El Rancho High School

El Rancho High School is a public high school located in the city of Pico Rivera, California, United States. It is a part of the El Rancho Unified School District.

History
El Rancho

El Rancho High School opened its doors in September 1952. Whittier High School provided many of the original El Rancho students, and the Whittier Union District administered the new school until 1962 when the El Rancho Unified School District was developed.

The school opened before the municipal incorporation of Pico Rivera, within the unincorporated community of Rivera.

The school colors are Blue and Gray, representing the colors of the Union and Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. The two neighboring communities were Pico and Rivera: in symbolic terms, the North and the South. Ultimately the school brought students from the two communities together. El Rancho, Spanish for The Ranch, provided the student body and community with the nickname, The Ranch.

The land for the school was donated by the community.[1] There were restrictions on that donation, including that all new construction would match the existing structures.[1] After the initial construction, residents were told that if they wanted a pool on campus, the community would have to pay for it.[1]

The football stadium slogan is "You haven't been hit until you've been hit by The Ranch, which became well known throughout the Southland during the El Rancho powerhouse years of the 1960s."

In 2011, The El Rancho School Board voted to name the Football field at El Rancho 'Don Memorial Stadium'- "Ernie Johnson Field" in honor of his numerous and remarkable contributions and achievements during his tenure of head football coach at El Rancho. A banquet in the El Rancho Gymnasium attended by more than 400 past players, coaches was held on August 28, 2011. The City of Pico Rivera also declared that day as "Ernie Johnson Day". Official field dedication took place on September 23, 2011 at El Rancho's homecoming football game.

El Rancho's campus was 45 acres (180,000 m2) and was named for the fact that the land used to be a ranch, home to orange groves and avocados.

No seniors were present during the first year of school; the first graduating class was 1954.

Reflecting the local demographics, the school's initial student body was primarily white, non-Hispanic, but with a notable percentage of Hispanic students.

When El Rancho was in the process of opening, the students who were planning to attend the school attended assemblies to decide their mascot. The Don was adopted as the school's mascot by a vote of the students. Other mascot candidates included the Swallows, the Rocketeers, and Grizzlies.

In 1990, the school was used for the film Zapped Again!.

Sports

El Rancho High School football team during the 1960s established themselves as one of the most respected high school football programs in California. The Dons were led by head coach Ernie Johnson, who coached from 1956-1968. In 1966, the Dons were awarded the National Championship and California State Championship when they beat Anaheim High School by a score of 35-14, in the Championship game. [For detailed local news coverage of the National Championship 1966 season, see Ruben Quintero's My Mother's Scrapbook: El Rancho Dons Football--1966 National Champions (2020).] Coach Johnson directed El Rancho High to nine League Championships in 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968. Three CIF Championships in 1960, 1966 1968, were CIF Runners-up in 1960 and 1963 and a National High School Football Championship in 1966. Coach Johnson ended his coaching tenure in 1968 with a 108-31-5 record.[2] El Rancho last won a league championship in 2014 under head coach Vinnie Lopez. El Rancho's last CIF Semifinals appearance was in 2018 losing to Eisenhower High School. El Rancho last made it to the CIF Championship game in 1988 losing to Los Altos high school 12-0.

El Rancho football's crosstown rivals are the Montebello Oilers, Pioneer Titans, Whittier Cardinals, and Santa Fe Chiefs.

Soccer

The varsity soccer team has won league 10 times. They were CIF champions in 2003 and CIF semi-finalists in 2008. Their most recent result in the CIF playoffs was a 3-1 win to Crescenta Valley in the quarterfinals after narrowly beating Hawthorne 1-0. The 2010-2011 Varsity team has recently won the CIF Division IV Southern Section Championship winning 4-2 against Oak Hills. During the Season of 1976-1977, a CIF-4A record (Southern Section), was set by GoalKeeper Duane Joel Daniel, who made a total of 257 saves in that season. Daniel also made 148 saves during Pacific League play the same year. In 2012 the team went undefeated in their season and lost in the CIF playoffs, ending their season at 21-1.

Cross Country

El Rancho's running dynasty has captured 8 Del Rio League titles in the last 10 years, making it the most successful team in the recent years. The team of 2005 was ranked 18th in the nation and finished 5th at the California State Championships.

Teen court

El Rancho Teen Court program is a juvenile diversion and prevention program in Pico Rivera, California. The program serves youths throughout Los Angeles County.[3] Students from El Rancho High School serve as jurors in the early intervention program, judging peers selected by the Los Angeles County Probation Department.[4] The Teen Court program works in conjunction with the El Rancho Unified School District.[5]

The Presiding Judges are Olivia Rosales and James Horan from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.[4] Blanca Pacheco esq. is the El Rancho Teen Court's Court Attorney, who assists the jury in understanding the charges against the defendant and proctors the jury deliberations.[5] Raul Elias serves as the El Rancho Teen Court's Judicial officer, which entails supervision of Teen Court participants’ attendance in order to curve extracurricular Teen Court participation negatively affecting academic progress.[5] Dr. Rebecca Marin is the Court's Psychologist and Raul Elias also serves as the Teen Court Coordinator for El Rancho high School, whose duties include overall supervision of the Teen Court Program and maintenance of a schedule for Teen Court sessions and Court tutorials with assistance from Alexis Hernandez.[4][5][6][7][8]

Court is held at the City of Pico Rivera City Hall Council Chambers.

El Rancho High School Teen Court is a collaboration between the El Rancho Unified School District and the City of Pico Rivera organized by Raul Elias.

Notable alumni

References
  1. Rankin, Judy (46min 05 sec into video). "Community Member, ERHS Graduate C/O 1961" (Oral History). City Of Pico Rivera. Retrieved 19 September 2019. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. Football Team Records Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, El Rancho High School Football. Accessed July 15, 2007.
  3. Los Angeles Superior Court. “LASC - About the Court”. Archived 2012-08-30 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on November 15, 2012.
  4. Gonzalez, Ruby. “Pico Rivera Home to Latest Teen Court in County”] Whittier Daily News. May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2012
  5. El Rancho High School Teen Court. Web. "El Rancho High School Teen Court Introduction." Archived November 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on November 3, 2012.
  6. TeacherWeb®. "Biographical Information." Retrieved on November 4, 2012.
  7. Clients: U.S Army, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, the Mexican Investment Board, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, NBP, Philatron
  8. Zate, Maria. "100 Most Influential Hispanics." Hispanic Business Oct. 1997: 38-82. Print.
  9. Rich Camarillo player profile Archived 2007-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, database Football. Accessed July 15, 2007.
  10. Tom Egan player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
  11. Randy Flores player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
  12. Goold, Derrick (August 28, 2015). "Cards to hire Randy Flores as new scouting director". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  13. Ron Flores player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
  14. Mickey Klutts, The Baseball Cube. Accessed September 19, 2007.
  15. Bill Nelsen player profile Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, database Football. Accessed July 15, 2007.
  16. Scott Reid player profile, The Baseball Cube. Accessed July 16, 2007.
  17. "Gregory Salcido City Council Page". City of Pico Rivera.

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