School Profile

Community

San Gabriel Academy serves the educational needs of students in the San Gabriel Valley, including but not limited to Seventh-day Adventist students.  There are 44 constituent churches, which work in conjunction with the school.  The demographics of the student body represents the population surrounding it: 65% Asian, 30% Hispanic, 5% Caucasian/African-American/other.  San Gabriel Academy’s student population is also 30% international, drawing from countries in Asia, Europe, South America, Latin America, and Africa.

School

San Gabriel Academy is a TK-12 school with 321 students, 151 of those in the 9-12 high school program.  The first 12th grade graduating class was in 1960.  San Gabriel Academy is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Curriculum

The academic program is organized on a block schedule.  The average course load is 70 credits per year, although some students may increase their course loads with fine arts classes that meet before or after school hours.  Classes meet Monday through Thursday for 90 minutes per day, while Fridays are half days in preparation for the Sabbath.

AP courses are offered in Art, Biology, Chemistry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Computer Science Principles, Government (United States Politics), Language and Physics, and U.S. History.  AP courses are available to students who meet the academic requirement of a 3.5 GPA and at least a B in prerequisite courses, or with instructor approval.  Honors Algebra 2 is also offered.  There is no limit to the number of AP/Honors courses that a student may take in one year. However, due to Bible course requirements, it is unlikely that a student will take more than three such courses in one year.

Graduation Requirements

San Gabriel Academy’s minimum requirements of courses that must be taken for graduation eligibility are as follows:

·      4 years of English

·      4 years of Bible (or 1 per year of attendance)

·      2 years of Math (1 year of Geometry required)

·      2 years of Science (1 year of Biology required)

·      3 years of Social Studies (World History, US History, Economics – 1 semester, US Government – 1 semester)

·      2 years of Fine Arts

·      2 years of Applied Arts

·      3 years of Physical Education (1 year can be exempt with participation in athletics)

·      1 year of Health

San Gabriel Academy’s international students must follow the same curriculum for graduation, although some classes may be transferable from their overseas schools.  International students who are beginning their non-ESL curriculum in the 11th grade may be required to take multiple English classes in the same year.  This requirement may limit their ability to take multiple AP/Honors classes due to time constraints.

Grade Percentage GPA Honors/AP GPA

A 93-100 4.0/5.0

A- 90-92 3.7/4.7

B+ 87-89 3.3/4.3

B 83-86 3.0/4.0

B- 80-82 2.7/3.7

C+ 77-79 2.3/3.3

C 73-76 2.0/3.0

C- 70-72 1.7/2.7

D+ 67-69 1.3/2.3

D 63-66 1.0/2.0

D- 60-62 0.7/1.7

F 0-59 0/0

San Gabriel Academy does not recognize the distinctions of valedictorian and salutatorian, but does rank students solely for college application purposes.

GPA is calculated using the points shown above, beginning in the 9th grade.  The maximum GPA possible at San Gabriel Academy is 4.25, with the exception of students who have taken approved Honors/AP classes outside of school.  In order to graduate, students must earn 230 credits. In addition, 25 hours of community service (per attendance year) is required for graduation. 

Clubs & Organizations

Our Student Association serves as a school-wide government system that plans many of the school’s social activities.  Class officers assist in the planning of individual class activities, fundraising, and competitions.  In addition, San Gabriel Academy offers interscholastic sports in cross-country, co-ed soccer, boys’ and girls’ volleyball, and boys’ and girls’ basketball. Due to the size of San Gabriel Academy, there are limited opportunities for clubs and organizations.  Students are able to create and sustain their own clubs with faculty sponsorship.

College and Universities

San Gabriel Academy is a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) institution.  Although the college choices vary among graduating classes, an average of 50% of our students will attend an SDA college or university because of religious preference.  The following is a list of SDA institutions in the United States:

  • Andrews University (MI)

  • La Sierra University (CA)

  • Pacific Union College (CA)

  • Southern Adventist University (TN)

  • Southwestern Adventist University (TX)

  • Union College (NE)

  • Walla Walla University (WA)

  • Washington Adventist University (MD)

Another 42% of students will attend public universities.  Many will attend the University of California or California State Universities. These are some of the public universities attended in the past two years:

  • American University

  • Arizona State University

  • California State University-Long Beach

  • California State University- Los Angeles

  • California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

  • Indiana University

  • Purdue University

  • University of Alabama-Huntsville

  • University of California-Berkeley

  • University of California-Davis

  • University of California-Irvine

  • University of California-Los Angeles

  • University of California - Merced

  • University of California-San Diego

  • University of California – Santa Barbara

  • University of California-Santa Cruz

  • University of Washington-Seattle

  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech)

The other 8% of students usually attend community colleges in the greater Los Angeles area.  Many of these students are international students whose desire is to attend a University of California school at a later time.