McClymonds High School is a public
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in the
West Oakland
West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the Po ...
neighborhood of
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States.
In addition to being the third oldest high school in Oakland, it is the only comprehensive high school in West Oakland, operated by the
Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oaklan ...
.
History
Early history (1915-2005)
In January 1915, McClymonds High School started in a small building formerly occupied by
Oakland Technical High School
Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six compre ...
. Originally, 60 students were enrolled in the school, which at that time was called Vocational High School. It was the first public school in California to offer summer school.
The school was named after
J.W. McClymonds JW may refer to:
*Jack Wills, a clothing company
* Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian religious group
*''John Wick'', an action film starring Keanu Reeves
* Joko Widodo, 7th President of Indonesia, 16th Governor of Jakarta and 15th Mayor of Surakarta ...
, who at one time was the
superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of the
Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oaklan ...
.
Ida Louise Jackson, the first black teacher in the Oakland district, taught at McClymonds before her retirement in 1953.
In 1927, with $325,000 spent on additional classrooms, the school became more of a regular school than a summer school. In 1933, the legislative act was passed, regulating school building construction. This required that schools have steel and structural support on the inside. The building did not meet these requirements.
The school decided to move to 14th and Myrtle Street in the same building with Lowell Junior High School. McClymonds High thereby became a four year high school. The name changed from J.W. McClymonds to Lowell McClymonds, then to McClymonds Lowell High School. Finally, in September 1938, the official name of the school became McClymonds, and it was moved to 26th and Myrtle.
McClymonds Educational Complex (2005-2010)
In 2005, McClymonds was split into three smaller schools: BEST, EXCEL, and Kizmet Academy, collectively known as
McClymonds Educational Complex
McClymonds Educational Complex was the collective name of the two small high schools occupying the building of McClymonds High School, operated by the Oakland Unified School District from August 2005 to 2010.
As of 2010, the complex has returned ...
.
"Mack Is Back!" (2010-present)
In 2010, McClymonds Educational Complex returned to being McClymonds High School. The school's 2010-11 theme was "Mack is Back!"
On September 24, 2010, the school opened a new, state-of-the-art football field, William Belford Stadium, named in honor of the late William "Bill" Belford (often called the "godfather" of McClymonds sports).
Notable events and mentions in the media
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
gave a speech at McClymonds at a function sponsored by the
Afro-American Association The Afro-American Association (AAA) was an influential organization founded in 1962 that started as a study group teaching African history, African and African-American history, African American history, later hosting speakers, meetings, forums, and ...
. A young
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
also spoke at the function.
The Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
co-founder
Huey P. Newton
Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966.
Under Newton's leadershi ...
was in attendance. The Afro-American Association also held a demonstration at the school in 1963 about the importance of staying in school and studying.
Currently, many students are working in conjunction with students from nearby
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...
to revitalize a dilapidated drug-ridden park into a history learning park and expand it into the school's campus.
McClymonds was featured in the book ''Black in School: Afrocentric Reform, Urban Youth & the Promise of Hip-Hop Culture'', by
Shawn Ginwright
Shawn A. Ginwright is Professor of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University and author. His research examines the ways in which youth in urban communities navigate through the constraints of poverty and struggle to create equality and j ...
.
Academics
McClymonds's average SAT score for 2013 was 1155 out of 2400. The nation's average SAT score for the year was 1497.
In 2007, McClymonds had over 100 graduates.
In 2008, McClymonds had the highest CAHSEE test scores in the Oakland Unified School District.
McClymonds High School's graduation rate is over 80%, surpassing the District's graduation rate, which is around 74%.
There are two career pathways at McClymonds: Engineering and Entrepreneurship. Students choose their pathway toward the end of their freshman year, after being exposed to various pathway and career exploration activities. Entrepreneurship students have the opportunity to gain a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from Merritt College through their dual enrollment partnership and 5-course sequence.
Sports
The McClymonds varsity football team which was led by captain and starter on both sides of the ball Dwayne Washington won the Division 5A state championship in January 2017. The Warriors defeated the
La Jolla Country Day HS with a score or 20-17. The following year, McClymonds won a second consecutive state championship, defeating the
Golden West High School
Golden West High School is a four-year public high school in the Visalia Unified district of Visalia, California. It is one of eight city high schools and enrolls the third highest number of students.
Academics
Golden West offers 13 AP and f ...
Trailblazers in the
California Division 5AA Football Championship 42-12. In 2019
The McClymonds varsity basketball team won a state Tournament of Champions held in 1978 at the
Oracle Arena
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
.
McClymonds offers a variety of
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
s, including
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
cross-country
Cross country or cross-country may refer to:
Places
* Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland
* Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY
* Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...
, track, tennis, and volleyball.
On May 16, 2006, the Oakland City Council adopted a resolution, sponsored by Council Member Nancy J. Nadel (District 3), congratulating the McClymonds Football Team For Excellence in Athletics and Academics, recognizing that McClymonds High School had ranked #1 in the East Bay and Northern California as the high school with the most football players (9) attending Division I universities, under the direction of head football coach Alonzo Carter. McClymonds was the only high school in the nation that year with three Top 100 prospects, and, with only 600-650 students, ranked #1 in Northern California for Division I Signees, and ranked #2 in the State, behind
Long Beach Poly
Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...
, which had 5,000 students.
On March 15, 2008, McClymonds achieved its first ever
Division I state championship basketball win over
Dominguez High School
Manuel Dominguez High School is a four-year public high school located in Compton, California. It is part of the Compton Unified School District.
Name
Dominguez High School is named after Don Manuel Domínguez, a California rancher. Domínguez in ...
of
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...
, 73-54, at the
Arco Arena, as the culmination of their undefeated streak of 32 wins and no losses.
Chappell Hayes Health Center
McClymonds' health center, founded by
Children's Hospital
A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ...
doctor and
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...
alumna Barbara Staggers, and named after activist
Chappell Hayes, was opened in 2005. In creating the Health Center, Dr. Staggers partnered with Lisa Hardy, MD., Division Chief of Psychiatry at Children's, to ensure that mental health services would also be available to the school community. It serves McClymonds' students and alumni, and members of the West Oakland community.
Groundwater contamination
In February 2020, a report stated that groundwater beneath the tennis courts was contaminated with a
cancer-causing chemical. However, the California Department of Toxic Substances concluded upon a thorough investigation that toxic substances "were not found in inside or outside air or in drinking/pool water. Because TCE and PCE are not present in inside or outside air at McClymonds High School, and because students and staff are not in contact with soil vapor or groundwater, DTSC concludes that students and staff are not at risk.”. Th
Site Investigation Reporthas been shared with the District and the community, and it has been deemed safe for individuals to return to campus as of June 2020.
Notable alumni
*
Vince Albritton, former NFL safety
*
Odis Allison
Odis Jackson Allison Jr. (born October 2, 1949) is a retired American basketball player.
Born in Tulare, California, Allison played collegiately for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the 5th r ...
, NBA player
*
Antonio Davis
Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played ...
, NBA player
*
Ron Dellums
Ronald Vernie Dellums (November 24, 1935 – July 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Oakland from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Californi ...
, former
U.S. Congressman
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
and
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of Oakland
*
Joe Ellis
Josiah Wear Ellis (born November 16, 1957) is a former American football executive who was the president and CEO of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL).
College
Ellis received his bachelor's degree from Colorado College i ...
, NBA player
*
Curt Flood
Curtis Charles Flood (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, ...
,
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player in
St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame ''(
Flood v. Kuhn
''Flood v. Kuhn'', 407 U.S. 258 (1972), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that preserved the reserve clause in Major League Baseball (MLB) players' contracts. By a 5–3 margin, the Court reaffirmed the antitrust exempti ...
)''
*
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...
,
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
-winning rapper
*
John Handy
John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933) is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone. He also sings and plays the tenor and baritone saxophone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe.
Biography
Handy was born in ...
, alto saxophonist, composer, arranger and world musician
*
Kirk Morrison
Kirk David Morrison (born February 19, 1982) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft and also played for the Jacksonville Jagu ...
, former NFL linebacker
*
Wendell Hayes
Wendell Hayes (August 5, 1940 - December 28, 2019) was a former American football running back. Wendell played college football at Humboldt State University. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos ...
, former NFL running back
*
Jim Hines
James Ray Hines (born September 10, 1946) is a retired American track and field athlete and NFL player, who held the 100-meter world record for 15 years. In 1968, he became the first man to officially break the 10-second barrier in the 100 me ...
, Olympic gold medalist,
100 meters
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...
dash world record holder, first man to break
10 second barrier
*
Leondaus "Lee" Lacy,
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player, two-time World Series Champion
*
Ernie Lombardi
Ernesto Natali Lombardi (April 6, 1908 – September 26, 1977), was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and New York Giants duri ...
, Hall of Fame catcher for the Cincinnati Reds
*
Dante Marsh,
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
cornerback for
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place.
The Lions played their first season ...
*
Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell, one of the greatest
street basketball
Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...
players
*
Marty Paich
Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...
, jazz musician
*
Marcus Peters
Marcus Peters (born January 9, 1993) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft and was also a member of the Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Raven ...
,
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
player for the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
*
Nicholas Petris, California state senator
*
Vada Pinson
Vada Edward Pinson Jr. (August 11, 1938 – October 21, 1995) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball for 18 years (1958–1975), most notably for the Cincinnati Reds, for who ...
,
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player in
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame
The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum is an entity established by Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds franchise that pays homage to the team's past through displays, photographs and multimedia. It was instituted in 1958 to recognize the ...
*
Aaron Pointer
Aaron Elton Pointer (born April 19, 1942) is an American retired professional baseball player. He played in the major leagues for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros in and again in –. After his baseball career, he was a National Football Leagu ...
, MLB player and NFL referee
*
Billy Raimondi
William Louis Raimondi (December 1, 1912 – October 18, 2010) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Minor League Baseball for 22 years, including 21 years in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). He played for the Oakland Oaks ...
, baseball player
*
Curt Roberts
Curtis Benjamin Roberts (August 16, 1929 – November 14, 1969) was an American baseball second baseman who played three seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates in Major League Baseball from 1954 to 1956. He was signed by the Boston Braves as a ...
, first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
fielded by
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
*
Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of bot ...
,
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player and manager,
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
; only MLB player to win
Most Valuable Player Award
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
in both leagues
*
Bill Russell
William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most V ...
,
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
Hall of Famer
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
, 11-time
NBA Champion
The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals is the championship series for the NBA held at the conclusion of its postseason. All Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Eastern Con ...
(
most championships by a player in NBA history)
*
Roy Shivers
Roy Shivers (born July 5, 1941) is a former professional American football running back and Canadian football personnel administrator, most notably as the first black general manager in professional football. He was a general manager for eight se ...
, former NFL running back
*
Ruth Pointer
Ruth Esther Pointer (born March 19, 1946) is an American singer–songwriter who is best known as the eldest member of the American family vocal group the Pointer Sisters.
Career
Joining her sisters in 1972, the Pointer Sisters released their f ...
, original member of The Pointer Sisters
*
Paul Silas
Paul Theron Silas (July 12, 1943 – December 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he was a two-time NBA All-Star and earned five selections to the NB ...
, NBA player and coach, member of
College Basketball Hall of Fame
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National ...
*
Brandon Smith,
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
player for
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...
*
Willie Tasby
Willie Tasby Jr. (January 8, 1933 - April 3, 2022) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who appeared in 583 games as a member of the Baltimore Orioles (–), Boston Red Sox (1960), Washington Senators (–) and Cleveland Ind ...
, MLB player
*
Nate Williams
Nathaniel Russell Williams (born May 2, 1950) is a former professional basketball player. A swingman from Utah State University, Williams was selected first in the 1971 NBA Hardship Draft, a supplemental draft for college underclassman. He pla ...
, NBA player
*
Michael White,
jazz violin
Jazz violin is the use of the violin or electric violin to improvise solo lines. Early jazz violinists included: Eddie South, who played violin with Jimmy Wade's Dixielanders in Chicago; Stuff Smith; and Claude "Fiddler" Williams. Joe Venuti was ...
ist
*
Lionel Wilson, former mayor of Oakland, first African-American mayor of Oakland
*
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films ''Aquaman'' (2018) and ''Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama ' ...
, actor and architect
*LeRonne Armstrong,
Chief, Oakland Police Department
See also
*
List of Oakland, California high schools
This is a list of high schools in Oakland, California.
*American Indian Public High School, a charter school
*Aspire Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy, a charter school
*Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy, a (6-12) charter sc ...
References
External links
Y.E.L.L. - giving McClymonds a new futureMore history
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClymonds High School
Educational institutions established in 1915
High schools in Oakland, California
Public high schools in California
1915 establishments in California
Oakland Unified School District