Principal's Message

Hello Valencia High School Community,

I am thrilled and honored to have just completed my fourth full year as VHS principal (and my 5th VHS Graduation)! This was my 8th year at Valencia (3 1/2 as assistant principal, 4 1/2 as principal) and my 30th year in high school administration. I have had the pleasure of serving as principal at two other excellent high schools in Orange County, but I am continually amazed at the quality of programs and commitment of the staff, students and community of Valencia High School. This truly is a remarkable school, as you know already or will come to discover.

 

VHS boasts top tier programs for everyone. We are an AVID National Demonstration school and nearly our entire staff is trained in effective AVID instructional techniques. We have the largest and most successful International Baccalaureate (IB) program in the County with double the amount of diplomas over the past five years as the nearest competitor. Our Val Tech program offers deep curriculum in technology (including programming, networking, cybersecurity robotics, mechatronics and more), media production, graphic design and business. Val Tech students complete a 150 hour internship working in their chosen field. VHS is now a Cambridge International school as well, offering yet another highly respected international diploma to prepare students for the most competitive universities and the demands of global problem solving. VHS offers a full culinary program for those aspiring chefs, a building and industrial trades program (BITA) for construction careers and an aspiring teachers’ pathway Tigers Leading Cubs. We reach out to all students with a comprehensive English Language Learner program, GEAR Up and HOUSE for students who may have struggled in the past, and a highly trained Special Education team for those with disabilities and unique needs.

Update July 14, 2025:

Congratulations to our 622 graduates who are now on their way to whatever is next in their lives. 91% will be attending college, university, military or other formal training. Others will be going directly into the workforce well prepared. The class of 2025 included 57 IB Diploma recipients, 22 Cambridge Diploma candidates, 172 Val Tech Diploma recipients and 46 Dual Val Tech/IB or Cambridge diploma winners. Our Nationally recognized AVID program celebrates 81 graduates this year all of whom were accepted to 4-year universities. This is remarkable because AVID is a program that helps identify students who may be the first in their family’s history to go to college.

Several summer programs are now in full swing at Valencia High School including the Extended School Year program for special needs students, the IMPACT credit recovery program for those needing to take a class over, select ACCESS courses for original credit, CollegeLink classes for certain electives and the ROP Internship course for Val Tech. Many summer sports and activities camps are beginning now (see this link to sports camps matrix including dance and cheer).

Perhaps the biggest thing on the horizon for Valencia High School is our shift to a block schedule with an embedded tutorial. Our staff chose to make this shift for two primary reasons - to help our Academy students better balance their workloads and to help struggling students get the help they need when they need it. The embedded tutorial 4 days a week will benefit all students as they will have a chance to catch up with their work load and get help as needed. Here is a link to the Block and Tutorial Calendar and here is a link to the 2025-26 Bell Schedules. 

Looking ahead, we will be deep cleaning the school as soon as the summer programs are completed. Staff are re-charging their batteries and most are participating in additional training and planning this summer. At this point, we still have a couple of key positions to fill for a few who have chosen to retire or to pursue other priorities. I will introduce new staff in my August letter to the community.

Thank you for your continuing support of Valencia High School and the VHS community. Our mission of high expectations in a nurturing environment continues the legacy of Pride, Tradition and Excellence.

 

Chris Herzfeld - Principal