David graduated from the school in the Garden Grove Unified School District 20 years ago, as part of the class of 2005.
Two decades later, David returned to his alma mater and watched as students funneled through the main quad, just as he once had in between classes.
"The bells sound exactly the same," Gonzalez remembered.
As a first-generation American, he saw himself in many of the students, their eagerness for the future, but also their nervousness and first-day jitters.
While these students' paths to graduation feel familiar, some big investments at the school are helping many succeed in and out of the classroom.
The Early College Academy allows students like Jazmine Vazquez to take courses in high school that also earn her free college credit.
"It's the last stretch for me and I'm so excited to see what college I end up in, or just finally feel independent," Vazquez said. "I feel so much more prepared and I'm just ready for the college life at the start of my senior year."
"Once they finish this program, they will have earned 60 credits, so 60 units, for in college that allow them to have an A.A. degree," principal Todd Nirk said.
GGUSD's Community Schools program sets up students and their families with the resources they may need.
"If they need documents, they might need a birth certificate or something like that; we can get a mobile unit here. We can get it printed for them, and they get it right then and there," program coach Erin Chase said. "If they need to be screened for vision, for dental, we can get a mobile unit here."
Students also get a chance to learn and become fluent in a different language through the school's Dual Language Immersion program.
"They take two classes a year. It's taught entirely in Spanish, so they really progress toward becoming bi-literate, and bilingual and bicultural," Nirk said.
Alexa Bazan is only a sophomore, but already sees the benefits these special programs will have in her future.
"If I do become an immigration lawyer, I will have clients who won't be able to communicate because they don't speak English or something like that, but I will be there," Bazan said. "I will help them, and I'll talk to them in Spanish when they really need help."
Whatever route Los Amigos students take toward their diplomas, David said he's proud to know his old high school continues to push students to greater futures 20 years later.
GGUSD said it has plans to expand the programs offered at Los Amigos to other schools in the district.