Lowell High School (San Francisco)

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Template:SFHStaxobox Lowell High School, a public magnet school in San Francisco, is the oldest public high school west of the Mississippi. Lowell was ranked by Newsweek's Jay Mathews Challenge Index as the #60 high school of the United States in 2007.[1]

History

Lowell High School traces its beginnings to 1856 as the Union Grammar School. In 1894, the school was renamed to honor the distinguished poet, James Russell Lowell, chiefly by Pelham W. Ames, a member of the school board and ardent admirer of James Russell Lowell. The school relocated in January 1913 to an entire city block on Hayes Street between Ashbury and Masonic. Lowell was to remain there a half century, during which time its position as the city's college preparatory high school was firmly established. In 1952, the drive accelerated for a new location near Lake Merced. Lowell opened at this new location in 1962 to complete the final move in its history.

Location

1101 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132-1401

The school is located north of Lake Merced, between San Francisco's Parkside and Sunset Districts. The school spans several blocks between Sylvan Ave. in the west and 25th Ave. in the east, and Eucalyptus Drive in the north to Winston Drive in the south. The school is accessible via the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) K, M, 17, 18, 23, 28, 28L, and 29 lines. Hundreds of students walk up the sidewalk on Eucalyptus Drive towards 19th Ave. for the K, M, 28, and 28L lines during common start and end times.

The campus is located next to Lakeshore Elementary School, a public school, and St. Stephen School, a private K-8 school. Because Lowell is an open-campus high school, many students choose to shop and eat lunch at the nearby Lakeshore Plaza or Stonestown Galleria malls during their free lunch periods ("mods," see below), despite rules against the latter (widely ignored even by staff).

Facilities

Lowell's facilities include:

  • 3-story academic building with two extensions
  • 2-story science building
  • 10 "temporary" Bungalows (in actuality, they are among the oldest buildings on campus, though many of the worst condition were recently demolished)
  • 15 new bungalows in the old basketball courts near Lake Merced
  • 2-story visual and performing arts building with 1,000-seat auditorium
  • Library
  • Extensive art and science labs
  • 6 computer labs
  • Gymnasium
  • Dance studio
  • American football field
  • Soccer/multipurpose field with soccer kicking wall and baseball batting cage
  • 10 tennis courts
  • 4 basketball courts
  • 1/4 mile (400 m) dirt oval

Academics and admissions

Overview

Lowell is one of the two public schools in the San Francisco Unified School District (the other being School of the Arts) that is permitted to admit only students who meet special admission requirements. The Lowell admission process is based on a combination of standardized test scores, GPA, a writing sample, and extracurricular activities. Lowell's academic success is due largely to this process, and at present, Lowell High School is ranked 3rd in terms of test scores among the Top 10 Public Schools in California, behind Gretchen Whitney High School and Oxford Academy.[citation needed]

The school's modular scheduling system and self-scheduling "arena" program allow students freedom in course choice. Students also have the chance to take a large number of Advanced Placement courses. The school's graduation rate is nearly 100%, and is the largest feeder school to the University of California system, in particular to the Berkeley and Davis campuses. Many students also matriculate at other prestigious universities nationwide.

Lowell's academic instruction is considered far more rigorous than that offered at other San Francisco high schools, and it has been awarded the Blue Ribbon Academic Excellence Award three times[2].

San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District ('80s)

Beginning in 1983, the San Francisco Unified School District attempted to ensure racial desegregation at Lowell and other schools by instituting a race-based admissions policy as a result of San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District and the 1983 Consent Decree settlement.

As a result of the Consent Decree, SFUSD attempted to create a more equal distribution of race at Lowell, which was predominantly Chinese-American, particularly attempting to introduce more African-American and Hispanic minorities into Lowell's population. As a result of this policy, for the freshman class entering in 1985 (the Class of 1989), Chinese-American applicants needed to score a total of 65 points out of a possible total of 69, whereas Caucasian and other East Asian candidates only needed to score a 61 out of 69, while candidates from statistically "underrepresented" groups, including African-Americans and Hispanics, were admitted with an even lower aggregate score.

Opponents of this admissions policy were dismayed because the policy was strictly based on race—-the policy did not take into account any candidate's socioeconomic background which had the arguably inequitable result of requiring some children from poor families to score higher than children from wealthy families. Many of these opponents felt that the strongest traditional argument in favor of differential admissions requirements based on race--i.e. to remedy past discrimination against members of the "under-represented" group(s)--was not applicable. Indeed, given the long history of discrimination against Chinese-Americans in education and other contexts, the suggestion that the academic success of Chinese-American candidates was somehow the result of historical legal inequities created by Chinese-Americans that needed to be remedied with a preference for non-Chinese candidates appeared ironic at best, and arguably, grotesquely perverse.

Proponents of the new admissions policy, however, believed that preserving the school's traditional racial diversity -- a tradition almost a hundred years old -- was of utmost importance, not just for traditionally disadvantaged minority groups, but for Chinese-American students as well because the increased diversity enabled students of Chinese ethnicity to better assimilate and achieve success in life beyond the narrow racially ghettoized confines of Lowell High School. Proponents also point out that the majority of volunteer work and fundraising is done by the parents of Caucasian students, and the school would suffer were these parents' children to leave Lowell. Moreover, proponents of desegregation at Lowell pointed to the absurdity of having only a 2.5 percent population of black students and 5 percent population of Latino students in a modern urban American high school, especially as students of these ethnicities would benefit greatly from Lowell's excellent academic programs, and that the only way to maintain diversity at Lowell is to use race as a factor.

Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District ('90s)

In 1994, a group of Chinese American community activists organized a lawsuit to challenge the 1983 Consent Decree race-based admissions policies used by SFUSD for its public schools.

In 1999, both parties agreed to a settlement which modified the 1983 Consent Decree to create a new "diversity index" system which substituted race as a factor for admissions with a variety of factors such as socioeconomic background, mother's educational level, academic achievement, language spoken at home, and English Learner Status.

Expiration of the Consent Decree

Critics of the diversity index created by Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District point out that many schools, including Lowell, have become even less racially diverse since it was enacted.

In November 15 2005, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied a request to extend the Consent Decree, which was set to expire on December 31, 2005 after it had been extended once before to December 31, 2002. The ruling claimed "since the settlement of the Ho litigation [resulting in the institution of the "diversity index"], the consent decree has proven to be ineffective, if not counterproductive, in achieving diversity in San Francisco public schools" by making schools more racially segregated.

The expiration of the Consent Decree means that SFUSD's admissions policies, including the "diversity index" and the special admissions policies granted to Lowell, and many of its "Dream School" initiatives are no longer codified and mandated by the Consent Decree. As a result, these policies may be challenged at the community and local levels as well instead of just at the judicial level by filing a lawsuit.

Arena scheduling system

Lowell uses a class scheduling system once historically popular in most high schools and colleges, an "arena" in which students move from table to table signing up for classes, allowing students a degree of programming freedom almost unheard of in other high schools today.

While scheduling classes for the 2006 spring semester, members of Lowell's Shield and Scroll Honor and Service Society were caught abusing the scheduling system. They used early scheduling privileges, granted to the society by the administration, to let friends schedule before others.[3][4]

This documented abuse proved to be a catalyst for anti-arena faculty in the school. Five of six department chairs and dozens of teachers at Lowell filed a union grievance demanding an end to class imbalances. Citing these imbalances, they called to eliminate arena scheduling and to replace it with computerized scheduling used in all other SFUSD schools. Critics characterized arena scheduling as an antiquated and inefficient system, one which promotes inequities and abuses, and creates weeks of unnecessary work for teachers and counselors (the system tends to produce "incomplete" schedules which must be dealt with after the scheduling period).[5][6]

Proponents of arena argued that it distinguishes Lowell and gives students additional responsibility and flexibility with shaping their high school careers. As good and bad teachers distinguish themselves quite clearly at the school, and knowledge of teacher quality spreads through word of mouth and online means, it was argued that rotating priority of picking teachers and times would assure the fairest results for the greatest number of people.

After a student forum, countless committee meetings, several student petitions, and final deliberation by then principal Paul Cheng and the administration, it was decided that arena would remain in place, with modifications to address concerns about inequities and class imbalance, including the abolishment of early scheduling for Shield and Scroll and of "mini arena," which allowed people with incomplete schedules another chance to complete them by opening up all the classes again with a few slots.

Modular scheduling

Overview

Lowell has a unique scheduling system consisting of twenty 'modules.' (more commonly known as 'mods') Originally instituted to alleviate crowding of facilities by having a percentage of students out of class at any particular time, the system also allows a freedom of academic choice rare for a high school. Students can schedule classes around after-school activities, pick teachers conducive to their learning style (or desired workload), or simply arrange to sleep late or leave early.

Some classes meet for 40 minutes daily, and some meet for 40 half the time, and 65 the other half. Students will typically have between 3 and 7 free (non-class) mods a day, reflecting, on average, 5-7 daily classes (Though some wily students have managed to schedule four or eight). Several resource centers are available for student use during free mods. Using that free time wisely is often touted as an important part of the college preparatory training students receive at Lowell.

Note: At Lowell, homeroom is called registry or "reg" except on attendance strips and on report cards, where it is called simply "homeroom."

Mods Time
1 7:35am - 7:55am
2 8:00am - 8:15am
3 8:20am - 8:40am
4 8:45am - 9:00am
5 9:05am - 9:25am
Registry 9:30am - 9:40am
6 9:50am - 10:10am
7 10:15am - 10:30am
8 10:35am - 10:55am
9 11:00am - 11:15am
10 11:20am - 11:40am
11 11:45am - 12:05pm
12 12:10pm - 12:25pm
13 12:30pm - 12:50pm
14 12:55pm - 1:10pm
15 1:15pm - 1:35pm
16 1:40pm - 2:00pm
17 2:05pm - 2:20pm
18 2:25pm - 2:45pm
19 2:50pm - 3:05pm
20 3:10pm - 3:30pm

Swing mods

Swing Mods are mods 3,8,13,18, which lie in-between popular class times. As a result, many students don't have class during these 20-minute swing mods. Mod 3 & 18 are usually canceled when there is a special schedule. On Mondays and Wednesdays, they add to the length of a B code class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they add to the length of a C code class. A-code classes leave swing mods free for students on all days.

Class configurations

  • A-code Class: 40 Min Long/day (MTWThF) - 2 mods/day
  • B-code Class: 65 Min and 40 Min Alternating Days (MW - 65 Min - 3 mods / TTh - 40 Min - 2 mods)
  • C-code Class: 65 Min and 40 Min Alternating Days (TTh - 65 Min - 3 mods / MW - 40 Min - 2 mods)

Fridays can be designated Mondays or Tuesdays (determining which classes are long), neutral (all B/C classes are 52 minutes) or special (all classes are shorter, and 3 and 18 are cancelled).

Many classes, including all science classes, most mathematics classes, Advanced Placement social studies and English classes, upper-level foreign language classes (with the exception of Hebrew), and advanced visual and performing arts (VPA) classes are B and C codes.

In fact, all Advanced Placement classes in Lowell are B/C code.

The D-code designation, which allotted 65 minutes (three mods) every day of the week for a class, has been gradually phased out due to the difficulties they caused in scheduling.

Special schedules

Every so often, usually every alternating Friday, a "special schedule" appears. On these days mods 3 and 18 are canceled. Students who normally have breaks during these times no longer have them. Students who have class during these times end up with a shorter class period. Each mod is cut back to 15-20 minutes long. The day is shorter, mod 1 begins at 9:20 and the last mod still ends at 3:30. The reason for these "special schedules" is due to faculty meetings and school rallies. Students are notified of such schedules on the weekly bulletin distributed to every "registry" (homeroom) Students in said registries are with each other throughout their high school career.

Piloted in the final months of the 2004 spring semester and implemented the following year, "neutral Friday" addressed the distribution of B and C type classes on Fridays. Before, there was a running tally of B and C alternations which would eventually be of an equal number at the end of the school year. However, some teachers felt that the distribution was not as equal as was purported. Therefore, the school reached a compromise where instead of switching between B and C type classes each week, they split the "swing mods" (mods 3, 8, 13, and 18), where the B and C difference would generally lie, in half. For example, mod 3 is normally from 8:20-8:40 is split in half so mod 3B is from 8:20-8:27 and mod 3C is from 8:33-8:40.

From time to time, extremely short class schedules are announced, usually because of a need for an extended staff meeting. These have occurred during periods such as Lowell's 2006 Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation process and currently on "Professional Development Meetings." On these days, mod 1 starts at 10:00 am.

Student/Teacher population

  • 2005-2006:
    • 2,623 students; 39.8% male, 60.2% female
    • Student demographics:
Latino White African-American Chinese Japanese Korean American Indian Filipino Other Non-White Declined to State
5.9% 15.4% 2.9% 52.6% 1.5% 1.5% 0.2% 5.6% 11.3% 3.1%
    • 146 certified teachers; 50.0% male, 50.0% female
    • Certificated teacher demographics
Latino White African-American Chinese Japanese Korean American Indian Filipino Other Non-White Declined to State
10.9% 58.9% 4.1% 10.9% 2.0% 0.6% 0.0% 2.0% 2.0% 8.2%

Extracurriculars

Overview

The Cardinals are one of the most active student bodies in San Francisco, with over 84 academic organizations, teams and student interest clubs.

Lowell also has academic teams which are exempt from volunteer hours in exchange for not being publicized as well as the clubs. The Mock Trial team is very accomplished, representing San Francisco County at the State Competitions in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007. In 2007, they finished in the Top Ten at State Finals and ended their season with a 7-1 record.

Lowell Forensic Society

Main article: Lowell Forensic Society

The Lowell Forensic Society, founded in 1892, is the oldest high school speech and debate team in the nation and also the largest on campus, with over 200 members. The team travels regularly to prestigious national invitationals, including Harvard, UC Berkeley, Stanford, City College, Long Beach, and Utah. Lowell Forensics has also competed in the National Speech and Debate Tournament under the National Forensic League for 40 years, making it one of the longest running national championship teams in the nation. Forensics alumni include Yale University President Richard Levin, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, actress Carol Channing, actor Benjamin Bratt, writer Naomi Wolf, actor Bill Bixby, PG&E CEO Frederick Mielke, author Daniel Handler of Series of Unfortunate Events fame and numerous academics, writers, and judges.

Academic Decathlon

Among other academic organizations at Lowell, the Academic Decathlon remains at the top as 17-year State Championship county qualifier and has been undefeated as City Champions of San Francisco since the inception of the competition.

In 2003, the San Francisco Unified School District decided to cease the endorsement of the Academic Decathlon as a city-wide competition. Lowell High School attends the Contra Costa Regional Competition in order to obtain a regional score.

The Lowell

The school's monthly student newspaper, The Lowell, has won numerous national-level awards, including the CSPA Gold and Silver Crown awards, the NSPA Pacemaker and the Northern California Society for Professional Journalists' James Madison Award, in recognition of their 2007-2008 school year battle to protect free speech.

JROTC

Lowell also has a distinguished Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps battalion. Lowell has been the leader in overall excellence in the San Francisco JROTC Brigade. The battalion has 8 special units: Lowell Drum Corps, Boys Drill Team, Girls Drill Team, Color Guard, Drill Platoon, Brigade Best Squad, Guidon, and Raiders. Every Fall, the Lowell Drum Corps, Color Guard, Guidon, and Brigade Best Squad compete in the Annual Fall Liberty Competition. In addition, every Spring, Lowell Exhibition Drill Team, Flag Drill Team, and Drill Platoon participate in the Spring Drill Competition. The Raiders Challenge Team competes in the Raider Challenge at Camp Parks, Dublin.

Notable alumni from JROTC include William Hewlett, who was battalion commander during his years in Lowell in the 1930s.

Sports

Many students participate in a variety of athletic leagues and competitions. Lowell has competitive football, cross-country, soccer, tennis, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, badminton, gymnastics, softball, swimming, track and field, fencing, golf, dragonboat, and baseball teams.

Lowell's Boys Varsity Basketball has recently been very successful. In 2004, the cinderalla team captured its first AAA Championship since 1952. Following a runner-up finish in 2005, the 2006 squad went undefeated in league play and finished with an unprecedented 30-3 record and a city championship.

Lowell's Varsity Baseball team, led by coach John Donohue, won eight of ten championships from 1994 to 2004[7] while posting a regular season record of 185 wins and only 11 losses[8] during that span. Coach Donohue won his 300th AAA league game on March 7th, 2003 and tallied his 450th win overall just two weeks later on March 21, 2003.[9]

Lowell's track and field and cross country teams have also fared well in the past. The Lowell track and field team is led by Andy Leong. The track Team recently won the city championship in all four divisions for the seventh year in a row.[10] The cross country Team recently swept all three divisions at the city finals in Golden Gate Park, marking Lowell's 26th overall championship win in a row.[11] In recent years, the track and field team has attracted about 150 athletes each season, and the cross country Team has attracted nearly 100 runners each season.

The girls' varsity volleyball team has dominated the sport since its creation with the most city championships amongst other San Francisco public schools, and as of November 2006, is on an unprecedented streak of eleven consecutive volleyball city championships.[12] The girls' junior varsity volleyball team also owns all but one of the city titles.[12]

In April 2007, Lowell's varsity swim team won their 11th consecutive AAA Championship title, with an undefeated season and an undefeated girls' title, ever since girls have been admitted on the team. The close rivalry between the Cardinals' and the Washington Eagles ended with Lowell coming out on top of all the other SFUSD high schools participating, which included Balboa High, Lincoln High, and Wallenberg High School.

In April 2007, Lowell's dragonboat team competed in the California Dragonboat Association Youth Race at Lake Merced in San Francisco, California. They brought home three golds and two silvers. The Lowellitas, the girl's team, won their seventh consecutive gold medal.

Historical milestones

  • 1856 Union Grammar School Founded
  • 1858 Name changed to San Francisco High School
  • 1864 Genders separated, name changed to Boy's High School
  • 1875 Moved within San Francisco to Sutter Street between Gough and Octavia
  • 1886 Girls (slowly) reintegrated into college prep program (thus, female graduates of Boy's High)
  • 1894 Name changed to Lowell High School in honor of poet James Russell Lowell
  • 1898 First issue of the school newspaper "The Lowell" published (spring)
  • 1908 Funds secured by bonds for new building
  • 1913 School moved to new, larger campus on Hayes and Ashbury
  • 1962 School moved to current campus to make room for future expansion and add a library, gymnasium and larger auditorium
  • 1966 Enrollment limited, school switched from neighborhood to GPA/test based admission
  • 1968 20-period modular schedule instated
  • 1981 125th anniversary celebrated at the San Francisco Hilton
  • 1996 Lowell ranked 6th nationally in AP exam scores
  • 2003 New academic/science wing opened on campus
  • 2004 Unit 6 building section renovation completed; roof replaced; "temporary" bungalows 14,15, and 16 relocated
  • 2006 150th anniversary of the school. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (class of 1955) visited.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ Newsweek: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools
  2. ^ Lowell High School wins third Blue Ribbon. From the Lowell Alumni Association.
  3. ^ Honor society causes scheduling inequity. From The Lowell.
  4. ^ Shield and Scroll must maintain high moral standards. From The Lowell.
  5. ^ Class scheduling methods put Lowell High in a tizzy. From the San Francisco Chronicle.
  6. ^ Self-scheduling is fundamental to Lowell. From The Lowell.
  7. ^ AAA Baseball Annual Champions.
  8. ^ 3 teams have caught Lowell in race for baseball supremacy. From the San Francisco Chronicle.
  9. ^ Lowell baseball is amassing very big numbers. From the San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ^ AAA Track and Field Annual Champions.
  11. ^ AAA Cross-country Annual Champions.
  12. ^ a b AAA Volleyball Girls Annual Champions.

See also

External links

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