Hello Valencia High School Community,

I am thrilled and honored to begin my second full year as VHS principal! This will be my 6th year at Valencia (3 1/2 as assistant principal) and my 28th 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 completely 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 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 doing the work 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 6, 2022:

Congratulations to our 608 graduates who are now on their way to whatever is next in their lives. 89% will be attending college, university, military or other formal training. Others will be going directly into the workforce well prepared. This year's class included a record-setting 80 IB Diploma recipients, record-setting 160 Val Tech Diploma recipients and a record 50 Dual Val Tech/IB diploma winners. Our Nationally recognized AVID program celebrates 72 graduates this year including 2 AVID/IB and 11 AVID/Val Tech. Remarkable because AVID is a program that helps identify students who may be the first in their family’s history to go to college.

Looking ahead, we are currently deep cleaning the school and changing over the classroom technology from the old Promethean Smartboards to state-of-the-art interactive touch screen monitors to facilitate student engagement. Sports camps started up this week, and it's exciting to see football, basketball, soccer, track, cheer, aquatics and more diving into their preparations for competition in the Empire League.

Staff are re-charging their batteries and many are participating in additional training and planning this summer. At this point, we will have nine new teachers / counselors to take the place of those who have retired or moved on. I will introduce them in my August letter to the community.

Feel free to visit my Principal’s Corner page that I will use to post updates, thoughts and resources from time to time. Browse the website for information regarding all that is offered at Valencia High School.

Chris Herzfeld - Principal

Go Tigers!