Independence High School, also referred to as IHS and Inde, is a public high school located in the Berryessa district of Santa Clara County, California, United States. The school is operated by the East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD). Its namesake is the United States Declaration of Independence, which celebrated its bicentennial in the same year Independence High was established in 1976.Independence is considered a magnet school, with three specialized programs, called "academies": electronics, finance, and teaching. Later magnet programs were extended into the performing arts and space technology, which were cut in 2009 due to budget constraints.Independence students are called "The '76ers" and the mascot is named "Sammy the Sixer", who is an interpretation of an American founding father, George Washington.PopulationDemographicsOut of the sixteen high schools ESUHSD operates, Independence services the largest student population, with 3,054 students as of the 2013-2014 school year. Out of these, 3.7% identified as White, 2.7% identified as African-American, 34.1% identified as Hispanic or Latino, 54.9% identified as Asian (19.0% identified as Filipino), 0.2% identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.7% identified as Pacific Islander, 0.8% gave either mixed or no response, 8.4% are students with disabilities, and 17.6% of the student population are considered English learners.
