Freedom High School (Oakley, California)

{{Infobox school

| name = Freedom High School

| motto =

| established = 1996

| type = 4A

| locale =

| grades = 9–12

| principal = Steve Amaro

| superintendent = Eric Volta

| address = 1050 Neroly Road

| city = Oakley

| state = California

| zipcode = 94561-3843

| country = USA

| students = 2,478 (2023–2024){{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=0621600&ID=062160005726|title=Freedom High|publisher=National Center for Education Statistics|access-date=December 28, 2024}}

| teaching_staff = 116.68 (FTE)

| ratio = 21.24

| athletics_conference = CIF Bay Valley Athletic League[https://bvalsports.org/]

| school_colours = {{color box|navy}}{{color box|silver}}{{color box|maroon}} Navy blue, silver, and maroon

| mascot = Falcon

| nickname = Falcons

| free_label =

| free =

| website = [http://luhsd.net/freedom Freedom High School]

| coordinates = {{coord|37.970|-121.720|region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}

}}

Freedom High School is located in Oakley, California, United States. It opened in 1996 on the grounds of Liberty High School, before moving to the new campus, as a part of the Liberty Union High School District. The current Liberty Union High School District contains Freedom, Liberty, Heritage, and Independence High Schools.

History

Liberty Union High School District opened Freedom High School in 1996,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK5yzjeLfVo |title=This is Oakley 1996 (Freedom High) |date=2019-09-25 |last=The Falcon |access-date=2025-02-24 |via=YouTube}} because all the new students were freshman the school did not have a graduating class that year. Freedom High School is currently ranked #9,782 in National Rankings by U.S News{{Cite web |title=Top High schools in America |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california/districts/liberty-union-high/freedom-high-school-2455}}

Athletics

Freedom High School is known as the Falcons, as of 2025 Freedom offers multiple sports which all compete in Bay Valley Athletic League{{Cite web |last=League |first=Bay Valley Athletic |title=Bay Valley Athletic League |url=https://bvalsports.org/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Bay Valley Athletic League |language=en-US}}

Baseball
Basketball
Cheerleading
Cross-Country
Football
Golf
Soccer
Softball
Swimming & Diving
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball
Water Polo
Wrestling
Bowling
E-Sports

In addition, Boys and Girls Rugby is offered as a club level sports.

Freedom is known for the Football, Soccer, Baseball, and Cheer Team as they have established themselves offer the years as competition teams.

= Football =

Freedom Football has never won a state championship. Their best year, 2016-17 under the leadership of Kevin Hartwig went 11-2 overall and had a league record of 5-0. Ending the season at the national ranking of 102{{Cite web |title=Teams - Freedom Falcons Football (Oakley, CA) |url=https://www.maxpreps.com/ca/oakley/freedom-falcons/football/history/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.maxpreps.com}} and state rank of 13. The season would end in a loss against De La Salle{{Citation |title=De La Salle High School (Concord, California) |date=2025-02-04 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_La_Salle_High_School_(Concord,_California) |access-date=2025-02-24 |language=en}} 49-7 and against St. Mary's 49-40.

Freedom competes in CIF North Coast Section,{{Cite web |url=https://www.cifncshome.org/widget/school/directory?school_id=1453§ion_id=7 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.cifncshome.org}} only one student that has competed in football here has seen a Super Bowl which is Joe Mixon.{{Cite web |title=Rams 23-20 Bengals (Feb 13, 2022) Final Score |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401326638/rams-bengals |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=ESPN |language=en}}

Clubs and extracurricular activities

=Controversy=

Controversy started surrounding the formation of a Caucasian Club in November 2003 at the school. Freshman Lisa McClelland gathered about 250 signatures from students and adults to start a club that would focus attention on European heritage and history. Other societies already found in the school include the Black Student Union, the Latinos Unidos, and the ALOHA club for Asian-American students. Lou Calabro, president of the European-American Issues Forum, became an informal advisor of the club and sent letters to two civil rights organizations that the school's administration be investigated. However, the Caucasian Club was accused of fueling racial tension[http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030922-115056-2744r.htm "Caucasian Club creates imbroglio"], Washington Times and was forced to disband. McClelland eventually transferred out of the school.

''If You Really Knew Me''

Freedom High School was featured on the 2010 MTV reality show If You Really Knew Me. The show chronicles high schools across the nation undergoing a "challenge day" where students share their stories. The idea of challenge day is to break down cliques within the school, especially those that result from racism.{{Cite web |url=http://www.challengeday.org/mtv/downloads/Episode101_OakleyCA_FREEDOM_HS.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807091233/http://www.challengeday.org/mtv/downloads/Episode101_OakleyCA_FREEDOM_HS.pdf |archive-date=2010-08-07 |url-status=dead }} The school now has an on-campus group that holds mini challenge days frequently for classes.

Notable alumni

Joe Mixon (2014), running back for the Houston Texans{{cite web |title=A hometown Joe |url=https://www.bengals.com/news/a-hometown-joe-18825738 |website=www.bengals.com}}
Ronnie Rivers (2017), running back for the Los Angeles Rams{{cite web |title=Ronnie Rivers |url=https://gobulldogs.com/sports/football/roster/ronnie-rivers/10551 |website=www.GoBulldogs.com}}
Kyle Harmon (2018), college football linebacker for the San Jose State Spartans{{cite web |title=Kyle Harmon - Football 2022 |url=https://sjsuspartans.com/sports/football/roster/season/2022/player/kyle-harmon |website=SJSU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - San Jose State Spartans}}
Kyren Paris (2019), shortstop for Los Angeles Angels{{cite web |title=Kyren Paris Class of 2019 - Player Profile {{!}} Perfect Game USA |url=https://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=513973 |website=Perfect Game}}
Joey Aguilar (2021), quarterback for the Appalachian State Mountaineers{{cite web |title=Joey Aguilar - Football |url=https://appstatesports.com/sports/football/roster/joey-aguilar/8102 |website=App State Athletics |language=en}}

References

Freedom High School Planner/Handbook 2009