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 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 ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, 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.

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 compreh ...

. 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, who at one time was the superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District.

Ida Louise Jackson Ida Louise Jackson (October 12, 1902 – March 8, 1996) was an American educator and philanthropist. She attended and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley following her family’s move to California. As one of 17 Black students th ...

, 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 I ...

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 and African American history, later hosting speakers, meetings, forums, and other activities. Historian Donna Murch h ...

. 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, ...

also spoke at the function. The Black Panthers 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 leadership ...

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 land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

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 fo ...

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 ''o ...

. McClymonds offers a variety of

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

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 ...

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 t ...

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, 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 i ...

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

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 Report
has 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 The G ...

, NBA player * Antonio Davis, 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 Californ ...

, former U.S. Congressman 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 ...

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 ...

, 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 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 exemptio ...

)'' *

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 pres ...

-winning rapper * John Handy, 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, former NFL running back * Jim Hines, 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 contes ...

dash world record holder, first man to break

10 second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

* Leondaus "Lee" Lacy, MLB player, two-time World Series Champion * Ernie Lombardi, Hall of Fame catcher for the Cincinnati Reds *

Dante Marsh Dante Marsh (born February 26, 1979) is a former Canadian football cornerback who spent 11 seasons with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Marsh attended college at Fresno State. He is currently the Cornerbacks Coach at Contra C ...

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 seas ...

* Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell, one of the greatest street basketball players * Marty Paich, 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 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 w ...

, MLB 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 th ...

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, 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 both ...

, MLB 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 fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

; only MLB player to win Most Valuable Player Award 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 Va ...

, NBA Hall of Famer, 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 Co ...

( most championships by a player in NBA history) * Roy Shivers, 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, NBA player and coach, member of College Basketball Hall of Fame * Brandon Smith,

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-o ...

* Willie Tasby, 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 violinist * 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

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