Palos Verdes Peninsula High School

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public high school in Rolling Hills Estates, Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of 2023, it is a top-ranked school in the Los Angeles, CA Metro Area (#16) and California (#42), according to US News & World Report.

History
The school was formed in 1991 when Miraleste High School, Palos Verdes High School, and Rolling Hills High School were merged into a single high school. The former Rolling Hills High School campus (opened 1964) had the highest capacity and was used for the combined school. When overcrowding became a problem after 1999, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District elected to re-open Palos Verdes High School in 2002.

Demographics
In the 2021-22 year, there were 2,338 students enrolled in Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. Enrollment by race/ethnicity was 39.09% Asian, 37.08% White, 12.49% Hispanic, 2.44% Black, and 8.9% other. Enrollment by gender was 49.87% male and 50.13% female.

Athletics
In 2014, as a senior, future major leaguer Eli Morgan had a 10–2 win–loss record with a 1.23 earned run average. He was named Bay League Co-Pitcher of the Year and All-California Interscholastic Federation First Team.

Extracurricular Activities and Programs
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School offers a large variety of extracurricular activities including, but not limited to, Model United Nations, Speech & Debate, Mock Trial, CyberPatriots, FRC Robotics, Science Research, and Academic Decathlon. Its Speech & Debate and Model United Nations programs are nationally ranked.

In October 2022, the school's Model United Nations program, together with Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Sunset and Rotary E-Club of District 2750 Tokyo Yoneyama, hosted the 1st Rotary Peace Conference with speakers such as Best Delegate CEO, Kevin Chan, and Ihor Kukhlevsky, a Ukrainian refugee. It was dedicated to bringing awareness to the atomic bombings in 1945 and nuclear weapons. A tree from Heiwa (Hiroshima Survivor Trees) was planted by California Assemblymember, Al Muratsuchi, afterwards.

Academics and writers

 * Julie Otsuka, author
 * Julie Reuben, historian
 * Lauren Williams, mathematician

Entertainment and media

 * Steven Appleton, visual artist and ecological activist
 * Duane Chase, actor
 * Duane Davis, actor
 * Denzel Whitaker, actor
 * Vince DiFiore, jazz trumpeter
 * Liz Gateley, TV producer
 * Stephanie Hsu, actress
 * Joe Inoue, singer-songwriter, music producer, You Tuber
 * Lauren Iungerich, TV producer
 * Jon Jafari, Youtuber
 * Jirard Khalil, Youtuber
 * Kellen Goff, voice actor
 * Araksya Karapetyan, Television News Anchor
 * Van Ling, special effects coordinator for motion pictures
 * Tom Martin, TV writer
 * Petros Papadakis, radio/television personality
 * Debbi Peterson, member of The Bangles
 * Vicki Peterson, member of The Bangles
 * Lee Ritenour, jazz guitarist
 * Yoko Yazawa, Japanese singer-songwriter

Sportspeople

 * Bill Auberlen, professional race car driver
 * Tracy Austin, professional tennis player
 * Jay Bilas, ESPN commentator
 * Dave Butler, NBA basketball player
 * Greg Butler, NBA basketball player
 * Whitney Engen, professional soccer player
 * Nick Frasso, professional baseball player
 * Clark Haggans, NFL football player
 * Kevin Hartman, professional soccer player
 * John Hennigan, WWE professional wrestler
 * Scott Jackson, NFL football player
 * Robin Leamy, 1984 Olympic gold medalist in swimming
 * Erik Lorig (born 1986), NFL football player
 * Kevin Moen, University California Berkeley, football player famous for "The Play"
 * Eli Morgan (born 1996), MLB pitcher (Cleveland Indians)
 * Merrill Moses (born 1977), Olympic water polo player
 * Don Slaught (born 1958), MLB catcher
 * Craig Stevens, NFL player
 * Eric Stevens, NFL player
 * Steve Sharp, professional soccer player
 * Shawn Weinstein (born 1985), Filipino-American professional basketball player
 * John Welbourn, NFL football player