators who:

• Solve problems cooperatively with others
• Demonstrate inclusivity, empathy, and compassion
• Welcome and explore ideas from multiple perspectives

Citizens who:

• Engage actively and positively in local and global community initiatives
• Respect and are intentionally inclusive of the diversity and perspective of others
• Demonstrate responsible behavior and work to maintain their well-being