Eastsider staff photo by Monica Rodriguez
Teams from three Eastside high schools—Garfield High in East Los Angeles, Lincoln High in Lincoln Heights and Marshall High in Los Feliz—are among the eight LAUSD schools that will compete in the statewide academic decathlon after emerging as the top scorers in the district competition, officials announced Saturday.
The results of the L.A. Unified School District’s 45th Annual Academic Decathlon competition were announced Saturday at an awards ceremony at Garfield, which won the Superintendent’s Trophy after scoring 44,336.10 out of 60,000 points.
The Garfield team consisted of Derek Dominguez, Ana Santos, Davian Valladares, Joseph Villa, Liana Lopez, Julie Lopez, David Ventura, Kimberly Palacios and Briana Zuniga.
Also advancing were Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies with 42,263.20 points, Van Nuys High School with 41,714.60 points, John Marshall High School with 41,241.70 points, Bell High School with 41,129.50 points, Abraham Lincoln High School with 40,181.70 points, Dr. Richard A. Vladovic Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy with 40,056.80 points, and The Science Academy STEM Magnet with 39,849.30 points.
“What a joy to see Board District 2 schools among the top-performing teams in this competition,” Board Vice President Rocío Rivas said in a statement. “Congratulations to the students and educators of James A. Garfield High School and all our top teams. This reflects the real progress taking shape across our district and the momentum we’re building as they represent our communities at the California Academic Decathlon.”
The top students who earned the highest scores district-wide included:
Jiali Huang from Abraham Lincoln High School was honored as the overall second highest-scoring student with 8,450.0 points out of 10,000 points.Joseph Villa from James A. Garfield High School was recognized as the third-highest-scoring student overall, with 8,267.5 points out of 10,000.
The LAUSD teams will now compete at the California Academic Decathlon on March 19-22 in Santa Clara.
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