Valley High School

Story

Valley High School is a 9th-12th grade college preparatory high school located in Sacramento, California, near the city limits of Elk Grove, California. The school was established in 1977 as part of the Elk Grove Unified School District. Valley's mascot is the Viking and their cross town rivals are Elk Grove High School and Florin High School.HistoryValley was Elk Grove's second comprehensive and traditional high school. The new school was built to serve the northern part of the huge 320sqmi district, which covered a large portion of south Sacramento. The name chosen for the high school was intended to reflect the Valley Hi community, which was then one of the newer subdivisions in the south area.AcademicsThe school has increased the number of students completing A-G requirements from 21 percent in 2005 to 30 percent in 2007. The number of Valley High School students who successfully completed CSU applications rose by 56 percent from 2005 to 2007. The number of students taking the PSAT rose from a 4 percent participation rate in 2005-2006 to 80 percent in 2007-2008. During the same time period, the EGUSD participation rate rose from 16 percent to 79 percent in 2007-2008. The numbers of students participating are now far higher than the state level at 34 percent and the nation at 37 percent.Academic competitionsNational History DayIn the National History Day program, participants from Valley High have reached the national finals a number of times. In 1997, a student won second place in the Senior Individual Exhibit category. In 1998, a group won third in the Senior Group Exhibit, and one student won third in Senior Individual Exhibit. In 2007, three students won second place in the Senior Group Exhibit category.