Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School, home of the Sharks! First and foremost, I want to thank the parents, students, teachers, and staff for making DPMHS the best school in LAUSD! I want to thank Dr. and Mrs. Judea Pearl for their generous endowment announced at this year’s graduation! The endowment will certainly be used wisely to support our programs and grow our school!

The past 5 years have flown by and I am delighted to have served as the “team leader” for Daniel Pearl Magnet High School! I am so proud of all of the accomplishments our school has achieved! We are a wonderful school community that offers a special opportunity for students to feel connected, supported, and valued for their unique dreams, strengths, and personalities! We are a small school but mighty school that values diversity, achieves greatness, and has one of the highest graduation and college acceptance rates, not only in LAUSD, but in the state of California and the nation.

Daniel Pearl Magnet High School’s Class of 2017 achieved a 100% graduation rate, is ranked in the top 4% of all high schools in the US, according to US News and World Report, and ranked #1 of ALL high schools in the San Fernando Valley according to the CORE Index of California schools, surpassing Granada Hills HS, El Camino HS, and Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies! We increased our Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test scores by double-digits in both English and Math! All of these accomplishments are very impressive and they say a lot about our outstanding school community! The Pearl Post was named the #1 High School newspaper by the Southern California Press Club for the second year in a row, and 2 of our student journalists were recognized this year for their outstanding journalism. One of our seniors was awarded the POSSE Scholarship, a very prestigious award that grants 4-year scholarships to a total of 10 seniors across the nation! This year’s recipient was also our school valedictorian and is heading off UC Berkley! Our student athletes contributed to winning athletic teams with our partner school. Our girls Lacrosse team took first place in the city and our boys won the Water Polo city championships!

This year DPMHS is excited to offer a full schedule Music program, with piano keyboarding, guitar, World of Music, and choir! Mr. Wes Hambright will be bringing his musical talents and enthusiasm to our students, and will offer a wide-range of experiences from performance to behind-the-scenes opportunities for sound, editing, and composing. Welcome Mr. Hambright!

Athletics continues to be in partnership with Birmingham Community Charter High School, and this year, we have added Marching Band as an option for our students! We have athletes participating in football, basketball, baseball, tennis, swimming, water polo, lacrosse, soccer, wrestling, and cheer-leading. One of the best ways to experience campus life is to join an athletic team, a school club, run for student office, and/or get involved with the school by attending many of the DPMHS events. The social life of school is realized most by your participation to make DPMHS your school! We continue to have an award winning Journalism program and our Media/Broadcast program has also won individual student awards for film submissions.

Parent involvement is another critical area of success at DPMHS! Parent partnerships offer our students a strong sense of support, and the Parent Center offers many opportunities such as trainings, volunteer positions, and support for families. Parental involvement is encouraged and welcomed at DPMHS, and other ways you can become involved are joining the PTSA, attending the SSC meetings, and supporting all fundraising events. We will hold the traditional Back to School Night and Open House, with the dates to be determined by the SSC, as well as two parent conference days (one in the fall and one in the spring).

Stop by Daniel Pearl Magnet High School for a visit, a tour anytime! You are always welcome at our school!

Looking forward to meeting you,

Deb Smith