Gunn High School Explained

Henry M. Gunn High School
Address:780 Arastradero Road
Zipcode:94306
Country:United States
Principal:Wendy Stratton[1]
Teaching Staff:103.64 (FTE)
Ratio:18.68
Enrollment:1,936 (2020-21)[2]
Mascot:Timmy the Titan
Nickname:Titans
Newspaper:The Oracle
Yearbook:The Olympian
Colors: Red and Black

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, 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, 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]

Academics

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

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.[22]

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.[23] 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.[24]

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]

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.[28]

Statistics

Demographics

2015–2016[29]

AsianWhiteHispanicTwo or more racesAfrican AmericanFilipinoPacific IslanderAmerican IndianUnreported
8627331731262514420
%%%%%%%%%

, 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.[24]

Standardized testing

SAT Scores for 2014–2015 [30]
! Critical reading average Math average Writing average
Gunn High642 686 646
District634 671 634
Statewide489 500 484

Student groups

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.[33] [34] [35]

Notable alumni

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kadvany . Elena . New principals announced for Gunn and Palo Alto high schools . www.paloaltoonline.com . 5 September 2020 . en.
  2. Web site: Henry M. Gunn High. National Center for Education Statistics. March 23, 2022.
  3. Web site: Henry M. Gunn High School. 2020-02-28.
  4. Web site: 2007 School Profile. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080705114031/http://gunn.pausd.org/home/web/files/profile07.pdf. 2008-07-05. 2008-03-22.
  5. Web site: School Profile 2019-2020. Henry M. Gunn High School. 2020-02-28.
  6. News: Salgado . Marc . Cubberley partisans on offensive – close Gunn . Palo Alto Times . 30 January 1979 . 1.
  7. News: Hansen . Terry . Gunn High School to open its doors to 600 students . Palo Alto Times . 18 August 1964.
  8. News: Auditorium named for Spangenberg . 20 December 2022 . Palo Alto Times . 19 January 1965.
  9. News: Gunn High auditorium to be unveiled . Palo Alto Times . 13 January 1965 . 25.
  10. News: O'Connor . Dick . Cubberley meets Gunn in 'game of the week' . Palo Alto Times . 21 September 1965 . 31.
  11. News: First class will graduate from Gunn High next week . Palo Alto Times . 9 June 1966 . 49.
  12. Web site: Samuels . Diana . Fernandez . Lisa . Gunn community reeling after fourth apparent teen suicide in six months . The Mercury News . 6 September 2020 . 21 October 2009.
  13. Web site: Netter . Sarah . Teen Train Suicide Cluster Shakes Affluent California Town . ABC News . 6 September 2020 . en.
  14. Web site: Lynch . Grace Hwang . The CDC is investigating a cluster of teen suicides in Palo Alto . The World . 6 September 2020 . en.
  15. Web site: Gunn High student dies by suicide. Kadvany. Elena. www.paloaltoonline.com. en. 2020-04-28.
  16. Web site: Railroad suicide victim was a Gunn student – Palo Alto Daily Post . 2024-05-16 . en-US.
  17. Web site: Sheyner . Gennady . 2024-02-20 . Person struck by train, killed in Palo Alto . 2024-05-16 . Palo Alto Online . en-US.
  18. Web site: After five suicides, Palo Alto high school students change culture through peer support « Culture & Features « Peninsula Press ARCHIVE (2010 – Sept. 2014). 2011-01-04. peninsulapress.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161010192927/http://archive.peninsulapress.com/2011/01/04/after-five-suicides-palo-alto-high-school-students-change-culture-through-peer-support/. 2016-10-10. 2016-01-18.
  19. Web site: New SELF program at Gunn builds student connection and support. Satpathy. Sakshi. 2018-02-02. Palo Alto Pulse. en-US. 2020-04-28.
  20. Web site: Gunn High School . May 16, 2024 . SCHOOL PROFILE 2023-2024 .
  21. Web site: Course Catalog - Gunn High School . 2023-10-09 . gunn.pausd.org . en-US.
  22. Web site: Gunn High School School Profile . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121027084616/http://www.gunn.pausd.org/school-profile . 2012-10-27 .
  23. Rosin, Hanna. Hanna Rosin. The Silicon Valley Suicides. The Atlantic. December 2015. 2018-08-31. 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[...].
  24. Web site: The Suicide Clusters at Palo Alto High Schools - The Atlantic. Hanna Rosin. November 16, 2015. The Atlantic. 2016-01-18.
  25. Web site: /archive/0/2021/ Math Path Pathways. 2020-02-20. Gunn High School. 2021-12-14.
  26. Web site: HMMT November 2021 Results. 2021-11-13. HMMT. 2021-11-21.
  27. Web site: BMT 2021 Results. 2021-11-21. BMT. 2021-11-21.
  28. Web site: Gunnpltw.com. 2016-10-18. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160121183023/http://www.gunnpltw.com/. 2016-01-21.
  29. Web site: Enrollment by Ethnicity for 2015–16: Henry M. Gunn High School . California Department of Education . 2016-09-27.
  30. Web site: SAT Report - 2014-15 District Level Scores . California Department of Education . 2016-09-26 .
  31. Web site: 2009 Base API School Report – Henry M. Gunn High . California Department of Education Assessment, Accountability and Awards Division . November 10, 2013 . January 8, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160108161346/http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/AcntRpt2010/2009BaseSch.aspx?allcds=43696414332904 . dead .
  32. Web site: 2013 Growth API School Report – Henry M. Gunn High . California Department of Education Analysis, Measurement, & Accountability Reporting Division.
  33. Web site: Awards – GRT. gunnrobotics.com. 2015-11-21. dead. https://archive.today/20130126023731/http://www.gunnrobotics.com/team/awards. 2013-01-26.
  34. NASA Previews Robotics Engineers of the Future. NASA Ames Research Center. March 10, 2006. 2008-05-22.
  35. News: Malone. Michael S.. The Fix-It Kids Take Over. Forbes Magazine. Forbes.com Inc.. March 25, 2002. 2008-05-22.
  36. Web site: Downtown San Jose gets a much-needed dose of ‘retail therapy’. 2024-06-19.
  37. Web site: Sports . Palo Alto Online . Gunn's Meeks races to a big victory at Stanford Invitational . 2022-11-14 . paloaltoonline.com . en.
  38. Web site: Kenrick . Chris . Former student, now pop star in Japan, recounts story . Palo Alto Online . 14 September 2020 . en.
  39. Web site: Nguyen . Madison . Yang . Joshua . October 4, 2019 . Alumna releases memoir after sexual assault case . February 27, 2021 . The Oracle . Gunn High School.
  40. Web site: Kadvany . Elena . September 4, 2019 . Anonymous no longer, Emily Doe reclaims identity in new memoir about Brock Turner sexual assault and its aftermath . February 27, 2021 . Palo Alto Weekly.
  41. Web site: 2024-06-19. Gunn graduate’s message: ‘We are fighters’. Palo Alto Weekly.