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Alameda High School

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Alameda High School
The school's 1920s auditorium was designed in the Neo-Classical Revival style.
Address
Map
2201 Encinal Avenue

Alameda
,
CA
94501

United States
Information
TypePublic
MottoAlways High Standards
Established1874
School districtAlameda Unified School District
PrincipalRobert Ithurburn
FacultyApproximately 100
Grades9-12
Enrollment1868 (2010)
Color(s)Gold and white (and, unofficially, black)
AthleticsFootball, basketball, track & field, soccer, softball, volleyball, tennis, baseball, swimming & diving, golf, cross country, badminton, and water polo
Athletics conferenceCIF North Coast Section – WACC
MascotHornets
WebsiteSchool website
Alameda High School
Alameda High School is located in Oakland, California
Alameda High School
Alameda High School is located in California
Alameda High School
Alameda High School is located in the United States
Alameda High School
Location2200 Central Ave., Alameda, California
Built1928
ArchitectCarl Werner; builder: Kump, Ernest J.
Architectural styleClassical Revival
NRHP reference No.77000280[1]
Added to NRHPMay 12, 1977

Alameda High School is a public coeducational high school serving grades 9-12. It is located in Alameda, California, United States, and is part of the Alameda Unified School District.

History

It was at the Alameda Board of Education meeting held on March 6, 1874, that the suggestion to open a "Preparatory Department of a High School" was first presented. On April 17, 1874, C. Y. Johns was elected the first principal. Classes began with 52 students, in July 1874, in a rented room over a drugstore on Park Street known as "Boehmer's Hall". The building still exists today as the China House restaurant.

Boehmer's Hall was only temporary. A new building was already being built on a site on Santa Clara at Chestnut, and was completed and occupied in 1875. The high school shared space with the Grammar Department in what became known as Haight School. The site is still occupied by this school today. The class of 1878, totalling nine students, was the first to graduate from Alameda High School.

It wasn't long before the number of students enrolled in the high school outgrew the space available at Haight. Temporary quarters were located at the Porter school, located on Alameda Avenue, by 1900. A campaign was started for a new separate high school building.

With the help of the high school student body, a bond was passed in the city for the new school. The cornerstone was laid in 1902 on the new site at Central and Walnut. The building was dedicated in 1903 and occupied in time for the December 1903 term.

Continued growth in enrollment required an even larger campus. In 1925 a new bond issue was voted on. The new school, dedicated in 1926, comprised three connected buildings, including the original 1903 structure which was refurbished to blend with the architectural style of the other two. The architecture, designed by local architect Carl Werner, is early twentieth-century Neo-Classical Revival in nature, evoking images of ancient Greek temples with Ionic columns in front of the Kofman Auditorium, a facility known throughout the Bay Area as one of the best of the local playhouses.[2]

By 1955, the "old building" had outlived its usefulness and was replaced with what became known as the "new building" by subsequent students until 1977.

Campaigns to replace old public buildings with newer earthquake-safe structures led to the construction of the newest high school building, across the street from the established campus, on Encinal at Walnut.

Original plans involved tearing down the 1926 buildings and replacing them with a sports complex, and only keeping the "new building" of 1955. A dedicated group of alumni and citizens saved the venerable buildings, and the planned new construction was scaled back to what exists today.

The newest building was first occupied in 1978 and included the site of the former Porter school. The west wing now houses Language and Fine Arts, as well as the Frederick L. Chacon Little Theater. The school was made an Alameda Historical Monument in 1976 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Enrollment and academics

Alameda High School is an ethnically diverse school, reporting, for the 2014–2015 academic year, a composition that is 50% White, 10% Asian, 8.5% Hispanic/Latino, 5% Filipino, 4% African-American, less than 1% American Indian/Native Alaskan, and less than 1% mixed race/not reporting.

The school has received National Blue Ribbon recognition and California Distinguished School and Digital High School awards. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, offering more than a dozen Advanced Placement courses. The school also has a very strong journalism course which produces the monthly student newspaper publication The Oak Leaf.

Its Academic Performance Index is 9/10, also the highest on the island, with a similar school's rank of 2/10. Alameda is currently ranked #420 in the top 1200 high schools in the US.

In 2012, 88% of its students graduated, with 75% of those graduates going on to attend college.

Athletics

Alameda Islanders Rugby playing Marin Highlanders

AHS is part of the West Alameda County Conference (WACC) of the North Coast Section (NCS) of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).

Encinal High, Alameda High, and St. Joseph Notre Dame High School collectively field men's and women's rugby union teams.[3]

Other varsity sports include:

  • Badminton
  • Baseball
  • Basketball (men's and women's)
  • Cheerleading
  • Cross country
  • Diving
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Soccer (men's and women's)
  • Softball
  • Swimming (men's and women's)
  • Tennis (men's and women's)
  • Track & field
  • Volleyball (men's and women's)
  • Water polo (men's and women's)

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ Ellson, Michelle (April 12, 2013). "Residents: Fix old Alameda High buildings for students". thealamedan.org. The Alamedan. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  3. ^ "Alameda Rugby".
  4. ^ Dick Bartell Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
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