Palo Alto Senior High School, commonly referred to locally as "Paly", is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two schools in the district, the other being crosstown Gunn High School, for which the school has a rivalry with. Palo Alto High School was originally established as a private school in 1894. The school was later established as a public school four years later, and a new campus was built in 1918. The school's property is adjacent to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, who provided the land for the school. The school admits roughly 500 students each year and features various extracurriculars, including a variety of student-led publications, glassblowing, robotics, and a theater program. It is a two-time National Blue Ribbon School.

History

Palo Alto Senior High School initially opened in 1894 as a private school. At the time of its opening, the school consisted of 24 students to 3 teachers. The school would later become a public school in 1918. Classes were initially held in the Channing Avenue Grammar School; a three-room high school was later built using funds from a trustee. An expanded campus began construction in 1917 and finished construction by December 1918.

Demographics

2021-22 * 2,010 students: 1,090 Male (54.2%), 1,051 (45.8%) 2015–16 * 1,994 students: 982 Male (49.6%), 1004 Female (50.4%)

Standardized testing

Student media

In October 2014, a new Media Arts Center (MAC) was unveiled at Paly. The MAC is the hub of journalism at Palo Alto High School.

Year-round student publications

These publications have a dedicated class associated with them. *''The Campanile'' is the high school's newspaper. It prints 24 broadsheet pages once every three weeks. ''The Campanile'' has been in the National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame since 2004, and has also won four

Pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

awards as well as a West regional award for editorial excellence from '' Time''. *''C Magazine'' is the high school Arts and Culture Magazine. ''C Magazine'' has won a Gold Crown award from Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2015 and 2016. *''Verde'' is Paly's school magazine publication, founded in 1999. It is published five times each year and available online. ''Verde'' has won Pacemaker and Gold Crown awards for scholastic journalism, including the 2005 Gold Crown award in the Newspaper category. In 2006 Verde won the Best in Show at National Journalism Convention held in San Francisco. In 2008 Verde was one of four newsmagazines awarded the Pacemaker award from the National Scholastic Press Association. *''Viking'' is Paly's sports magazine publication, published five times each year and available online. Founded in 2007, ''Viking'' was the first publication at the high school level to solely cover athletics in the country. It won the National Scholastic Press Association's Student Journalist Impact Award in 2008. *''The Paly Voice'', launched in 2003, is Paly's online news source. It features searchable archives of all other Paly publications as well as exclusive online content. In the spring of 2005, the site won both the People's Voice and Overall Webby Award in the "Student" category. *''InFocus'' is Paly's broadcast TV news program. Founded in 1998, it airs daily during school. *''Madrono,'' the Palo Alto High School yearbook founded around 1918, has won numerous awards; one of the most prestigious being a Gold Medalist for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. It will publish its 103rd issue in 2022.

Additional student publications

These publications are clubs but do not have a dedicated class. *''Proof'' is Paly's arts and entertainment magazine. It was first published second semester of the 2009–10 school year. *''Agora'' is Paly's foreign affairs magazine. First published in 2012, it is the first high school foreign affairs publication in the country. It publishes once a semester. *''Littera'' is Paly's club literary magazine. The club was created in the fall of 2018. It publishes an online issue every semester.

Athletics

Titles won by teams from Palo Alto High School range from CIF State Championships in Boys Varsity Basketball in 1993 and 2006, a football Division I state championship in 2010, volleyball Division I state championships in 2010 and 2011, to CCS Championships in Football in 1995, 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2022 and countless CCS titles in other sports. In 2010, both the Boys and Girls Lacrosse teams won the inaugural Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Championships. Paly has 25 varsity teams, 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 ...

, swimming, as well as badminton, softball, basketball, track and field/ cross country running, golf, lacrosse,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, tennis, volleyball, water polo, field hockey, ice hockey, and wrestling teams. The school is also home to several athletic clubs, including an Ultimate Frisbee Club.

Notable alumni

Palo Alto High School has had various well-known alumni, including: *

Davante Adams Davante Lavell Adams (born December 24, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Fresno State, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the ...

(2011), NFL wide receiver * Rink Babka (1954), Olympic discus thrower * Joan Baez (1958), folk singer * Lisa Brennan-Jobs (1996), writer and daughter of

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. * Charles Brenner (1961), APL implementer and forensic mathematician * Ron "Money-B" Brooks (1987), rapper ( Digital Underground) *

Ron Christie Ronald Irvin Christie (born August 7, 1969) is an American government relations expert and Republican political strategist, who has also worked as a member of former Vice President Dick Cheney's staff. He is the author of two books, and an occa ...

, Republican political strategist. *

Birge Clark Birge Malcolm Clark (April 16, 1893 – April 30, 1989) was an American architect, called “Palo Alto's best-loved architect” by the Palo Alto Weekly; he worked largely in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Biography Early life Clark was bor ...

(1910), architect * Whitfield Crane (1986), rock singer ( Ugly Kid Joe) * Aarón Díaz (2001), Mexican-American actor and model ('' Quantico'') * Tim Dickinson (1992), political journalist ('' Rolling Stone'', '' Mother Jones'') *

Margot Early Margot Early (born June 6, 1964) is an American author of mass-market fiction novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of pros ...

(1982), romance author *

Dave Feldman Dave Feldman (born 1965) is an American sportscaster. Formerly at ESPN and WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., Feldman began his current position as reporter and television anchor for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area in San Francisco, California on July 2 ...

(1983), sportscaster (

CSN Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Head ...

) * Karen Joy Fowler (1968), author ('' The Jane Austen Book Club'') * Dave Franco (2003), actor (''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...

'', ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...

'', '' Now You See Me'') * James Franco (1996), actor (''

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'' trilogy, '' Pineapple Express'', '' Milk'', ''

127 Hours ''127 Hours'' is a 2010 biographical psychological survival drama film co-written, produced and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn and Clémence Poésy. In the film, canyoneer Aron Ralston must find a ...

'') *

Tom Franco Thomas Andrew Franco (born April 14, 1980) is an American actor, artist, and the founder of the Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley, California. He is the brother of actors James Franco and Dave Franco. Early life and education Franco was born ...

(1998), artist * Erle Stanley Gardner (1909), detective fiction author & creator of Perry Mason *

Ariel Gore Ariel Gore (born June 25, 1970) is a journalist, memoirist, novelist, nonfiction author, and teacher. Gore has authored more than ten books. Gore's fiction and nonfiction work also explores creativity, spirituality, queer culture, and positive psy ...

, writer, she attended for two years and has written about the experience. * Charles Haid (1961), actor and director, (played

Andy Renko ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station locat ...

on TV series '' Hill Street Blues'') *

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

(1982), football player and coach, current head coach at the University of Michigan * Peter Hansen (1997), football coach *

Douglas Hofstadter Douglas Richard Hofstadter (born February 15, 1945) is an American scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research includes concepts such as the sense of self in relation to the external world, consciousness, an ...

(1961), professor of cognitive science and author *

Allan Hoover Allan Henry Hoover (July 17, 1907 – November 4, 1993) was a British-born American mining engineer, rancher, financier, and the younger son of President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry. Early life and education Hoover was born in Londo ...

(1925), financier, son of President Herbert Hoover *

Jon Huntsman, Sr. Jon Meade Huntsman Sr. (June 21, 1937 – February 2, 2018) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder and executive chairman of Huntsman Corporation, a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals. Huntsman p ...

(1955), billionaire founder of

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(2014), football player * Ollie Johnston (1930), Academy Award-winning Disney animator ('' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

'') * Morris Kirksey (1913), gold medal-winning sprinter and rugby player at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

* Bill Kreutzmann (1965), drummer (

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

)Palo Alto History Project, "The Grateful Dead: Making the Scene in Palo Alto"
* Bill Lane, Sunset magazine publisher, American diplomat, and philanthropist * Cory Lerios, founding member of the band Pablo Cruise *

Jeremy Lin Jeremy Shu-How Lin (born August 23, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American professional basketball player who last played for the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the Ne ...

(2006), basketball player *

Jim Loscutoff James Loscutoff Jr. (February 4, 1930 – December 1, 2015) was a professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A forward, Loscutoff played on seven Celtics championship teams between 1956 a ...

(1948), basketball player, won seven NBA championships with the

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John Markoff John Gregory Markoff (born October 24, 1949) is a journalist best known for his work covering technology at ''The New York Times'' for 28 years until his retirement in 2016, and a book and series of articles about the 1990s pursuit and capture ...

(1967), '' New York Times'' journalist and author * Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (1963), musician (

) (didn't graduate) * Rob Minkoff (1980), film director and animator ('' The Lion King'', '' Stuart Little'') * Sean Nolan (1990), Olympic water polo team, Sydney 2000 * Jesse Moss (1988), documentary filmmaker * Hank Norberg, football player * Teresa Noyola (2008), soccer player * Téa Obreht (2002), novelist ( The Tiger's Wife) *

Luke Paquin Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, formed in 1999. The band was signed by Seattle label Sub Pop in 2001 and released its first EP, ''Knock Knock Knock'', and first full-length album, ''Make Up the Breakd ...

(1996), guitarist (

Hot Hot Heat Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, formed in 1999. The band was signed by Seattle label Sub Pop in 2001 and released its first EP, ''Knock Knock Knock'', and first full-length album, ''Make Up the Breakdo ...

) * Joc Pederson (2010), Major League Baseball player ( Los Angeles Dodgers,

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, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants) * Stu Pederson (1978), Major League Baseball player ( Los Angeles Dodgers) * Bill Pidto (1983), sportscaster ( ESPN, MSG Network) * Keith Raffel (1968), technology executive, novelist, US Senate aide * Tom Ritchey (1974), ( Ritchey Design), cycling engineer and pioneer of the mountain bike * Dave Schultz (1977), 3x NCAA Champion, Olympic and world champion wrestler * Mark Schultz (1978), 3x NCAA Champion, Olympic and world champion wrestler * Joe Sebok (1995), professional poker player *

Joe Simitian Saren Joseph Simitian (born February 1, 1953) is a California Democratic politician. From 2004 to 2012, he was the State Senator representing California's 11th State Senate district, which encompasses all or part of 13 cities in San Mateo, Sa ...

(1970),

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(2004–12) and former

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man (2000–04) * Grace Slick (1958), rock singer (

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

) (attended 1–2 years, but graduated from Castilleja) * Tom Stern (1964), Oscar-nominated cinematographer (''

Million Dollar Baby ''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...

'', '' Mystic River'', '' Changeling'') * Dink Templeton (1915), multi-sport athlete, 1920 Olympic gold medalist and Hall of Fame

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

track & field coach * Christopher Tin (1994), Grammy Award winning composer * Lew Welch, Beat poet, educator, and writer * Tad Williams (1975), author ('' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn'', ''

Otherland ''Otherland'' is a science fiction tetralogy by American writer Tad Williams, published between 1996 and 2001. The story is set on Earth near the end of the 21st century, probably between 2082 and 2089, in a world where technology has advanced ...

'', and '' Shadowmarch'' science fiction/fantasy series) * Kirk Wise (1981), film director/animator ('' Beauty and the Beast'', ''

Atlantis: The Lost Empire ''Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' is a 2001 American animated science fiction film, science fiction action film, action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ...

'') *

Remi Wolf Remi Francis Wolf (born February 2, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter from California. As a senior at Palo Alto High School, she appeared as a contestant on ''American Idol'' in 2014. After completing her studies at USC Thornton School ...

(2014), Pop/funk singer-songwriter *

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United Stat ...

(1967),

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Oregon (1996– ) *

Lily Zhang Lily Ann Zhang (born June 16, 1996) is an American table tennis player who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with teammates Ariel Hsing and Erica Wu. She also competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio with teammates Jiaqi Zheng ...

(2014), U.S. Olympic table tennis player, London 2012 *

Jan Zobel Jan Zobel (February 8, 1947 – September 18, 2018) was an American activist working for LGBTQ rights and community in the San Francisco Bay area. She was also a tax accountant, and published a book on taxes and recordkeeping for women. Early l ...

(1965), accountant and LGBTQ community organizer in Bay Area

References

External links

Palo Alto High School official website
{{Authority control Palo Alto Unified School District Educational institutions established in 1898 High schools in Santa Clara County, California Public high schools in California Buildings and structures in Palo Alto, California 1898 establishments in California