This Los Angeles school won the LAUSD Academic Decathlon for the 2nd year in a row
LAUSD. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies has won the Los Angeles Unified School District's Academic Decathlon for the second consecutive year, district officials announced Saturday.
SOCES was presented with the Superintendent's Trophy on Saturday for winning the 43rd annual competition with 40,392.4 out of 60,000 points. The school will compete in the state Academic Decathlon next month.
"For a second year in a row, the Sherman Oaks Studies for Enriched Sciences Academic Decathlon team represents the full potential of what our young scholars can achieve in the classroom and beyond," LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.
"We know our Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies students will continue to soar in Santa Clara at the California Academic Decathlon in March. I am also extremely proud of all schools who participated in this year's competition and so grateful to every coach, family member, employee and friend who supported our decathletes along the way."
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The SOCES decathletes are Eva Karamanoukian, Rose Ortiz, Jaylen Patel, Jericho Milrad, Kavidu De Silva, Luke Bula, Nathan Ark, Luke Leung and Sarah Kovalev. Decathlon coach Suzanna Gordon and principal Susan Parker were honored with the LAUSD Decathlon Hall of Fame Plaque.
The winners were surrounded by hundreds of decathletes from 45 high schools, family, friends, teachers and principals for the event at James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Carvalho, Board of Education President Jackie Goldberg, Board Vice President Scott Schmerelson, Board Member Rocío Rivas, Chief Academic Officer Frances Baez and Region East Superintendent Jose Huerta also joined in the celebration.
Rounding out the top six spots were Verdugo Hills High School with 39,712.1 points, Bell High School with 38,977.1 points, Van Nuys High School with 38,113 points, The Science Academy STEM Magnet with 37,878 points, James A. Garfield High School with 37,749.4 points, and John Marshall High School with 37,656.3 points.
Those six top-scoring district schools are all invited to compete in the California Academic Decathlon events, scheduled for March 21-24 in Santa Clara. The winners in Santa Clara will advance to the United States Academic Decathlon from April 25-27 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.