Palo Alto Unified School District

History

The district itself was founded on March 20, 1900, with the first school opening in September of that year. Enrollment grew until it reached a peak of 15,576 students in 1967. Afterwards, enrollment declined sharply, forcing the district to close many schools, including Jordan Middle School. The closing of Jordan Middle School was the reason for the renaming of Wilbur Junior High School as Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in 1985. Enrollment was at its lowest in 1989 with only 7,452 students. Jordan Middle School was reopened when enrollment increased again. Barron Park Elementary School was added in 1998, and Terman Middle School was reopened in 2001. In 2013 the district had 12,268 students.

Cluster suicide

Palo Alto High Schools received national attention in 2009 after five of its students committed suicide over a span of nine months, mainly by walking in front of trains at a local crossing. As a result, steps have been taken to limit access to the tracks. Attempts have since been made to try to improve the emotional health of students attending the schools. As of 2015, cluster suicide has remained a problem in the district's high schools.

In February 2016, a team of suicide prevention specialists from Epidemiologic Assistance (Epi-Aids) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) paid a two-week visit to the area to determine risk factors. In July 2016, the Epi-Aids team released preliminary findings.

Gunn High School

Henry M. Gunn High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto. The school is named after Henry M. Gunn (1898–1988), who served as the Palo Alto superintendent from 1950-1961. During his tenure he saw the district expand from 5,500 students to 14,000, adding 17 new schools, and is credited with the establishment of De Anza College and Foothill College, two local community colleges. In 1964, the Palo Alto Unified School District announced it would name its third high school after him. Its first class graduated in 1966. The mascot of the school is Timmy the Titan. The student newspaper is The Oracle, part of the High School National Ad Network. There is an internal student-run television news show called the Titan Broadcast Network.

Palo Alto High School

Palo Alto Senior High School is among the oldest high schools in the region. Founded in 1898, its enrollment today is over 1700 students. "Paly", as the school is known locally, draws high-achieving and scholastically-minded students due to the demographics of its location in the heart of Silicon Valley and its proximity to Stanford University. In 2002 Newsweek ranked it among the top 200 public high schools, based on test scores. In 2007 U.S. News & World Report ranked it #85 out of over 18,000 public high schools. Palo Alto High also carries on a distinguished athletic tradition, marked in recent years by a rivalry with crosstown foe Gunn. Titles won by teams from Paly include California State Championships in Boys Varsity Basketball in 1993 (during which the team went undefeated) and 2006, and a California State Championship in Football in 2010 (as well as CCS Championships in 2006 and 2007). The Paly Girls Varsity Volleyball team won back-to-back state championships in 2010 and 2011. Palo Alto High School also received a multimillion-dollar performing arts center, officially opening on October 1st, 2016.

David Starr Jordan Middle School

David Starr Jordan Middle School is a middle school in Palo Alto, California. Currently in attendance are approximately 1100 students. The school is named after David Starr Jordan, who was the president of Indiana University and Stanford University.

The student population (as of 2007) was 53% Caucasian, 36% Asian, 7% Hispanic, and 4% African American.

It was closed in 1985 due to lack of enrollment in the district. It was remodeled and reopened in 1991. A bond was approved by the city of Palo Alto in 1995 to allow for further technological upgrades to the school.

The school mascot from 1937-1985 was a dolphin. When Jordan reopened in 1991, the students voted to have the jaguar become the mascot. In 1999, the students voted to have the Dolphin returned to its status as co-mascot with the jaguar.

Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School

Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School is a middle school located at 480 East Meadow Dr., Palo Alto, CA 94306. 2007 STAR test results showed an attendance of 870 students, in grades 6 through 8. It is now at approximately 1,200 students. It was originally named Ray Lyman Wilbur Junior High School after Ray Lyman Wilbur. After Jordan Middle School closed due to lack of enrollment in 1985, the two schools were merged at the Wilbur school location and renamed Jane Lathrop Stanford (abbreviated JLS). It was named after Jane Stanford, the wife of Stanford University founder Leland Stanford. A notable attendee of the school was NBA basketball player Jeremy Lin of the Brooklyn Nets.

The land that Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and the adjoining Fairmeadow Elementary School now sit on were once owned by three farmers by the name of Diss. The farmers sold their land to the real-estate developer Joseph Eichler, who later donated the land to the district. VTA's community bus Route 88L and M has a stop in front of the school, and only operates on school days. It costs 75 cents for a youth to ride and $1.25 for an adult.

Terman Middle School

Terman Middle School is located at 655 Arastradero Road in Palo Alto. The school mascot is the tiger.

The original name of the school located on the site was Terman Junior High School (named after Lewis Madison Terman), unrelated to the school currently at the site.

The district placed a new middle school named Terman Middle School at the site in 1999 to deal with rising enrollment. The first school year was 2001-2002. It was named after both Terman and his son Frederick Terman. The relocation was met with great controversy by local residents as the district sought to potentially overtake the land by eminent domain from the residing Jewish Community Center. As a result, what was done instead was to trade land from the Cubberly Community Center for the land the district needed at Terman. The JCC continued to lease district land at Cubberly until it made other plans.

VTA's community bus Route 88, 88L and 88M all have a stop in front of the school, and only operates on school days. It costs 75 cents for a youth to ride and $1.25 for an adult.

Elementary schools

Past schools in the district

At its peak in 1967, Palo Alto had 22 K-6 elementary schools. Of those, these schools are closed: