Gunn High School

Gunn High School
Location
780 Arastradero Road Palo Alto, CA 94306 United States
Information
Type	Public
Established	1964
Principal	Katya Villalobos
Grades	9–12
Mascot	Timmy the Titan
Website	Official Website

Henry M. Gunn High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California. Gunn High School is a four-year high school with a current enrollment of just over 1,900 students. The Class of 1966 was the first class to graduate from Gunn High School. The academic year has two semesters with 240 minutes of weekly instruction for every class. The school's schedule operates on a rotating bell schedule with classes assigned to lettered "periods" from A through G.

Established in 1964, Gunn High School was named after the late Henry M. Gunn (1898–1988), who served as the Palo Alto superintendent from 1950 to 1961. In 1964, the Palo Alto Unified School District announced it would name the district's third high school after him.

The ethnic and racial makeup of the 2010–2011 student population is: Caucasian – 49.5%, Asian – 34.9%, Hispanic – 7.4%, Asian Indian – 5.5%, African American – 2.1%, Multiple or no response – 20.2%. Males make up 51.0% and females make up 49.0%. Approximately 6% of the student body is economically disadvantaged and 4% are English Learners.

The mascot of the school is Timmy the Titan. The student newspaper is The Oracle, part of the High School National Ad Network. The internal student-run television news show is the Titan Broadcast Network, featuring a news show called "The G" every morning.

In the spring of 2010, Gunn High School was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church. Rather than responding with violence, students and staff staged a successful counter-demonstration in the form of a Phelps-A-Thon. As a result, the school received favorable press and publicity and raised more than $1,100.00 for its gay-straight alliance.

Academic reputation

U.S. News & World Report rated Gunn High School 66th in 2007, 74th in 2008, and 64th in 2010. Newsweek rated Gunn High School the 81st best high school in America in 2008 and 42nd in 2011.

95.9% of the graduating class go on to attend college, with 80.2% going to four-year colleges. The average SAT score for Gunn seniors is 1942 for the Class of 2010 (633 CR, 673 M, 636 W). Gunn has one of the highest average SAT scores for public high schools in the United States. Gunn also has many students who are selected as National Merit Semifinalists – 43 in 2007, 44 in 2008, 31 in 2009, 42 in 2010 and 30 in 2011. In addition, 50 students received a National Merit letter of commendation in 2007, 50 in 2008, 60 in 2009, 68 in 2010 and 74 in 2011. Usually 25% of the Gunn senior class receives one of these two National Merit honors.

Gunn offers 22 AP classes and 8 Honors classes that count for the weighted GPA. In May 2010, 657 students took 1820 AP tests. 93% scored 3 or higher and 54% scored a grade of 5. Gunn does not rank students individually – ranking is reported by decile.

Education in mathematics and sciences is particularly strong. In 2004, 5 students qualified for the USAMO out of around 250 nationally, and during the 2004–2005 school year 5 out of the approximately 35 American students in the Gold Division of the USACO were from Gunn.^{[citation needed]} In 2009, nine students qualified for the USAMO. Gunn also consistently places in the Top 3 at the Bay Area Mathematics Olympiad (BAMO). In 2011, the Gunn team placed 9th at the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament.

In 2011, Gunn is home to four national semifinalists in the Siemens Competition and the Intel Science Talent Search, two of the most prestigious science competitions in America. In each competition, one individual went on to compete at the finalist stage.^{[citation needed]}

36 members of the class of 2012 were named National Merit Semifinalists.^{[citation needed]}

Student suicide

Gunn High School received national attention in 2009 after five of its students committed suicide [1]. Attempts have since been made to try to improve the mental health of students attending the school.

PLTW

Gunn is also host to PLTW, an organization that promotes engineering and technology. It has Digital Electronics and Intro to Engineering Design, as well as Principles of Engineering.All three classes are currently taught by the same teacher, however that may change soon. Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics are offered in alternating years.

Robotics Team

The acclaimed Gunn Robotics Team (GRT), established in 1997 and advised by teacher and former NASA and Lockheed Martin employee Bill Dunbar, has consistently placed in the top 25 at the FIRST Robotics Competition. It is also the only FIRST Robotics team to have won the national animation award twice, in 1997 and 2006. They also won best models worldwide in their 2010 animation.

Notable alumni

• Trip Adler, class of 2002 – CEO and co-founder of the document-sharing website Scribd
• Steve Almond, class of 1984 – writer (The Evil B.B. Chow, Candyfreak)
• Mehdi Ballouchy, class of 2002 – professional soccer player, currently with the New York Red Bulls
• Matt Flynn, class of 1988 – drummer (The B-52's, Maroon 5)
• Andrew Jacobson, class of 2003 – professional soccer player, currently with FC Dallas
• Stephan Jenkins, class of 1983 – lead singer for Third Eye Blind
• Stanley Jordan, class of 1977 – jazz guitarist (Magic Touch)
• David Leavitt, class of 1979 – author (The Lost Language of Cranes, The Body of Jonah Boyd)
• Brad Lee, class of 1998 – musician (The Album Leaf, Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects)
• Zoe Lofgren, class of 1966 – U.S. Representative for California's 16th congressional district, 1995 – present
• Matt Marquess, class of 2004 – professional soccer player for the Kansas City Wizards
• Brian Martin, class of 1992 – Olympic medal-winning luger
• Shemar Moore, class of 1988 – actor (Criminal Minds, The Young and the Restless)
• Ann Packer, class of 1977 – author (The Dive from Clausen's Pier)
• George Packer, class of 1978 – journalist (Mother Jones, The New Yorker)
• Tom E. Politzer, class of 1976 – saxophonist (Tower of Power)
• Rick Porras, class of 1984 – film producer (co-producer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Contact)
• Brett Simon, class of 1992 – film director (Assassination of a High School President)
• Anne Wojcicki, class of 1991 – biologist, founder of 23andMe and wife of Google founder Sergey Brin
• Yiaway Yeh, class of 1996 – Mayor of Palo Alto, 2012 – present
• Jessica Yu, class of 1983 – Oscar-winning documentarian and film director (Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien, Ping Pong Playa)

External links

• Gunn High School website
• Gunn Alumni Site
• The Oracle, student-run newspaper
• Gunn Auto Tech
• Gunn High School's The Partisan Review, student-run political magazine patterned after the now-defunct Partisan Review
• Gunn Robotics Team
• Gunn Web Design Club's New Gunn Site
• Phelps-A-Thon.com