Franklin High School (Portland, Oregon)

Franklin High School
Address
5405 SE Woodward Street
Portland, Oregon, 97206
United States
Information
Type Public
Opened 1914
School district Portland Public Schools
Principal Shay James[1][2][3]
Grades 9-12[2]
Number of students 1032[4]
Color(s) Maroon and grey   [1]
Athletics conference OSAA Portland Interscholastic League 6A-1[1]
Mascot Quakers[1]
Newspaper The Franklin Post
Website

Benjamin Franklin High School is a public high school in Portland, Oregon, United States. Franklin is located in central southeast Portland in the South Tabor neighborhood, at the foot of Mt. Tabor.

Contents

History

Founded in 1914, it is Portland's fourth high school. 136 students attended the first year. The current brick building opened in September 1917.[5] The building was designed by Floyd Naramore.[6]

Due to the baby boom and passing of a $25 million building levy by the school district in 1947, a new addition for arts, industrial arts, and home economics departments was slated.[5] The Franklin football field, also known as "The Bowl", was actually planned out originally as a walkway towards the school, making the front of the school facing towards S.E. Division street and the back facing S.E. Woodward Ave. The walkway was going to go from Division street all the way to the school, but a heavy rain storm one night caused a 20' sinkhole in the spot where the football field is today. The Bowl was named at one time one of the best places to have a football game.

Benjamin Franklin statues

The school contains two statues of Benjamin Franklin, for whom the school is named: a wooden figure hand-carved by a local artist in the 1970s and a larger stone statue near the Franklin Bowl athletic field, affectionately known as Benji. Benji is an honorary graduate of the school, having been fitted for a massive mortar-board cap and tassel by the Class of 1976. The wooden statue had his cane stolen sometime around 2007 by vandals who broke into the school.

Student profile

The student population is 58% white, 16% Asian/Pacific Islander, 13% Latino, and 8% African American.[4]

In 2008, 80% of the school's seniors received their high school diploma. Of 354 students, 282 graduated, 52 dropped out, 5 received a modified diploma, and 15 are still in high school.[7][8] In 2009, 31% of the students were transfers into the school.[9]

Sports

Franklin's colors are Maroon, gray, and white. Their rivals are the Cleveland Warriors. The Marshall Minutemen were also rivals of Franklin before Marshall was closed down in 2011. Many students who attended Marshall became students of Franklin High School during the 2011-2012 school year. Former University of Oregon Track Coach and Nike founder Bill Bowerman coached the football team in 1934. Franklin won the state basketball championships in 1921, 1956 and 1959.

Entertainment

Dr. Giggles(1992) a teenage slasher movie was filmed on location at Franklin High School.

Robotics Team Controversy

In October 2010 the school decided to discontinue its competitive robotics team due to the lack of any school official sanctioning the team, allegedly by locking the team out of their workspace without access to their tools, or the more than $7000 the team had raised to sustain the program. The team had previously been a part of the school for 7 years.[10]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c d http://www.osaa.org/schools.aspx/Franklin/
  2. ^ a b "Oregon School Directory 2008-09". Oregon Department of Education. pp. 139. http://www.ode.state.or.us/pubs/directory/school-directory-september-2008.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-28. 
  3. ^ Hammond, Betsy (2009-09-10). "New principals for Portland-area high schools". OregonLive.com (The Oregonian). http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/09/new_principals_for_portlandare.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
  4. ^ a b Melton, Kimberly (2010-01-21). "What will be the fate of my high school?". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/01/what_will_be_the_fate_of_my_hi.html. Retrieved 2010-02-09. 
  5. ^ a b Polich, Edward L. (1950). A history of Portland's secondary school system with emphasis on the superintendents and the curriculum (Thesis/dissertation). University of Portland. pp. 80,160. OCLC 232551057. 
  6. ^ Ritz, Richard Ellison (2002). "Naramore, Floyd". Architects of Oregon: A Biographical Dictionary of Architects Deceased – 19th and 20th Centuries. Portland, Oregon: Lair Hill Publishing. pp. 293–294. ISBN 0-9726200-2-8. 
  7. ^ "State releases high school graduation rates". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/06/high_school_dropout_rates.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
  8. ^ "Oregon dropout rates for 2008". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. http://blog.oregonlive.com/education_impact/2009/06/Dropout-Rates.xls. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
  9. ^ Melton, Kimberly (2010-02-04). "How many transfer, and where do they go?". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/02/how_many_transfer_and_where_do.html. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 
  10. ^ http://www.thebeenews.com/news/story.php?story_id=129022143848652900
  11. ^ "Oregon Stater". correction to previous article. Oregon State University Alumni Association. July 2002. http://alumni.oregonstate.edu/stater/issues/Stater0209/campnews.html. Retrieved 29 November 2010. "Correction: An article about Douglas Engelbart in the April 2002 issue of the Stater incorrectly stated that Engelbart grew up near Salem. He grew up in southeast Portland and attended Franklin High School." 
  12. ^ "Howard Hobson; Basketball Pioneer And Coach Was 87", New York Times: obituary, 10 June 1991, http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/10/obituaries/howard-hobson-basketball-pioneer-and-coach-was-87.html, retrieved 29 November 2010, "Mr. Hobson, who was born in Portland, began his basketball career as a player at Franklin High School." 
  13. ^ "Meet Blazers Broadcaster Steve Jones". Portland Trail Blazers. http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/Steve_Jones_Bio010813.html. Retrieved 29 November 2010. "One of the most respected and watched NBA analysts, Steve "Snapper" Jones returns for a 21st year as courtside analyst for Blazers games on on KGW-TV 8 and Fox Sports Net ... ones is a Portland native who led Franklin High School to the state basketball championship in 1959." 
  14. ^ "Legedu Naanee". biographical and statistical sketch. National Football League. 2010. http://www.nfl.com/players/legedunaanee/profile?id=NAA444955. Retrieved 29 November 2010. "High School: Franklin HS [Portland, OR]"