Congratulations to the La Habra HS Marching Band and Color Guard! This weekend, they performed their show, Imagine, at the California State Band Championships at Huntington Beach HS and finished 6th in the entire state! This is the 2nd time in three years that we have placed in the Top 10 in the state!

Highlander Families,

As we head into Thanksgiving break, we’re filled with gratitude for our amazing Highlander families!

• Mark your calendars for upcoming performances from our talented Choir, Band, Visual Arts, and Dance programs in the coming weeks.
• Thank you to everyone who joined us for our three incredible nights of Clue!
• Our winter athletics season is underway, with promising starts in boys and girls basketball, soccer, wrestling, girls water polo, cheer, and song.
• With just two weeks until Final Exams the week of December 16th, let’s stay focused and finish strong!

Wishing you a restful and joyful Thanksgiving break!

It is always great to be a Highlander!

Steve Garcia

Principal- La Habra High School

The spirit of giving is alive at LHHS! FCA has kicked off the heartwarming mission of Operation Christmas Child, preparing holiday gifts for less fortunate children. Over 100 Highlanders came together with care and compassion, writing heartfelt notes, packing thoughtful gifts, and wrapping boxes to spread holiday cheer to children across the globe. Their generosity and kindness will undoubtedly make this season brighter for so many.

This season, we're reminded of how much we have to be thankful for! To share that gratitude, we invited our entire student body to add their reflections to our Thankful Tree, creating a beautiful display of collective joy and appreciation. 

There is nothing like a cozy PJ Spirit Day at LHHS to bring out the Highlander pride in style and comfort! 

Our amazing LHHS Counseling Team sent our Highlanders off for Thanksgiving break on a sweet note! Hundreds of students were rewarded with cookies for their academic excellence, achieving no D/F grades in any of their classes. Way to go, Highlanders! 

Congratulations to our Mock Trial Team for an incredible season of hard work and dedication! This talented group competed at the Superior Court in Santa Ana, proudly representing LHHS with excellence and determination.

Congratulations to our Song Team! They’re bringing home 2nd place at their first competition of the season!

Amazing job as your hard work and talent are shining already. Here’s to an incredible season ahead!

La Habra Rotary’s Top Female Student of the Fall: McKenzie Henao!

McKenzie is the epitome of excellence — a stellar student, teammate, and leader who inspires everyone around her with her dependability, passion, and resilience. She carries the Highlander pride with grace, proving that success is built on hard work and determination.

Here are just a few of McKenzie’s impressive accomplishments:

⚽ Four-year Soccer Team Member (Team Captain)

🏈 Starting Linebacker on LHHS’s inaugural Flag Football Team

🏅 Scholar-Athlete Recognition every season

🏆 La Habra HS Female Rookie of the Year

📚 Member of the rigorous Heritage Program

🎓 4.07 GPA and earning straight A’s in all seven classes

🏅 Two-year National Honor Society Member

🎖 Honors at Entrance recipient

🎉 Three-year ASB Member and current Executive Secretary

🏆 Founding member of LHHS’s elite Athletic Council

💙 Active in Best Buddies and FCA

🌟 Community volunteer for El Portal Soccer, WACC, Fern Drive Carnival, and the La Habra 5K Race

McKenzie’s talents and drive extend beyond high school. She has committed to playing soccer at Cal State LA on an athletic scholarship and plans to attend medical school and become an anesthesiologist.

We are so proud of you, McKenzie! Thank you for representing LHHS with pride, passion, and unwavering excellence.

La Habra Rotary’s Top Male Student of the Fall Kenny Saucedo

Kenny isn’t just an athlete or a student—he’s a leader, an inspiration, and the image of what it means to be a Highlander. Watching him excel with his calm demeanor, relentless determination, and undeniable grit has been an honor.

Here are just a few of Kenny’s incredible achievements:

📚 Maintains a 4.3 GPA

🎓 Completed 15 Honors and AP courses through the Heritage Program

🏅 Earned straight A’s for two consecutive years

📖 Currently taking AP Economics, AP Government, AP English Literature, and AP Statistics

🏆 Four-year Scholar Athlete and National Honor Society member

💨 Track League Champion in the 4x100 relay

⛳ Golfer

🏈 Two-time League Champion

🎯 Elevated the football program from Division 6 to Division 3

🥇All-League Quarterback (2023)

🏈 1300 all purpose yards and scored TD’s passing, rushing, receiving, and as a punt returner.

🌟 Recognized as a Top 100 Student with Honors at Entrance

Kenny plans to continue playing college football, with aspirations to attend UCLA, USC, Stanford, Dartmouth, or Cornell. With a passion for Architecture and Business/Economics, he dreams of owning his own contracting company in the future.

Kenny, you are a shining example of excellence and leadership. We are so proud of you and can’t wait to see all that you’ll accomplish! 

Click on this LINK to check out the November 2024 edition of The Scotch Tape, our student-created online Newspaper.

Boys Basketball



We started the season 3-0 after victories over Quartz Hill, El Segundo, and Orange Lutheran to reach the Semi-Final of the Rumble of Rosecrans Tournament which features 32 teams. On Tuesday both Acen Jimenez (Junior) and Jaedon Anderson (Senior) entered the 1,000 career point club in the same game. Jaedon Anderson had 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals Monday. Sebastian Esparza had 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals Tuesday. Finally, Acen Jimenez has been dominating to start the season averaging 29.3 points per game including a 36 point performance that included a game-winning 3-point shot with 12 seconds remaining against Orange Lutheran. On Friday, we lost 64-45 to Damien HS (18th in the state) in the semifinal game of the tournament before taking 3rd place on Saturday night with a 75-63 win over Canyon HS. We we led by Acen Jimenez with 32, Christian Howlin with 13, Jaedon Anderson with 11 and Joaquin Arciaga with 10

Girls Basketball

We played two games this week to start our 2024-25 season, and we are very happy with how we started this season! We are playing hard and learning through these new experiences. On Wednesday, we traveled to Whittier High School and battled with an early lead but couldn’t overcome some foul trouble and lost 36-31.  Ashley Miller led us with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Eliana Corona with 6 points and 9 rebounds. On Friday, we traveled to Northwood, a solid team with experience. Still, our defense and size were the difference in the game, coming out with a 46-32 victory with massive games from Ashley Miller (15 points, 17 rebounds) and Penelope Miles (17 points, 16 rebounds) This is Coach Burresch's first victory as a head coach!

Girls Water Polo



We started the season this week against two strong programs but fell to Los Altos (9-4)  and Arcadia (14-5). We are in a very strong league this season, so we needed to see what skills and tactics we could improve. The team is training very hard, and the staff is seeing improvement at all levels.

Girls Soccer

We are excited for the start of soccer season! We opened up with a scrimmage against Santa Fe on Friday night and will scrimmage Troy on Tuesday during Thanksgiving week. Our first official game of the season is on December 2nd at home against Long Beach Jordan! JV plays at 4 PM, and varsity plays at 5:30 PM. We will then travel on the road against Santiago High School at 3 PM on December 3rd and against Anaheim on December 5th at 5 PM. We will finish off the busy week with a home game against Ghar on Friday, December 6th, at 3:30 PM. Please mark your calendars and come out and support us as we prepare for our new season!

Boys Soccer

We traveled to compete in our first game of the season, and the effort proved worthwhile as we secured a 1-0 victory against the Bolsa Grande Matadors. The match was scoreless at halftime, with both teams battling evenly, but the boys stepped up their game in the second half. Matthew McCullough scored the winning goal, marking a strong start for his junior year. Looking ahead, the boys are excited to play in front of our home crowd. Our next match is against Bonita at 5:30 p.m. on December 3rd. This game will kick off a stretch of four consecutive home matches, allowing us to build on our momentum.

Wrestling

Congratulations to Elias Rodriguez (12). Elias placed 1st and earned the Lower Weight MVP at today's Capo Valley Duals Tournament! He dominated the competition, finishing with an incredible 6-0 record and 6 pins‼️

Please call 562-266-5200 for more information or with any questions you have regarding this newsletter.

Office Hours

7:30am - 4:00 pm

La Habra High School | Website