Santa Cruz High School

For the Chilean high school, see Liceo Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz High School
Location
Santa Cruz, California
Coordinates 36°58′18″N 122°02′01″W / 36.97153°N 122.03351°W / 36.97153; -122.03351Coordinates: 36°58′18″N 122°02′01″W / 36.97153°N 122.03351°W / 36.97153; -122.03351
Information
Type Public
Established 1897
School district Santa Cruz City School District
Principal Brent Kline
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 1,040
Color(s)      Red
     White
Athletics Baseball, Basketball, Cheer, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Lacrosse, Marching Band, Color Guard, Jazz Band, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track, Volleyball, Water Polo, Wrestling
Athletics conference CIF CCS - SCCAL
Mascot Cardinal
Website Santa Cruz High School

Santa Cruz High School is a comprehensive public school in Santa Cruz, California which originally opened in 1897 and now serves an enrollment of about 1,040 students in grades nine through twelve. It is part of the Santa Cruz City School District. The school's mascot is a cardinal.

History

The original Santa Cruz High School building was built in 1895 and first opened in 1897. Previously, all High School classes had been taught on the fourth floor of Mission Hill Middle School.[1] The first class graduated at Smith's Opera House on June 7, 1878, with a total of four pupils: Evelyn Pope, Cornelia Chappelmann, John Cooper, and Underwood McCann, receiving diplomas.[2] In 1894, a vote of 530 to 175 decided that a separate building was needed, leading its construction in 1895.

On October 1, 1913 the school caught fire and burned to the ground; the cause of the fire remains unknown. Approximately 5,000 onlookers watched the blaze, having abandoned early efforts to salvage school property; however some things, such as 40 new typewriters, and the school records and trophies, were saved. [3] At the time, there were 345 students attending the school and the principal was George A. Bond.[4] For the next few years the classes were held at various locations around town, for example Bay View and Mission Hill schools,[5] until March 17, 1914 when a vote of nearly 5 to 1 [6] made the decision to construct a new building in the same location. The current building was opened in the fall of 1915,[7] is made of reinforced concrete, and contains 27 classrooms and an auditorium with a capacity of 830.[8] It was designed by architect W. H. Weeks, of San Francisco.

A total of 11 former students were killed in World War I, between 1917 and 1918.[9]

Newspaper

Much of the historical information known about Santa Cruz High School comes from the old school newspaper, "The Trident". First published in 1906 and edited by George Griffin (class of 1907), it gave accounts of events around the school, student opinion, activities and administration at SCHS.[10] After the boys' Manual Training program was introduced in 1916, the Trident was printed on two small student-operated presses in the printing department. The newspaper continued at least into the 1970s. While there is no current newspaper at Santa Cruz High School, there is still a separate Trident Building, now used to teach classes in. [11]

Academics

Santa Cruz High is the only school in the district that uses an Excel Block Schedule. This allows students to choose to take either three or four ninety-minute classes that meet every day in the fall, and then switch to three or four new classes in the spring. This was implemented in 1995 and as of 2001-2002, students were allowed to add a fourth class. One of the programs that utilizes this schedule in particular is the Math Academy program. Students have the option to add an open first period or an open fourth.

Some other notable academic programs at Santa Cruz High School are the English Intensive and World History Intensive—as well as the many AP and honors classes that the school offers. Some examples of these are AP Calculus BC, AP English Lit & Comp, AP English Language, AP US History, and AP Physics (another year long course that allows students to take both the Physics I and Physics II AP tests).[12]

Math Academy

Math Academy is a program founded in approximately 1994 by Stuart Kumaishi, a mathematics instructor at Santa Cruz High.[13] This ongoing program is for freshmen and sophomores only, and utilizes a highly conceptual approach to learning upper math in the high school environment.

While most math programs spend an entire semester or year on a single subject (e.g. Algebra 2) in Math Academy multiple subjects are studied in parallel throughout the year. Emphasis is on projects, mastery of concepts, and application of principles. Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Statistics, Trigonometry, and Calculus are covered. The student may move on to more advanced Calculus and Statistics following the two-year course.

In 2009 Stuart Kumaishi was recognized for his excellence in teaching with an "Eddy."[14] This is an educator award given to the top teacher for Santa Cruz City Schools.

Athletics

Fall Winter Spring
Cross Country Basketball Baseball / Softball
Football Soccer Track
Girls' Golf Wrestling Boys' Golf
Girls' Tennis Swimming
Girls' Volleyball Boys' Lacrosse
Waterpolo Girls' Tennis

Extra Curricular Activities

Band

After being established in 1925, the band program is one of the oldest in California. The Cardinal Regiment, the Santa Cruz High School’s marching band, is the only competitive marching band left in Santa Cruz County.

Woman's Honor Society

The Woman's Honor Society (or Girl's Honor Society, as it was known until 1989), was founded in 1922.[15] It still exists at Santa Cruz High School today.

Drama

The Drama Club was founded c. 1912, along with the arrival of a stage in the original building. It is a student-run after-school activity that still exists today. [16] Well known actress and alumna ZaSu Pitts participated in school theater productions while attending SCHS, between 1914 and 1915. [17]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ http://www.santacruzcoe.org/superintendent/historical_docs/chV.pdf
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ http://santacruzhighschoolalumni.com/history-of-santa-cruz-high-school/
  10. ↑ http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/376/
  11. ↑ http://schs.sccs.net/about/location__maps
  12. ↑ http://server1.santacruzhs.santacruz.k12.ca.us/schs/schoolinfo/schoolprofile.pdf
  13. ↑ http://server1.santacruzhs.santacruz.k12.ca.us/schs/staff/staffPage.php?uid=124
  14. ↑ http://theeddy.sceducation.org/2011-eddy-awards/2010-eddy-awards/2009-eddy-awards/
  15. ↑ http://santacruzhighschoolalumni.com/history-of-santa-cruz-high-school/
  16. ↑ http://santacruzhighschoolalumni.com/history-of-santa-cruz-high-school/
  17. ↑ http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/241/
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