Lilly Street
Garden Grove, CA 92843

The Garden Grove Unified School District was established July 1965. The district has 70 schools in total: 47 elementary schools, ten intermediate schools, seven high schools, two continuation schools, two adult education centers, and two special education schools. The district is the third largest among 28 public school in Orange County with 47,960, ranks 11th in size of more than 1,000 school districts in California, and is the 96th largest school district of 17,800 in the U.S. GGUSD focuses on a core curriculum of basic skills development in reading, writing, science, history-social science, and mathematics. The district also offers music and visual arts instruction, electives, athletics, and leadership development. Their graduation rate stands at 80%. Arts and culture[edit] Garden Grove is home to two stage theaters, the Garden Grove Playhouse, the Gem Theater and the Festival Amphitheater. The Festival Amphitheater hosts Shakespeare Orange County, which presents an annual Shakespeare Festival each summer. Both venues are owned by the City of Garden Grove, but operated by outside entities. The Garden Grove Playhouse is operated by a non-profit group of the same name. The Gem Theater is currently operated by Damien Lorton and Nicole Cassesso of 'One More Productions'. The Festival Amphitheater is managed by Thomas Bradac, the producing artistic director of Shakespeare Orange County. Notable natives and residents[edit] Question book-new.svg This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008) Entertainment[edit] Justin Chon - actor, was born here Wally George - talk-show host Scott Klopfenstein - backup singer, keyboardist, trumpeter and guitarist for the ska-punk band Reel Big Fish Dexter Holland - lead singer, The Offspring, also wrote the song "The Kids Aren't Alright" about the city[15] Steve Martin - actor, comedian, musician and writer Jennette McCurdy - country music artist and actress, iCarly and Sam & Cat Monique Powell - lead singer, Save Ferris Eunice Pringle - actress, notorious for accusing movie mogul Alexander Pantages in 1929 of rape Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman - lead guitarist, The Offspring Atreyu - a Metalcore band Kieu Chinh - actress Poreotics - dance crew Dave Mustaine - lead singer, Megadeth; played baseball in Garden Grove Eastside Little League, lived on Pearce Ave Basil "Bill" Poledouris - Musician, Motion Picture Film Score Music Composer[citation needed] Sports[edit] Bert Blyleven – Major League Baseball pitcher, Hall of Famer, color commentator, graduate of Santiago High School Bobby Crosby - MLB Rookie of the Year (2004), attended Pacifica High School Lenny Dykstra – MLB player with Mets, Phillies; graduate of Garden Grove High School Amanda Freed - Olympic gold medalist in softball (2004), attended Pacifica High School, Bell Intermediate and Patton Elementary Luis Gil - soccer player for Real Salt Lake Gary Hall, Sr. – Olympic swimmer, silver medalist Lorrin "Whitey" Harrison – legendary surfer and surfing innovator Mike Iupati – football player Jeremy Jackson - mixed martial artist Norm Johnson – NFL kicker Darryl Kile – MLB pitcher Leah O'Brien – softball infielder, Olympic gold medalist 1996 Craig Paquette – MLB third baseman, graduate of Rancho Alamitos High School Nam Phan – mixed martial artist Troy Polamalu – NFL player with the Pittsburgh Steelers Dennis Sigalos - motorcycle speedway rider, winner of the 1982 Speedway World Pairs Championship Leo Sutherland - MLB player Ed Templeton – professional skateboarder and artist Alan Trammell – MLB shortstop and manager for the Detroit Tigers Matt Treanor – MLB catcher Randy Vataha – football player at Stanford, Jim Plunkett's favorite receiver Politics[edit] Jim Silva - current State Assemblyman, former Member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, former Mayor of Seal Beach Bill Thomas - Retired U.S. Congressman and former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (and alumnus of Garden Grove High School) Robert K. Dornan- Former U.S. Congressman Janet Nguyen - Orange County supervisor Loretta Sanchez - U.S. Congresswoman Curt Pringle - Former State Assemblyman, Speaker of the Assembly and former Mayor of Anaheim Others[edit] Nicole Brown Simpson - former wife of Heisman Trophy winner, NFL superstar and actor O.J. Simpson Steve Fossett - aviator and adventurer Michael A. Monsoor - Navy SEAL, Medal of Honor recipient Tibor Rubin - Medal of Honor recipient Scott Greenall - musician, recording engineer and producer Adam Yahiye Gadahn - American Al Q'aeda (born Adam Pearlman), English-speaking spokesperson for Bin Laden and Al Q'aeda (Arabic for "The Base")