San Rafael High School

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San Rafael High School
Information
School type Public, High school
Mottoes San Rafael High School main building
Founded 1888
School board San Rafael City Schools Board of Education
School district San Rafael City Schools
Oversight Western Assn of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Schools
Superintendent Michael R. Watenpaugh
Principal Joe Ryan Dominguez
Grades 9-12


San Rafael High School is a public high school located at 150 Third St. in San Rafael, California, United States.

The school is part of the San Rafael City Schools school district. Its official nickname is the Bulldog; however, its athletic teams have been known casually as the Dawgs since the mid-1980s.

The school is located on a 33-acre (134,000 m2) campus in central San Rafael.[1]

History

San Rafael High School opened in 1888. The school's current campus opened in 1924.[1]

File:420Louis.jpg
Benny Bufano's 1940 statue of Louis Pasteur in stainless steel and granite,[2][3] said to be the site of the original 1971 420 gatherings.

The school is cited as the origin (1971) of the time and codeword 420 in cannabis culture; originally "420" served as a code word for "The Waldos", a group of marijuana users who would meet in front of the 1940 Benny Bufano statue of Louis Pasteur at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana, both near the statue and at other clandestine locations on campus grounds. The "420" moniker was in widespread use on campus during the 1974–1976 timeframe by the school stoner community. As the usage spread, the original connotations of the term "420" faded away.[4]

San Rafael High School served as the setting for the video of the 1984 power ballad "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger.[5]

KSRH is the school's radio station, which is completely operated by students. The station broadcasts with 10 watts of power on 88.1 FM and 107.3 Cable FM. The station takes requests during school hours at (415) 457-KSRH.[citation needed]

Facilities at the school were upgraded with funds from bond measures passed in 1999 and 2002.[citation needed]

Beginning with the 2001–2002 school year, San Rafael High School moved to an A/B rotating block schedule.[citation needed]

In 2006, the school scored 680 on the Academic Performance Index (API), the California Department of Education’s program for measuring school accountability. It also passed all Adequate Yearly Performance (AYP) criteria required by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.[citation needed]

In September 2008, the school served as a primary location for the independent feature film The Prankster. School was in session while filming took place and some students and teachers had background roles in the movie. Former principal Judy Colton had a small speaking part with Kurt Fuller, who played Dean Pecarino in the film.[citation needed]

In 2019 construction began on a new two-story building to house the school's administrative offices, a kitchen, general student commons area and classrooms along with support spaces for Madrone High School, a continuation high school on the campus of San Rafael High School.[citation needed]

Notable alumni

Professional baseball

Professional football

Stage and screen

Miscellaneous

  • Harold Haley (1922) - former Marin County Superior Court Judge
  • Eleanor Garatti (1928) - Swimmer, Olympic Gold Medal winner in 1928 & 1932; 1929 world record in the 100-meter freestyle
  • Nikki Tyler (1990) - Adult film actress

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 San Rafael City Schools
  2. "Daily Independent Journal from San Rafael, California". November 20, 1954. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/71688761/. Retrieved April 22, 2017. 
  3. Chronicle, San Francisco (1962) (in en). The San Francisco Chronicle Reader. McGraw-Hill. https://archive.org/details/sanfranciscochro00sanf. Retrieved April 22, 2017. 
  4. Snopes.com, "420"
  5. Night Rangers revisit 'Sister Christian' and San Rafael November 11, 2005|By Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-11-11/news/17397637_1_night-ranger-jack-blades-sister-christian
  6. San Rafael City Schools, Board Members, accessed March 23, 2008

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