Palo Alto Unified School District
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| Palo Alto Unified School District | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | March 20, 1893 [1] |
| Region | Palo Alto, California |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Superintendent | Kevin Skelly |
| Website | http://www.pausd.org/ |
The Palo Alto Unified School District is a public school district located in Palo Alto, California. It consists of twelve elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools.
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[edit] History
The district itself was founded on March 20, 1893, with the first school opening in September of that year. [1] Enrollment grew until it reached a peak of 15,575 students in 1967. Afterwards, enrollment declined sharply, forcing the district to close many schools, including Jordan Middle School. The closing of Jordan Middle School was the reason for the renaming of Wilbur Junior High School as Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in 1985. [2] Jordan Middle School was reopened when enrollment grew again. Barron Park Elementary School was added in 1998, and Terman Middle School was reopened in 2001. [1]
[edit] High Schools
[edit] Gunn High School
Henry M. Gunn High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto. The school is named after Henry M. Gunn (1898-1988), who served as the Palo Alto superintendent from 1950-1961. During his tenure he saw the district expand from 5,500 students to 14,000, adding 17 new schools, and is credited with the establishment of De Anza College and Foothill College, two local community colleges. In 1964, the Palo Alto Unified School District announced it would name its third high school after him. Its first class graduated in 1966. The mascot of the school is Timmy the Titan. The student newspaper is The Oracle, part of the High School National Ad Network. There is an internal student-run television news show called the Titan Broadcast Network.
[edit] Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto Senior High School is among the oldest high schools in the region. Founded in 1898, its enrollment today is over 1700 students. "Paly", as the school is known locally, draws high-achieving and scholastically-minded students due to the demographics of its location in the heart of Silicon Valley and its proximity to Stanford University. In 2002 Newsweek magazine ranked it among the top 200 public high schools, based on test scores. In 2007 US News & World Report magazine ranked it #85 out of over 18,000 public high schools. Palo Alto High also carries on a distinguished athletic tradition, marked in recent years by a rivalry with crosstown foe Gunn. Titles won by teams from Paly include California State Championships in Boys Varsity Basketball in 1993 (during which the team went undefeated) and 2006, along with CCS Championships in Football in 2006 and 2007.
[edit] Middle Schools
[edit] David Starr Jordan Middle School
| David Starr Jordan Middle School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 750 North California Ave., Palo Alto, California |
|
| Information | |
| Principal | Sandra Pearson |
| Grades | 6-8 |
| Mascot | Jaguar |
David Starr Jordan Middle School is a middle school in Palo Alto, California. Currently in attendance are approximately 1000 students from grades 6 through 8. The school is named after David Starr Jordan, who was the first president of Stanford University.
The student population (as of 2007) was 65.9% Caucasian, 16.4% Asian, 8.4% Hispanic, and 3.7% African American.
It was closed in 1985 due to lack of enrollment in the district. It was remodeled and reopened in 1991. A bond was approved by the city of Palo Alto in 1995 to allow for further technological upgrades to the school.
The school mascot from 1937-1985 was a dolphin. When Jordan reopened in 1991, the students voted to have the jaguar become the mascot. In 1999, the students voted to have the dolphin returned to its status as co-mascot with the jaguar.
| Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School | |
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| 480 East Meadow Drive, Palo Alto, California, 94306, USA. |
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| Information | |
| Principal | Don Cox |
| Grades | 6-8 |
| Mascot | Panther |
[edit] Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School
Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School is a middle school located at 480 East Meadow Dr., Palo Alto, CA 94306.[3] 2007 STAR test results showed an attendance of 870 students, in grades 6 through 8.[4] It was originally named Ray Lyman Wilbur Junior High School after Ray Lyman Wilbur. After the other two middle schools in the district closed due to lack of enrollment, students transferred to the school, which was renamed Jane Lathrop Stanford (abbreviated JLS) after Jane Stanford, who was the wife of Stanford University founder Leland Stanford.
The land that Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and the adjoining Fairmeadow Elementary School now sit on were once owned by three farmers by the name of Diss[2]. The farmers sold their land to the real-estate developer Joseph Eichler, who later donated the land to the district. [2]
In a now-infamous event on January 2005, a lecture given by business consultant William Fried was questioned after "exotic dancing" and "stripping" appeared on a list of 140 potential jobs that the eighth graders listening to the lecture could consider. After being asked about why he placed them on the list, he went on for several minutes, discussing the viability of the job and how bust size affected exotic dancers' salaries. Angered parents forced then-principal Joseph DiSalvo to reconsider allowing Fried to lecture at future career days.[5]
| Terman Middle School | |
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| 480 East Meadow Drive, Palo Alto, California, 94306, USA. |
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| Information | |
| Principal | Carmen Giedt |
| Grades | 6-8 |
| Mascot | Tiger |
[edit] Terman Middle School
Terman Middle School is located at 655 Arastradero Road in Palo Alto. The school mascot is the tiger.[6]
The original name of the school located on the site was Terman Junior High School (named after Lewis Madison Terman), unrelated to the school currently at the site. [7]
The district placed a new middle school named Terman Middle School at the site in 1999 to deal with rising enrollment. The first school year was 2001-2002. [7] The relocation was met with great controversy by local residents as the district overtook the land by eminent domain from the residing Jewish Community Center. [8]
[edit] Elementary Schools
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c About PAUSD - Background - History (HTML). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
- ^ a b c Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School Website - History Retrieved March 1, 2008
- ^ Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School. GreatSchools.net. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ STAR Test Scores Retrieved May 6, 2008.
- ^ USA Today story on the lecture. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
- ^ http://www.pausd.palo-alto.ca.us/schoolsites/terman/history.htm
- ^ a b History of Terman (HTML). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
- ^ Terman dilemma divides community
