San Mateo High School - History

History

Its first year, San Mateo High School was located in the Dixon Cottage on Ellsworth Avenue with an enrollment of just 14 students. The faculty was composed of Mr. A.G. Van Gorder, principal and teacher; Miss Marie Borough and Miss Florence Kimball, two assistant teachers. The school was opened on September 15, 1902, at 8:30 a.m, in the two story Dixon Cottage at 54 North Ellsworth Street with courses ranging from foreign languages, the arts, and history to varied courses in science and mathematics. In the beginning, only two years were required for graduation, but many students continued the full four years with intentions of going to college. Textbooks were well preserved as the students had to buy their own. Reimbursement could usually be had by selling the used books to the incoming Freshman.

Princeton University, with the colors orange and black, was "King of Sports" in 1902. Following suit San Mateo High chose the orange and black as its colors, as well as adapting it own words to the music of Princeton's school song.

Early in 1903 the high school on Ellsworth Street became too small to accommodate the increased enrollment, which was now 27. Following a bond election the Board of Education appropriated $24,000 for the purchase of Brewer Tract which housed Saint Margaret's School for Girls. This was a three-story structure situated on the corner of Baldwin Avenue and San Mateo Drive. During the summer, in addition to remodeling and refurnishing the building, a new chemistry laboratory was constructed and supplied at a cost of $270. SMHS also gained a set of reference books at $75 and three Remington typewriters at $70 each. Classes were conducted in this building from 1903 until 1911. Although the school building was considerably damaged in the earthquake of 1906, no class time was lost. The building was one of the first to be repaired after the earthquake, and by 1907 there were 90 students enrolled. In 1906, all of the academic departments were accredited by the University of California, Berkeley and since then, San Mateo High School has been recognized as a leading institution of learning in the San Mateo community. In 1991, the school was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. In 2005, it was recognized with a Gold Standard Award for Academic Excellence by California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) in conjunction with the California State University system. This award recognizes only ten California high schools which have shown measurable gains and strong academic performance by preparing students for college and the workforce, while showing evidence of reducing achievement gaps between various subgroups of students over time.

The first graduates of San Mateo High left their school days behind to take part in the leadership of the twentieth century on June 5, 1905. The students of the first class included Elizabeth Dingwell, Emily Donnelly, Kenneth Green, salutatorian; Freda Hagerup, valedictorian; Eva Leavy, Mabel Moore and Lena Sullivan.

On February 4, 1911, a notice appeared in the San Mateo Times stating that the new San Mateo High School building on the Baldwin Avenue campus was almost completed and later, on May 5, the new structure was formally opened. At the dedication ceremony, a copper box containing autographed signatures of the High School Board, the faculty and students, the grammar school teachers, the county, town, and grammar school district officials, copies of "The Elm", a directory of all the high schools in the state, and pictures of SMHS in all its stages of development from 1902-1911 was placed in the cornerstone to be preserved for all time. On December 3, a $50,000 school bond was passed by a vote of 394 'yes' and 124 'no' enabling the Board, under Mr. J. C. Robb, president, to award and make payment on bids to the tune of $92,268 covering the building, heating, plumbing, painting, and electrical wiring in the new school.

In the years 1920-1921, approximately 500 students were enrolled in the daytime school which had a capacity of 350. Therefore, larger classes and fewer courses were offered, with less individual attention given by the teachers. A committee was formed to investigate keeping the present campus and getting land in the north for a school or obtaining land for one school for the entire district. To help with the problem of a crowded school, the board passed a motion to build a temporary building to house band, music, printing, and two recitation rooms. This was erected between the tennis courts and the retaining wall, shops and the rear of the main building. The following year, more than 500 students registered at SMHS during the first week of the fall semester. The Baldwin Avenue school was designed for only 400; the main building consisted 11 classrooms, and five classrooms in temporary buildings housed the music, print shop, and history departments. In some cases, it was necessary for 50 students to occupy a room built for 25. Yet the first bond issue for Burlingame High School was defeated because it lacked the necessary two-thirds majority. The school board immediately called for a new bond election for $360,000 to be held November 12, 1921; $60,000 was for land and the rest for the building and furnishings. After a vigorous campaign, highlighted by a mass meeting on November 9, called by Major W. H. Pearson of Burlingame, the issue passed 1710-280. On April 5, 1922, ground was broken for Burlingame High School. On December 20, 1923, about 1,000 people attended the formal dedication of Burlingame High School. It should be mentioned, however, that Burlingame and San Mateo High Schools remained as one student body under one set of student body officers. Early in the spring of 1927, the Board of Trustees ordered San Mateo High to split into two units, to establish separate student bodies: San Mateo and Burlingame high schools, with their own activities and teams.

In the fall of 1927, the present San Mateo High School Delaware campus was completed. The $600,000 school, designed by architects John E. and E. L. Norberg, consisted of a main and an art building and a boys' gym. The new facility followed the architectural model of Henry VIII's Hampton Court in England. On November 10, the first anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone, the new T-shaped main building was dedicated and featured on ego the state's most complete science departments with experimental switchboards, fume cabinets, and a greenhouse over the biology rooms; a print shop that handled printing for both high schools and the junior college (now present-day College of San Mateo); a Tudor design library; and a dumbwaiter for fast communication between the principal's office and the superintendent's office on the second floor. A clock tower looming above the main entrance boasted the only set of chimes in a high school in the state. The $115,000 chimes were presented by Mrs. Charles S. Howard in memory of her son. With San Mateo and Burlingame high schools officially separated, students in the two cities were committed to attend their respective schools. It should also be noted that the school was structurally reinforced for earthquake safety measures in 1934-1935 and then was entirely rebuilt for earthquake safety again in 2005.

After the 2005 rebuild of the school, it did not retain the original T-shaped form but rather a U-shaped design that houses the 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D' buildings along with isolated 'E' and Music buildings. The A-building houses the Administration, World Languages, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Photography, Digital Media, Directed Studies, Student Government, Renaissance Leadership, and some English. The B-building houses just English with the library occupying the bottom floor that has a dedicated Media Lab for Journalism and Yearbook. The C-building is all Science and also consists of one California Technical Education class. The D-building is a recent addition of the brand-new Biotechnology Training Facility wing that was completed in November 2010; it is state-of-the-art and is rated as the top science facility in California in comparison to the state's prestigious public and private University systems. The E-building houses the pool area, sports trainer offices, Small Gym, and Health courses headed by Mr. Jeff Scheller, Athletics Director. The original Music Building built in 1927 still sits in the exact location it was once originally built and houses the Band, Choir, and Music courses that are taught by Mr. Atillio Tribuzi (instrumental) and Mr. Shawn Reifschneider (chorus). Besides the buildings mentioned, the campus also houses a generously large Main Gym with dance studios that was built in 2005 that is utilized for Physical Education courses, Dance Instruction, after-school sports, and school rallies along with tennis courts, and an all-weather football/soccer/track and field stadium, baseball, and softball fields. The cafeteria is located just under one section of the A-building.

The school earned a Guinness World Record in 2005 for collecting 372,000 pounds (168,736 kg) of food from the local community for its annual Canned Food Drive. The collected food was donated to America's Second Harvest and Samaritan House which provides to all of the needy families all throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara counties during the Holiday Season. San Mateo High School prides itself in hosting the largest non-profit to non-profit community service project in just a 2-week period.