Abraham Lincoln High School (San Francisco)

Abraham Lincoln High School

The seal of Abraham Lincoln High School
Address
2162 24th Avenue
Sunset District, San Francisco, California 94116
USA
Coordinates 37°44′50″N 122°28′52″W / 37.74728°N 122.48103°W / 37.74728; -122.48103Coordinates: 37°44′50″N 122°28′52″W / 37.74728°N 122.48103°W / 37.74728; -122.48103
Information
School type Public school
Motto Latin: Finimus Coepturi
(Finish to begin)
Established August 27, 1940 (1940-08-27)
Founder Clyde W. White
School board San Francisco Board of Education
School district San Francisco Unified School District
Superintendent Richard Carranza
School number 405
Dean Debra A. Lee
Principal Shari Balisi
Enrollment 2027
Campus type Urban
Color(s)          Red and Gold
Athletics conference CIF San Francisco Section
Mascot Mustang
Nickname Mustangs
Accreditation Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Newspaper Lincoln Log
Website lincolnhigh.net

Abraham Lincoln High School (ALHS) is a California Distinguished and fully accredited public high school located in the Sunset District of San Francisco, California. In 2017, ALHS was ranked #822 nationally and earned a silver medal by US News & World Report, placing it in the top 3.1% of public high schools nationwide.

ALHS is a comprehensive high school with a long history of high expectations and excellence. ALHS provides a positive, nurturing school environment that supports high academic performance and high student self-image. ALHS offers a rigorous AP and honors program, and offers its students the opportunity to specialize through six academic programs: the ACE pathway, the Biotechnology Pathway, The Business Academy, Digital Media Design Academy, Teacher Academy, and Green Academy. The Business Academy, Digital Media Design Academy, Teacher Academy, and Green Academy are SFUSD CTE (Career Technical Education) supported programs. The Business & Teacher Academies are CA Partnership Academy (CPA) Grant funded programs. The Biotech Pathway and the Teacher Academy are unique to Lincoln and are currently being modeled in other schools in the district. The Green Academy is a innovative program which teaches students cutting edge Green Technology concepts and skills. Finally, the ACE pathway is available to college bound students who want to focus on art and architecture, construction and engineering

In addition to its academies and pathways, ALHS provides services for Special Education severely and non-severely impaired students, a comprehensive English Language Learner (ELL) program, a Mandarin Secondary Dual Language Pathway, Spanish, Mandarin, French, and Japanese instruction through honors and AP, a GATE pathway for gifted and talented students, a Wellness Center, Peer Resource Program, AVID, Step-to-College, and a vast array of clubs, athletics, and other extracurricular activities.


History

Abraham Lincoln High School was established on Tuesday, August 27, 1940, accepting approximately 950 students under Lincoln's first principal, Clyde W. White. Its opening and dedication ceremony was held on September 22, 1940.

A 1938 bond issue, approved by San Francisco voters to address the increasing population in the Western San Francisco area, financed the incorporation of Abraham Lincoln High School with a three-story building of 50 classrooms, library, and cafeteria as well as a football field, costing over $750,000 in 1940 (adjusted for 2005 dollars, this would be over $10 million). Additions such as the North and South Gymnasiums, the auditorium, and the bungalow expansion were completed later.

In December 2007, Lincoln began modernization of the existing campus for accessibility and construction of a new building to replace the 23 aged bungalow buildings which covered a large portion of the site. The bungalow replacement resulted in a new 18-classroom CHPS-Designed building. (Collaborative for High Performance Schools). Construction of the new $9.25 million building was completed in 2009 with 22,754 square feet of new classrooms.

The first Star Trek convention was held at Lincoln in 1975.[1]

The building is portrayed as Elmore Junior High School in the British/American cartoon show The Amazing World Of Gumball.

Location

In the center of the Sunset District, Abraham Lincoln High School occupies four blocks demarcated by the intersections of Quintara Street and Santiago Street and 22nd Avenue and 24th Avenue. The school is located near the Sunset Reservoir, which supplies water for the Sunset district and serves as a rectangular, city-block track for physical education, and directly north of McCoppin Square, the Taraval Police Station and the Parkside branch of the San Francisco Public Library.

Academics and admissions

Overview

Abraham Lincoln High School is a "westside" school along with Lowell High School and George Washington High School. The north wing to the campus was constructed to alleviate crowding.

Lincoln allows students to leave campus during lunch with an unrestricted open campus lunch policy.[2]

Admissions

Abraham Lincoln High School, unlike alternative schools such as Lowell and SOTA, is a comprehensive school which does not require special applications or test or auditions for admission. As with all SFUSD schools, Lincoln's admissions policies are affected by the "diversity index", which considers factors such as socioeconomic status, academic achievement, parents' educational background, and the API score of the sending school.[3]

For the 2017-2018 school year, ALHS was the second most requested high school in the district, after Lowell, 34% (1,548) of all applicants requested Lowell as a 1st choice, and 19% (868) requested Lincoln. [4]

For the 2006-2007 school year, Lincoln had 2,870 total students applying and 956 students ranking it their first choice. In that year, out of the top three most requested high schools (Lincoln, Lowell, and Washington), Lincoln was also the most competitive high school in terms of admission rate with an acceptance rate of 17.19%—in comparison, only 2,223 students (48% of all applicants) applied for Lowell's 740 slots for an admission rate of 33.28% and 3,124 students (68% of all applications) applied for Washington's 550 slots for an admission rate of 17.60%.

For the 2006–2007 school year, Lincoln was the most competitive district high school in demand with 3,430 applicants, or 74% of all applicants. Out of the top 3 most requested high schools, Lincoln was also the most competitive public high school in terms of admission rate with an acceptance rate of 17.31% compared to Lowell's 30.81% and Washington's 20.08%.[5]

Demographics

White Hispanic Asian / Pacific Islander Black American Indian / Alaskan Two or More Races
6% 20% 63% 6% 1% 5%

The majority of the school's population is Asian or Pacific Islander.[6]

Traditions

The school colors are red and gold, and its school mascot is the Mustang, a feral horse that embodies the attributes of hardiness, grace, speed, and independence.

The school hymn was written by a Lincoln graduate, Patricia Cutler Aversano, in 1943 and called "High on a Hilltop". The lyrics to the hymn are:

High on a hilltop, 'mid sand and sea,
Abraham Lincoln, we will honor thee forever.
Thy sons and daughters, however long the trail,
Always will remember thee. Hail! Hail! Hail!

Lincoln has a football tradition with Washington High School in San Francisco called the "Bell Game". It is a football game where the winning school receives the prized bell. Spirit week is an important time at Lincoln High School. It takes place the week of the "Bell Game" vs. Washington High School. Various events occurring during Spirit Week include "Battle of the Classes", Twin Day, Crazy Hair Day, Nerd Day, Polo/Hat/Tie Day, and Duct Tape/Tinfoil Day.

The school has its annual Brotherhood Sisterhood Assembly (a.k.a. BSA) which is one of the most popular events that occur annually at Lincoln High. Various clubs put on acts, dances, slide shows to show the diversity the school is made of.

Lincoln also hosts two seasonal festivals each year: Fall Fest and Spring Fest. The events are a chance for student clubs and organizations to raise money by selling food or providing entertainment. Many cultural clubs sell food that is representative of the culture.

The Turkey Day game is the city championship football game held annually on Thanksgiving.

Extracurricular and community work

Abraham Lincoln High School has a strong extracurricular program with over 150 clubs, student organizations, and interscholastic sports teams, including Amnesty International, Red Cross Club, Lincs Service Society, Environmental Club, Gay-Straight Alliance, Youth for Chinatown Elderly, JROTC (Color Guard, Drum Corps, Exhibition and Flag Drill Team), Black Student Union, the Varsity Gold Show Choir, and Drama (each year they put up a fall and spring play).

One of the most anticipated annual events at Lincoln is the annual Brotherhood/Sisterhood Assembly (BSA), which began as an opportunity to understand other cultures after a near fatal school-related shooting, which resulted in a paralyzed teenager over ten years ago. The Brotherhood/Sisterhood Assembly is a two-hour assembly presented by a wide array of extracurricular clubs that promotes tolerance and awareness of all kinds, from cultural (Polynesian Dance Club, Middle-Eastern Club, Munocka Performing Arts, Koinonia Club, Japanese Culture Club, Korean Club, Vietnamese Club, and Fellowship Club), diversity (Gay-Straight Alliance, Peer Resources, Black Student Union), and student interests (Hip Hop Club, Break-Dancing Club, Drama Club, Varsity Gold Show Choir and Cheerleading Team).

Other important annual events are Fallfest and Springfest, two occasions when students can relax with a decreased schedule. Accompanied by popular music, a majority of clubs hold fundraising activities in the open courtyard, from JROTC's traditional barbecues to Chinese food, other cultural dishes, smoothies and mixed drinks.

The student body at ALHS generally prides itself on making generous charitable contributions and running charitable campaigns, with annual drives for organizations such as the San Francisco Food Bank and Salvation Army as well as fundraising for current disasters and other events needing charitable contributions. In 2004 the San Francisco Food Bank recognized ALHS for collecting the most food out of all San Francisco schools, and recently overshot its expectations in raising $10,000 in the wake of the 2004 Asian tsunami.

School Athletics

ALHS take pride in its school athletics programs, and fields varsity teams in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, fencing, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball and wrestling. ALHS also offers track and field, badminton, softball, weightlifting and girls' flag football. ALHS has a number of sports clubs including archery, cycling and dragon boat.

Dragon boating at ALHS: Established in 1996, the ALHS dragon boat team is one of the largest in the Bay Area,. The dragon boat team is co-ed and has won numerous championships in the past and currently holds the championship title in the 2016 Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival high school division. Every year, the dragon boat team travels nationally and internationally to many different locations including the East Bay, Southern California, Canada, and China.

Student/teacher demographics

Latino White African-American Chinese Japanese Korean American Indian Filipino Other Non-White Decline to State
11.1% 6.3% 7.4% 52.1% 1.0% 1.6% 0.5% 5.4% 12.4% 2.2%
Latino White African-American Chinese Japanese Korean American Indian Filipino Other Non-White Decline to State
5.5% 59.5% 4.7% 14.2% 2.3% 1.5% 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 9.5%

Notable alumni

Richard Serra's Fulcrum in Broadgate, London

See also

References

  1. ↑ 'Star Trek' convention gets new respect – SFGate
  2. ↑ "Lunch Time Policies". Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  3. ↑ Student Assignment Process Archived December 5, 2004, at the Wayback Machine., SFUSD.
  4. ↑ http://www.sfusd.edu/en/assets/sfusd-staff/enroll/files/2017-18/Round_1_March%2021_2017_v2.pdf
  5. ↑ "Visit our new Site". Portal.sfusd.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  6. ↑ "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Lincoln (abraham) High". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  7. 1 2 "SFUSD Profile 2006–07: Lincoln HS". 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-04-13. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
  8. ↑ "Noisey: Music by VICE". VICE.
  9. ↑ "ZEPH LEE". profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.

General information

Student-Oriented

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