Mary Star of the Sea High School
School Profile
“Challenging students to reach their full human potential through a living faith in God”
SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Mary Star of the Sea High School, located in San Pedro, California, serves the Los Angeles Harbor and surrounding communities. The school is operated by Mary Star of the Sea Parish under the supervision of the Department of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The school focuses on the fundamentals of a quality education interwoven with strong Catholic principles. The curriculum is grounded in a college preparatory program with a four-year honor track option. This is enhanced by an average class size of 21 and a committed, quality faculty.
“STAR” MISSION
Guided by the Norbertine Fathers, Mary Star promotes growth in self-discipline and responsibility through leadership, athletic, and service opportunities. In the context of a small community environment based on mutual respect, Mary Star of the Sea High School focuses its attention on four principal goals for each student: nourishing the soul (Catholicism), cultivating personal integrity (Character), challenging the mind (Curriculum) and fostering social responsibility (Community). None of these goals can be viewed in isolation from the others; without any one of them, the end result of a truly Catholic education cannot be attained.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Throughout the centuries of her existence, the Catholic Church has sponsored institutions of learning to challenge the human mind in the pursuit of knowledge, truth and wisdom. While serving a wide variety of academic abilities and gifts, Mary Star of the Sea High School challenges every student in a focused and disciplined educational environment, which integrates the Catholic faith across the curriculum. Mary Star students are genuine thinkers who possess a solid foundation in the core curriculum and are prepared for the challenges of higher education and the workplace.
A student of Mary Star of the Sea High School must successfully achieve a minimum of 240 academic units to graduate; each course completed with a passing grade is equivalent to 5 units per semester. In addition to their academic requirements, students must accumulate a minimum 80 hours of Christian service prior to graduation.
- English 4 years / 40 units
- Science 2.5 years / 25 units
- Religion 4 years / 40 units
- Language 2 years / 20 units
- Social Studies 3.5 years / 35 units
- P.E./Health 1 year / 10 units
- Mathematics 3 years / 30 units
- Fine Arts 1 year / 10 units
- Electives 3 years / 30 units
- Service 4 years / 80 hours
HONORS CLASSES AND ADVANCED PLACEMENT CLASSESMary Star of the Sea High School offers 18 Advanced Placement and Honors courses to academically eligible students. Honors classes cross all four grade levels including Honors English 9 and Honors British Literature; Honors World History; Honors Biology and Honors Chemistry; Honors Algebra I, Honors Geometry, Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry, and Honors Trigonometry/Pre Calculus. Advanced Placement courses challenge students in AP Calculus, AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP Environmental Science, AP European History, AP Government, AP Physics, AP Spanish Language, and AP U.S. History. Mary Star offers exceptional students the opportunity to take additional Advanced Placement exams based on independent preparation. In 2017, 77.5% of Mary Star who took AP Exams earned scores of 3+ (3, 4, or 5) which exceeds both the California (62%) and Global (60%) percentages. Additionally, many students took multiple AP Exams as 97 different students took an exam, but the school submitted a total of 172 exams.
ACADEMIC POLICIES AND GRADING SCALE
Mary Star of the Sea High School provides for the needs of both the college bound and non-college bound student. The school’s curriculum meets all state, archdiocesan and college requirements, particularly entrance requirements into the University of California and the California State University systems. Mary Star teachers use the following Grading Scale to compute assignments, tests and report cards:
- A 100-95
- A- 94-90
- B+ 89-87
- B 86-83
- B- 82-80
- C+ 79-77
- C 76-73
- C- 72-70
- D+ 69-67
- D 66-63
- D- 62-60
- F 59 and below
HONOR ROLLS AND HONOR SOCIETIES
Honor roll status for Mary Star of the Sea High School students is based on the previous semester’s grades. Mary Star uses unweighted and weighted (when applicable) GPAs in the selection process of valedictorian and salutatorian, undergraduate awards, honor rolls, class rank and other award societies. Students earning a GPA of 3.80 and above receive the Principal's Honor Roll, and between 3.50 and 3.79 obtain Honor Roll; those between 3.49 and 3.00 are placed on the Blue and Gold Achievement List. Mary Star of the Sea High School hosts 10 Honor Societies on campus including Mu Alpha Theta (for Junior and Senior math students), National Art Honor Society (all grades), Science National Honor Society (for Junior and Senior science students), National English Honor Society (all grades), National Beta Club for student service (all grades), National Latin Society, Sociedad De Amistad, Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, California Scholarship Federation, and National Honor Society.
RECENT STATE AND NATIONAL AWARDS TO SENIORS
- Arizona State University Golden State Scholarship
- Benedictine College Academic Scholarship
- Biola University Dean’s Scholarship
- California State University, Chico Honors Program
- California State University, Fullerton Accepted with Honors
- Creighton University Founder’s Award
- Fordham University Dean's Scholarship
- George Fox University Stevens Scholar Award
- Grand Canyon University President’s Scholarship
- Hendrix College Academic Scholarship
- Hendrix College Odyssey Award
- Johnson and Wales University California Scholarship
- Johnson and Wales University Campus Award
- Loyola Marymount University Academic Merit Scholarship
- Loyola Marymount University Achievement Award
- Loyola Marymount University Arrupe Scholarship
- Loyola Marymount University Early Action Award
- Loyola Marymount University Leavey Family Scholarship
- Loyola University, Chicago, Presidential Scholarship
- Marian University Trustee Scholarship
- Mount St. Mary's University Founders Scholarship
- Mount St. Mary's University President's Award
- Northern Arizona University Accepted with Honors
- Northern Arizona University Founder’s Scholarship Blue Award
- Northern Arizona University Founder’s Scholarship Gold Award
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- Regis University Leadership Award
- Saint Mary’s College Presidential Scholarship for Academic Excellence
- Seton Hall University Scholarship
- Seton Hall University Summer Scholarship
- Stephen F. Austin State University Academic Excellence Scholarship
- St. John’s University Academic Award Scholarship
- St. John’s University Catholic High School Award
- St. John’s University Hugh L. Carey Award
- St. John’s University St. Vincent de Paul Scholarship
- St. Leo University Academic Merit Scholarship
- St. Mary's College Dean's Scholarship
- Texas Christian University Chancellor’s Scholarship
- Tulane University Chancellor’s Scholarship
- University of Arizona Academic Award Scholarship
- University of Arizona Excellence Award
- University of California, Santa Barbara Promise Scholar
- University of Iowa ROTC Academic Scholarship
- University of Mary Sister Thomas Welder Scholarship
- University of Montana Western States Scholarship
- University of Notre Dame Provost's Scholarship
- University of Notre Dame University Scholarship
- University of San Francisco Scholar Award
- Weber State University Western Undergraduate Exchange Program Scholarship
- Wichita State University Academic Scholarship
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S.A.T. SCORES – Class of 2017
Ninety-eight percent of the graduating class sought higher education: 59% in a four- year university; 44% in a community college; two students enlisted in the military. The average College Bound SAT score for Mary Star students, using the new SAT format, was 1140 while the national mean was only 1083. The following represents the scoring range achieved on the SAT for the students who took the test with Mary Star students outshining the national mean score:
Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW) |
Math |
MSHS Mean Score 2017: 576 |
MSHS Mean Score 2017: 564 |
National Score 2016: 543 |
National Score 2016: 541 |
2017 MARY STAR GRADUATES IN COLLEGES
Mary Star of the Sea High School is proud of the diversity of college and university acceptances reflected by the Class of 2017. Ninety-eight percent of the class plans to attend the college or university of their choice while two students chose to enter the military. The Class of 2017 was accepted into the following colleges and universities:
Academy of Art University
Alexander College
Arizona State University
Aurora University
Azusa Pacific University
Benedictine College
California College of the Arts
California Lutheran University
California Maritime Academy
California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo
California State Polytechnic University Pomona
California State University Channel Islands
California State University Chico
California State University Dominguez Hills
California State University East Bay
California State University Monterey Bay
California State University Northridge
California State University of Fullerton
California State University of Long Beach
California State University of Los Angeles
California State University Sacramento
California State University San Marcos
Carroll College
Case Western Reserve University
Champlain College
Chapman University
Colorado State University
Columbia College Chicago
Cornell University
Eastern University
El Camino College
El Camino College – Honors Program
Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
Florida International University
Fordham University
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Grand Canyon University
Hillsdale College
Humboldt State University
Irvine Valley College
Johnson & Wales University
Kansas State University
Long Beach City College
Los Angeles Harbor College – Honors Transfer Program
Los Angeles Harbor College
Louisiana Delta College
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University of Chicago
Marquette University
Marymount California University
Miami University
Michael Vincent Academy
Montana State University
Mount St. Mary’s University
New York University
Northern Arizona University
Oregon State University
Pasadena City College
Pennsylvania State University
Pepperdine University
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Rutgers University
Saint Mary’s College
Saint Mary’s College of California
San Diego State University
San Francisco State University
San Jose State University
Santa Clara University
Santa Monica College
Seattle University
St. John’s University
State University of New York at Albany
Stephen F. Austin State University
Tarrant County College
Texas A&M University – Commerce
Texas Christian University
The Fab School
The Ohio State University
Union College
University of Alabama
University of California Berkeley
University of California Davis
University of California Irvine
University of California Los Angeles
University of California Merced
University of California Riverside
University of California San Diego
University of California Santa Barbara
University of California Santa Cruz
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
University of Connecticut
University of Denver
University of Dubuque
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of La Verne
University of Mary
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Melbourne
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Nevada Las Vegas
University of Nevada Reno
University of Notre Dame
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Portland
University of Queensland
University of San Diego
University of San Francisco
University of Southern California
University of the Pacific
University of Utah
University of Washington
Vanguard University of Southern California
Waseda University
Westminster College
Westmont College
Wichita State University
Wilmington University
Worchester Polytechnic Institute
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