| George Washington High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
 | |
600 32nd Avenue , 94121 | |
| Coordinates | 37°46′40.13″N122°29′31.24″W / 37.7778139°N 122.4920111°W /37.7778139; -122.4920111 |
| Information | |
| Motto | Of all victories first and greatest is for a man to conquer himself - Plato |
| Established | August 4, 1936 |
| School district | San Francisco Unified School District |
| Principal | John Schlauraff |
| Faculty | 86.88 (FTE)[1] |
| Enrollment | 2,036 (2022–23)[1] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 23.43[1] |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Red and Gray |
| Mascot | Eagle |
| Rival | Abraham Lincoln High School[2] |
| Website | www |
George Washington High School (colloquiallyGWHS orWashington High School[3]) is a public high school located in theRichmond District on theWest Side ofSan Francisco, California. The campus occupies the highest ground in the neighborhood, south ofGeary Boulevard between 30th and 32nd Avenues, with a sweeping view of theGolden Gate Bridge from the athletic fields.[4] Presidio Middle School, also a public school, is located kitty-corner to the campus.
The school was opened in 1936. Its lobby is decorated with 13 murals in "buon fresco" style byVictor Arnautoff, a student ofDiego Rivera, that were commissioned by theWorks Progress Administration'sFederal Art Project as part ofFranklin Delano Roosevelt'sNew Deal projects for public buildings. TitledLife of Washington, the murals depict scenes from the life ofGeorge Washington. Intended to teach students about the realities of history,[5][6] they include representations of Black slaves and white indentured servants on Washington's estate and, in a panel criticizing the notion ofManifest Destiny, a depiction of a prostrate Native American. TheSan Francisco Board of Education voted in 2019 to remove the murals as offensive.[7] After protests, the school board's resolution was ruled unlawful in 2021 and was rescinded in 2022.
The City of San Francisco set aside $2 million in 1930 to build a high school to serve the Richmond District, its seventh public high school and most expensive school at that time. The three-story academic building was designed byTimothy L. Pflueger and inspired by Washington's home in Virginia,Mount Vernon.[4] It was planned to accommodate 3,000 students.[8] Arnautoff was assisted byGeorge Harris and Gorden Langdon in his work on the murals,[8] and the school also has mural work byRalph Stackpole,Robert Boardman Howard, andLucien Labaudt,[9] andbas relief faces by Arnautoff of Washington,Thomas Edison, andWilliam Shakespeare above the main doors.[6][10] A bas relief frieze on the wall of the football stadium,Athletics, is byBeniamino Bufano andSargent Johnson.[8]
Washington High School opened on August 4, 1936 (reportedly before the classrooms were furnished);[4][8] the stadium, auditorium, and gymnasium were added in 1940, and the school was formally dedicated onArmistice Day 1940. The first principal, Ernest J. Cummings, served until 1945 when he became Deputy Superintendent of Secondary Schools.[8]
The school song, the Washington Hymn, was written by student Tillie Miesles, class of 1937, with a 1947 addition by teacher Marion Knott.[8][11]
The murals by Victor Arnautoff in the school lobby attracted criticism for the realistic depiction of the African-American slaves and white indentured servants that George Washington had on hisMount Vernon estate,[12] and for an allegorical depiction, in a mural intended as a criticism of the concept of Manifest Destiny, of four pioneers treading over and beside a dead Native American. In 1974 the school added three murals byDewey Crumpler to assuage complaints, and Crumpler has said that the students at that time apologized for their failure to understand the intent of the works and the devices used by Arnautoff to convey the realities of history.[13]
In June 2019, the San Francisco Board of Education voted to paint over the Arnautoff murals,[7][14][15] There was broad opposition, including from theNational Coalition Against Censorship,[16] theCollege Art Association,[17] and in an open letter signed by 400 scholars and artists.[18] San Francisco Heritage, a non-profit devoted to preserving the city's artistic and architectural legacy, proposed the school be designated acity landmark on the basis of this and other features.[19] The school's alumni association expressed support for the murals.[20]Alice Walker, whose daughter attended the school, suggested that explanations be added to provide context: "If you cover things up, the danger is that you will end up in the same place again, and you won’t even recognize it."[21]
The school board voted to instead conceal the Arnautoff murals with curtains or panels,[22] but on September 24, 2021, theSan Francisco Superior Court determined that its decisions to either destroy or cover the murals violated environmental law and must be reversed.[20] The school board appealed the decision, but after a successful recall of many members, the new board voted in June 2022 to rescind its decision to conceal the murals.[22]
2020-2021[23]
| White | Latino | Asian | African American | Pacific Islander | American Indian | Two or More Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.1% | 15% | 60.8% | 4.6% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 4.3% |
According to 2023U.S. News & World Report, 92% of the school's student body is "of color", with 62% of the student body coming from an economically disadvantaged household, determined by student eligibility for California'sreduced-price meal program.[24]
The school has computer labs, an auditorium/theater, a library, and a two-story shop building. Athletics facilities include a gymnasium, a football/soccer field and a multipurpose field, 6 tennis courts, 3 full-sized and 1 half-sized basketball courts, track and field facilities, and facilities for baseball/softball including 2 batting cages, a front toss cage, and a bullpen.
In 2011, Washington High was ranked byNewsweek as the 497th best high school in the United States.[25] The curriculum includes a variety of advanced Visual Performing Arts classes including: Dance Company, Ceramics, Vocal Music, Band and Orchestra, Computer Art and AP Art and Design. There is a computer lab and a Computer Science pathway, plus courses in Robotics. Washington is one of only two San Francisco public high schools with a Marching Band, the other beingPhillip & Sala Burton High School.
The school is a Newcomer Pathway school that serves students who have recently arrived in the United States, primarily from China and Latin America. There is also an extensive program for special needs students, who comprise about 10% of the student population.
The George Washington High athletic program is governed by theAcademic Athletic Association and sanctioned by theCalifornia Interscholastic Federation. The school supports 20 varsity, 7 junior varsity, and freshman-sophomore athletics programs. It is the only San Francisco public high school with girls' and boys' lacrosse teams. Sports offered include: cross country, track and field, swimming, fencing, wrestling, badminton, baseball, softball, basketball, football, cheerleading, boys' and girls' golf, boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' tennis, and boys' and girls' volleyball. The school has won a number of league championships.[26]
In season five, episode five (1976) of the TV seriesThe Streets of San Francisco,Maureen McCormick plays a teenage hooker attending the school. Two scenes show the school and its view of the Golden Gate Bridge.[citation needed]
In 1981, thePacific News Service aired a story about race-basedgangs at George Washington High School.[27]
In 1992, for aSan Francisco Chronicle series intended to explore the impact of reduced school funding resulting fromProposition 13's reduction of property taxes, a 26-year-old reporter, Shann Nix,went undercover as asenior at Washington High School.[28][29][30]
Arnautoff signaled the country's underlying crimes by taking a more critical view of Washington's life, portraying his ownership of slaves and his support of the genocidal Western expansion.
Heritage commissioned the City Landmark nomination for George Washington High School, co-authored by Donna Graves and Christopher VerPlanck, which comprehensively documents the school's public art and architecture, including Victor Arnautoff's 'Life of Washington' (1936) mural.
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