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Gunn High School

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Henry M. Gunn High School
Address
Map
780 Arastradero Road

Palo Alto
,
California
94306

United States
Coordinates37°24′10″N 122°08′02″W / 37.4027°N 122.1340°W / 37.4027; -122.1340
Information
School typePublic, high school
Established1964; 60 years ago (1964)
School districtPalo Alto Unified School District
PrincipalWendy Stratton[1]
Teaching staff105.35 (FTE)[2]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,787 (2022-2023)[2]
Student to teacher ratio16.96[2]
AreaNorthern Santa Clara County
Color(s)   Red and Black
Athletics conferenceSanta Clara Valley Athletic League
CIF Central Coast Section
MascotTimmy the Titan
NicknameTitans
AccreditationWestern Association of Schools and Colleges
NewspaperThe Oracle
YearbookThe Olympian
Feeder schoolsGreene Middle School, JLS Middle School, & Fletcher Middle School
Websitegunn.pausd.org

Henry M. Gunn Senior High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California, the other being Palo Alto High School.[3]

Established in 1964 (60 years ago) (1964), Gunn High School was named after Henry Martin Gunn, who served as the Palo Alto superintendent from 1950 to 1961. In 1964, the Palo Alto Unified School District announced that it would name the district's third high school after him. The Class of 1966 was the first class to graduate from Gunn High School.[4]

1,993 students attended the school in the 2019–2020 school year.[5] In 1992, the school was honored as a California Distinguished School.

History

The land under Gunn High School was purchased in 1963 by the school district from Stanford University for $358,641 (equivalent to $4,019,237 in 2023), under the condition that it could not be sold to another entity.[6] The land was originally part of Stanford's campus, but it was deeded to the Palo Alto Unified School District in 1964 for the construction of Gunn High School. Gunn High School opened in August 1964 with an initial enrollment of 600 students, comprising 300 sophomores and 300 juniors. It was named after Henry Gunn, the superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District from 1950 to 1961. Students were drawn from Fletcher Middle School and from the other two PAUSD high schools then open—Palo Alto High and Cubberley High.[7] The 974-seat auditorium was named in 1965 after Karl Spangenberg, a recently deceased school district trustee.[8][9] The school held its first football game in 1965, with Cubberley High.[10] The 1966 class was first to graduate.[11]

Gunn High School received national attention in 2009 after four of its students died of suicide over a span of seven months.[12][13] Over the period of 2006–2016, the school's suicide rate was four to five times higher than the national average.[14] In 2017, a senior student died of suicide.[15] In 2024, a 16-year-old girl, who was a student at Gunn High School died of suicide.[16][17] In the past decade, attempts have been made to improve the psychological health of students attending the school.[18][19][20]

Academics

Gunn offers 29 Advanced Placement (AP) classes and 20 Honors classes which are included in the weighted Grade Point Average (GPA).[21][22]

In May 2010, 658 students took 1820 AP tests. 93% scored 3 or higher and 54% scored a grade of 5. Gunn no longer ranks students, but ranking was previously recorded by decile.[23]

Hanna Rosin wrote in a 2015 The Atlantic article that due to the emphasis on academics and competition between students, Gunn became "an extreme distillation of what parents in the meritocratic elite expect from a school." Around that time, families clamored to buy houses in Gunn's attendance boundary so their children could attend the school.[24] According to Rosin, after a spate of suicide deaths of Gunn students in the 2010s, parents began to worry about whether the competitive atmosphere was harming students' mental well-being.[19]

Mathematics

Gunn offers a wide selection of mathematics courses ranging from Algebra to AP Calculus BC. There are often three tracks of each subject offered: one at the college-prep level, another at the Advanced level, and one at the Honors level. Students who have completed the AP Calculus pathway before their senior year also have the opportunity to take Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra as a dual enrollment pathway in partnership with Foothill College. There are also two mathematics electives at Gunn: Applied Math H and AP Statistics, available to juniors and seniors. [25]

The math circle is one of the largest clubs on the Gunn High School campus, and its corresponding math team has participated in many competitions. Each year, the school has about 30 American Invitational Mathematics Examination qualifiers. After placing 15th nationally in 4 different tournaments during the 2020–21 school year, the 2021–22 math team won HMMT November and placed 4th in the Berkeley Math Tournament.[26][27]

In 2023, a group of 25 students spoke out at a Palo Alto school board meeting, urging for PAUSD to implement more fluid math lanes, offer multivariable calculus during the school day, and more. They emphasized the importance of math classes meeting the needs of all students.[28]

PLTW

Gunn is a host to Project Lead the Way (PLTW), an organization which promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Courses from this program include Digital Electronics and Introduction to Engineering Design, as well as Principles of Engineering.[29]

Statistics

Demographics

2015–2016[30]

  • 1,939 students: 1,006 Male (51.9%), 933 Female (48.1%)
Asian White Hispanic Two or more races African American Filipino Pacific Islander American Indian Unreported
862 733 173 126 25 14 4 2 0
44.5% 37.8% 8.9% 6.5% 1.3% 0.7% 0.2% 0.1% 0%

As of 2015, according to Hanna Rosin, 74% of Gunn's student body has one or more parents with a master's degree or higher, or other graduate-level degree.[19]

Standardized testing

SAT Scores for 2014–2015 [31]
Critical reading average Math average Writing average
Gunn High 642 686 646
District 634 671 634
Statewide 489 500 484
2013 Academic Performance Index
2009 Base API [32] 2013 Growth API [33] Growth in the API from 2009 to 2013
915 917 2

Student groups

Spangenberg Theater
Spangenberg Theater

Robotics team

In 2012, the Robotics Team won the National FRC Championship Excellence in Design Award (3D Animation) sponsored by Autodesk. GRT is the only team that has won a total of three Animation awards in the history of FIRST.[34][35][36]

Notable alumni

See also: Category:Gunn High School alumni

References

  1. ^ Kadvany, Elena. "New principals announced for Gunn and Palo Alto high schools". www.paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Henry M. Gunn High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  3. ^ "Henry M. Gunn High School". Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  4. ^ "2007 School Profile" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  5. ^ "School Profile 2019-2020" (PDF). Henry M. Gunn High School. Retrieved February 28, 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Salgado, Marc (January 30, 1979). "Cubberley partisans on offensive – close Gunn". Palo Alto Times. p. 1.
  7. ^ Hansen, Terry (August 18, 1964). "Gunn High School to open its doors to 600 students". Palo Alto Times.
  8. ^ "Auditorium named for Spangenberg". Palo Alto Times. January 19, 1965. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  9. ^ "Gunn High auditorium to be unveiled". Palo Alto Times. January 13, 1965. p. 25.
  10. ^ O'Connor, Dick (September 21, 1965). "Cubberley meets Gunn in 'game of the week'". Palo Alto Times. p. 31.
  11. ^ "First class will graduate from Gunn High next week". Palo Alto Times. June 9, 1966. p. 49.
  12. ^ Samuels, Diana; Fernandez, Lisa (October 21, 2009). "Gunn community reeling after fourth apparent teen suicide in six months". The Mercury News. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Netter, Sarah. "Teen Train Suicide Cluster Shakes Affluent California Town". ABC News. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  14. ^ Lynch, Grace Hwang. "The CDC is investigating a cluster of teen suicides in Palo Alto". The World. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  15. ^ Kadvany, Elena. "Gunn High student dies by suicide". www.paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  16. ^ "Railroad suicide victim was a Gunn student – Palo Alto Daily Post". Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  17. ^ Sheyner, Gennady (February 20, 2024). "Person struck by train, killed in Palo Alto". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  18. ^ "After five suicides, Palo Alto high school students change culture through peer support « Culture & Features « Peninsula Press ARCHIVE (2010 – Sept. 2014)". peninsulapress.com. January 4, 2011. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  19. ^ a b c Hanna Rosin (November 16, 2015). "The Suicide Clusters at Palo Alto High Schools - The Atlantic". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  20. ^ Satpathy, Sakshi (February 2, 2018). "New SELF program at Gunn builds student connection and support". Palo Alto Pulse. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  21. ^ Gunn High School (May 16, 2024). "SCHOOL PROFILE 2023-2024" (PDF).
  22. ^ "Course Catalog - Gunn High School". gunn.pausd.org. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  23. ^ "Gunn High School School Profile". Archived from the original on October 27, 2012.
  24. ^ Rosin, Hanna (December 2015). "The Silicon Valley Suicides". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 31, 2018. But in the e-mails traded among parents in the weeks after Cameron's death, the obvious worry surfaced about whether all this emphasis on excellence imposed a cost on the kids[...]
  25. ^ /archive/0/2021/ "Math Path Pathways". Gunn High School. February 20, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2021. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  26. ^ "HMMT November 2021 Results". HMMT. November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  27. ^ "BMT 2021 Results". BMT. November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  28. ^ Post, Grace Gao / Midpeninsula (August 31, 2023). "Students speak out on math issues at Palo Alto school board meeting". Redwood City Pulse. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  29. ^ "Gunnpltw.com". Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  30. ^ "Enrollment by Ethnicity for 2015–16: Henry M. Gunn High School". California Department of Education. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  31. ^ "SAT Report - 2014-15 District Level Scores". California Department of Education. Retrieved September 26, 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  32. ^ "2009 Base API School Report – Henry M. Gunn High". California Department of Education Assessment, Accountability and Awards Division. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  33. ^ "2013 Growth API School Report – Henry M. Gunn High". California Department of Education Analysis, Measurement, & Accountability Reporting Division.
  34. ^ "Awards – GRT". gunnrobotics.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  35. ^ "NASA Previews Robotics Engineers of the Future" (Press release). NASA Ames Research Center. March 10, 2006. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  36. ^ Malone, Michael S. (March 25, 2002). "The Fix-It Kids Take Over". Forbes Magazine. Forbes.com Inc. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  37. ^ "Downtown San Jose gets a much-needed dose of 'retail therapy'". Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  38. ^ Sports, Palo Alto Online. "Gunn's Meeks races to a big victory at Stanford Invitational". paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  39. ^ Kenrick, Chris. "Former student, now pop star in Japan, recounts story". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  40. ^ Nguyen, Madison; Yang, Joshua (October 4, 2019). "Alumna releases memoir after sexual assault case". The Oracle. Gunn High School. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  41. ^ Kadvany, Elena (September 4, 2019). "Anonymous no longer, Emily Doe reclaims identity in new memoir about Brock Turner sexual assault and its aftermath". Palo Alto Weekly. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  42. ^ "Gunn graduate's message: 'We are fighters'". Palo Alto Weekly. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
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