El Toro High School

El Toro High School is a public high school in Lake Forest, California, and is one of five high schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD). "El Toro" was the name of the community from the 1870s until a referendum in 1991. The school has served the area since 1973. The current principal of the school is Terri Gusiff.

Academics
El Toro began participating in the International Baccalaureate Program in 2004, the program was scheduled to end in 2011 due to district and state budget cuts, however it was slated to continue into 2012 school year.

Extracurricular activities

El Toro has two award-winning competition show choirs, Soundsation and Choralistics. In April 2009, both choirs competed twice earning 3 golds and one silver.

Awards

 California Distinguished School 1988, 1994, & 2001.
 California "Top 100" High Schools Selection.
 2003 WBA Class AAA Marching Band/Color Guard State Champions

Notable alumni

 Nolan Arenado, professional baseball third baseman for the Colorado Rockies
 Brad Bufanda, actor
 Mike Carlucci, actor and voice-over artist
 Lauren Chamberlain, professional softball player, NCAA Division 1 home run record holder
 Matt Chapman, professional baseball third baseman for the Oakland Athletics
 Logan Dooley, trampoline athlete, 2012 Summer Olympics
 Elizabeth George, mystery novelist.
 Rob Johnson, USC and NFL quarterback
 Brian Krause, actor, Charmed
 Michael Landes, actor, Wonder Years, The New Adventures of Lois & Clark
 Scott Miller, UCLA and NFL wide receiver
 Erin Murphy, actress and fraternal twin sister Diane Murphy, Bewitched
 Ginger Pooley (), bassist with bands Smashing Pumpkins and Halo Friendlies
 Lindsay Rhodes (formerly Soto) of Fox Sports Networks
 Austin Romine, professional baseball catcher for New York Yankees
 Scott Ross, USC LB and NFL player (Saints)
 Kaitlin Sandeno, swimmer, four-time Olympic medalist
 Josh Saunders, professional soccer player
 Dan St. Marseille, jazz musician and recording artist
 Frances Stark, artist
 Marc Stein, ESPN NBA reporter
 Steve Stenstrom, Stanford and NFL quarterback
 Kristy Swanson, actress, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
 Christine Woods, actress in Perfect Couples and FlashForward
 Elaine Youngs, professional beach volleyball player, AVP tour

Notable

During the California Wild Fires in 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a speech at El Toro High School It was also used as an evacuation center.

On one side of the school there was a set of 20 stairs, known simply as El Toro 20, which was famous in the skateboarding and BMX riding communities. The stair set gained notoriety and was featured in numerous skateboarding and BMX videos. There is also another set of stairs right next to the El Toro 20, but it was not used as frequently for high profile tricks.  In June 2019, the stair set used for skateboarding was torn down. With the stair set being a flat bank, biker Dylan Stark used the stair set's demise as an opportunity to jump off a nearby roof on his mountain bike and use the bank as a landing There is now a gate blocking the top of the stairs.

References

External links
 

Category:Educational institutions established in 1973
Category:Lake Forest, California
Category:High schools in Orange County, California
Category:International Baccalaureate schools in California
Category:Public high schools in California
Category:1973 establishments in California