John F. Kennedy High School 8281 Walker St. La Palma, CA 90623 (714) 220-4101

Nestled in the small community of La Palma, you will find John F. Kennedy High School. The school opened on September 14, 1964. Kennedy High School has long been the focal point of the community. The campus has recently completed its renovation project with new classrooms, science labs, and a state of the art performing arts center.

The first graduating class of Kennedy was in 1966. It was this class that chose the mascot to be "The Fighting Irish," with colors to be green and gold.

Kennedy's enrollment is approximately 2400 students drawing from the communities of La Palma, Cypress, and Buena Park. The student demographics are a reflection of the community; 36 % Caucasian, 35 % Asian, 10 % Hispanic, 5% African American, with other groups completing the population. Kennedy's staff is diversified and well qualified to meet the needs of these students.

Parent and community involvement at Kennedy is deep and positive. With an emphasis on a common goal of educating young people academically, physically, and emotionally, Kennedy maintains excellent relations with parents. We sponsor parent events throughout the year, including Back to School Night, College Night, and Eighth Grade Night to keep parents informed. Numerous parent booster groups support the athletic teams and other extracurricular groups in our wide-ranging interscholastic programs.

The 2008-09 school-year brings a change to the approach in meeting the needs of all Kennedy students. This year, the KHS staff has devoted every other Thursday afternoons for professional time dedicated to collaboration and training in a variety of academic concerns to better support the philosophy of data driven instruction.

All departments have developed standards for major courses and summative Common Assessments (CCA). The work continues as departments revise and develop new CCA to be used as pre-assessments and as formative assessments. In a Common Course Assessment, data is being analyzed with the goal of being able to identify good teaching practices across the faculty.