User:Zayawoody/San Dieguito Academy

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All students living within the district may enroll at either La Costa Canyon High School or Torrey Pines High School within their attendance areas, but they are also eligible to attend San Dieguito Academy and Canyon Crest Academy, both of which are designed to be "schools of choice." Typically, more students apply than there are available spaces, so a lottery of applicants is conducted to determine who may attend. New students with siblings that already attend SDA are automatically enrolled to the school.

Many years this lottery is challenged due to students and parents desire to go to San Dieguito Academy. In 2022 a lottery was reimplemented for the first time since 2015 because 491 students chose the school as their top choice and only 428 spots were available. This would raise the capacity to 137 more students than there were in the 2021-2022 school year. In an attempt to amend the lottery, many argued that students living within walking distance should be given priority, however, under the Open Enrollment Act of 1993, location cannot be used to prioritize individuals in a lottery.

One hallmark of a San Dieguito Union High School District academy is a "4x4" class schedule as opposed to a more traditional "rotating block schedule". This means that students may take four 90-minute classes every day during an 18-week course, completing eight classes (80 credits) a year.

In 1998, the school had roughly 1000 students, and by 2002, had 1500 (population limits of district high schools and academies are required to grow relative to the district). Fall 2003 enrollment was 1462.

In the fall of 2015, construction began on the new Math and Science building in the place of old Senior Court. Construction funded by SDUHSD voter-approved Proposition AA bond measure.

In March 2020, SDUHSD began its Distance Learning Plan by closing schools district wide. Many students were able to return to campus on January 4th, 2021 in a hybrid setting, allowing students to choose to learn from home or return. Students were welcomed back to campus full time at the start of the 2021-2022 school year.

Athletics
San Dieguito Academy is part of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), and is a member of the North County Conference playing in the Avocado West. Student athletes may participate in 21 varsity/junior varsity level sports. A unique aspect of the San Dieguito Academy experience is that the Academy does house a football team, instead there is an annual flag football tournament

Notable Alumni

 * Travis Browne, UFC heavyweight fighter
 * Carl Chang, tennis player and 1996 "Coach of the Year" in Tennis magazine
 * Michael Chang, professional tennis player, winner of 1989 French Open
 * Tom Dempsey, (born 1941), longtime NFL placekicker, record-setter for longest field goal ever (1970), participant in 1969 Pro Bowl
 * John Fairchild, basketball player for Los Angeles Lakers and Anaheim Amigos, 16th pick of 1965 NBA draft
 * Jon Foreman, songwriter and lead singer of alternative rock band Switchfoot
 * Tim Foreman, bassist of alternative rock band Switchfoot
 * Tak Fujimoto, cinematographer
 * Lukas Gage, actor
 * Ian Goodfellow, Director of Machine Learning in the Special Projects Group at Apple computer
 * Kurt Grote, gold medalist in 400 meter medley relay swim at 1996 Summer Olympics
 * Frankie Hejduk, professional soccer player (USA, MLS and Bundesliga)
 * Chris Hillman, bass guitarist, The Byrds
 * Jonathan Jones, singer/songwriter for We Shot the Moon and Waking Ashland
 * Keith Kartz, former NFL center for Denver Broncos, played in Super Bowl
 * Mike Kozlowski, former NFL football player for Miami Dolphins, played in two Super Bowls
 * Rob Machado, professional surfer (semi-retired)
 * Greg Minton, former pitcher for San Francisco Giants
 * Denise Mueller-Korenek, bicycle speed world record holder
 * Andy Parker, former NFL football player for Los Angeles Raiders and San Diego Chargers
 * Dan Quinn, football player, MMA fighter, and boxer
 * Emily Ratajkowski, model and actress
 * Bridget Regan, actress, star of television series Legend of the Seeker
 * Shane Salerno, screenwriter, producer and documentary filmmaker
 * Anoushka Shankar an American-British-Indian sitar player and composer. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar and the half-sister of Norah Jones
 * Jon Stanley, volleyball player, 1964 and 1968 Olympics
 * Eddie Vedder, lead singer of alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He did not graduate rather dropped out during his senior year.
 * Bryce Wettstein, Olympic skateboarder