San José High School (SJHS) is a public high school in San Jose, California. It is the second oldest public high school in California and was founded in 1863. The school mascot is the Bulldog.
In 1985, the school was renamed San Jose Academy and later San José High Academy as part of the federal magnet schools concept, but on March 25, 2010, it returned to its original name, San José High School. The school has offered the International Baccalaureate program since 1985. Since 1999 the school also has offered the IB Middle Years Program along with its major feeder middle school, Burnett Middle School. In Newsweek magazine's 2005 ranking of United States high schools, San Jose High Academy was ranked 220th.
The campus facility has had several renovations in 2000, 2004, and 2007â€"present. A new science building opened in March 2009. A new state-of-the-art Career Technology Engineering building was opened for classes in September 2010. The new 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m2) facility houses the Engineering and the Project Lead the Way Program (pre-engineering program). Recently, the school has had an increase of students to over 1200 students, the largest population since the late 1980s.
History
It all started in the Winter of 1863-1864 in a room above Orbon's Flour Store at 210 S. 1st (The Bell, 1964). Mr. Orbon sold his flour store somewhere in the Fall of 1864 or so & the high school was moved to a one-room structure on Washington Square that was built in 1857. In 1868, a $25,000 bond issue was used to build a new $20,000 building. This 8 room/3 story brick & stone site at Santa Clara St. and 7th housed both Horace Mann and San Jose High (The Bell, 1964). High School classes were primarily held on the 2nd floor.
San José High School was then relocated to San Fernando St between 6th & 7th Streets from 1898-1952. It was actually on the San Jose State College campus at One Washington Square. This building was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake with a third building (Spanish Colonial in style) functioning from 1908-1951.
Students moved into the current location at the corner of 24th & Julian in 1952 with the first class graduating in 1953.
Athletics
The following sports are offered at San José:
Big Bone Game
The football teams of San José High School and Abraham Lincoln High School (San Jose, California) face off at San Jose City College each Thanksgiving in the Big Bone Game. This rivalry game has been held since 1943; it gets its name from a San José High School student, who found a large steer leg in his father's butcher shop in 1945 and declared it the trophy for the winning school. The Junior Varsity football teams from both schools hold a Little Bone Game the Thursday prior to the Big Bone Game.
Art/Music/Drama
Notable alumni
- Jack Z. Anderson, class of 1923, former congressman for California's 8th congressional district.
- Don Edwards, class of 1932, former FBI agent and retired congressman of California (1963â€"1995).
- Franklin Mieuli, class of 1940, former principal owner of the Golden State Warriors NBA team.
- Irene Dalis, class of 1942, founder of the San Jose Opera.
- Jay DeFeo, class of 1946, abstract expressionist artist.
- Norman Mineta, class of 1949, former San Jose mayor, congressman and United States Secretary of Transportation.
- Mike Honda, class of 1959, congressman for California's 15th congressional district.
- Jacque Robinson, class of 1981, MVP of 1982 Rose Bowl and 1985 Orange Bowl.
- Cung Le, class of 1990, UFC fighter and film star.
References
External links
- School website
- School district website