Redwood High School (usually abbreviated as RHS) is a secondary school in
Visalia
Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...
,
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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The public high school serves students from the north west section of the city.
The school serves grades 9 through 12. It is one of four traditional, comprehensive high schools administered by the
Visalia Unified School District
The Visalia Unified School District is a school district in Tulare County, California. The school district covers an area of 214 miles, and includes 26 elementary schools, a newcomer language assessment center, five middle schools, four compreh ...
. Its current enrollment numbers about 2740 students. The school is located at 1001 West Main St
Visalia
Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...
, California 93291.
Green Acres Middle School and Ridgeview Middle School feeds into Redwood. Three private schools in the city, Visalia Christian Academy,
St. Paul's, and George McCann Catholic School also supply students to Redwood.
Lore
In 1910, Visalia Union High School was constructed in the style of
Mission Revival architecture
The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...
. The name of the school was eventually changed to Visalia ''Union'' High School. In 1952, this school served as a junior high school for two years when a new high school, Mt. Whitney, was opened a few blocks to the south. Two years after Mt. Whitney opened, the ''old'' Visalia Union High School campus was renamed Redwood High School. Mt. Whitney High School retained the original school colors and mascot of Visalia Union High School, i.e. maroon & white, The Pioneer.
On October 29, 1965, the Spanish mission style administration building burned and was considered a total loss, although classes were held in portions of the building throughout the year. Indeed, many students took a short-cut through dangerous, burned out portions of the building for the rest of the 1965 school year. The original academic building survives to this day, although alterations to the windows and corridors were necessary. The administration wing was later rebuilt along with a larger library (the original library is now room 32). The original "Senior Court" was moved, from where the present library and memory lane are now located, to the quad area.
Redwood High School celebrated its 50th Birthday in the 2004-2005 school year. In that same year, the 50th Cowhide game against its cross town rival,
Mount Whitney High School, was celebrated at the
Mineral King Bowl and televised throughout the
California Central Valley
The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers ...
.
Campus
Redwood has two separate campuses separated by Giddings Street, however it is connected by a bridge that was built in 1996. The Main Campus is bounded by Main Street on the north, Conyer Street on the east, Mineral King Avenue on the south, and Giddings Street on the west. The Sierra Vista Campus is bounded by
Mill Creek on the north, Giddings Street on the east, Mineral King Street on the south, and Dollner Street on the west.
Main Campus
Main Campus houses most of the school's classrooms and facilities, such as the main office, library, swimming pool, and gym. The gym is currently under renovations, for how long is uncertain.
The Bridge
Causing late students and broken legs, the all loved bridge connects the main campus and Sierra Vista.
Sierra Vista
Sierra Vista is mostly made up of math and foreign languages classes. It also includes visual and performing arts, and architecture classes. The Sierra Vista campus is made up of a few portable classrooms, a main building, a theatre, and a baseball diamond. Sierra Vista's main building was originally an elementary School built during
The Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and commissioned as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". The elementary school was later absorbed by Redwood High School and given its current name. The Rotary Theater is directly connected to the sierra vista building and is the home to the Green Acres Little Theater, along with Redwood, Golden West and Mt. Whitney High Schools' productions.
Annie R. Mitchell Library & Media Center
The Library was named in honor of Annie Rosalind Mitchell in 1989. Annie Mitchell was Dean of Girls at Visalia Union High School.
Today, the Annie R. Mitchell library houses over 25,000 books for the over 2,100 students that use the facility. The library is decorated with 35 flags from around the world, photographs of students dating back to 1900, and a preserved Golden Eagle.
L.J. Williams Theater
The L.J. Williams Theater was constructed in the 1930s, and has hosted many artistic events, including concerts and plays. It was named for Mr. Lawrence J. Williams, former instructor and principal of Visalia Union High School and the first President of College of the Sequoias.
Mill Creek
Mill Creek is a creek that runs through the city of
Visalia
Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...
, including both of Redwood's campuses. Starting at the southeast part of the main campus, the creek runs underground until halfway, then it runs along the south campus, dividing the main campus from the Mineral King Bowl, continuing under Giddings Street and finally along the northern edge of the Sierra Vista campus and into
Green Acres
''Green Acres'' is an American television sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first broadcast on ...
.
Student body
The school's ethnic composition is 30% Hispanic, 40% White, 15% Asian, 10% African-American, and 5% "other".
Athletics
Redwood competes in the
California Interscholastic Federation
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a s ...
(CIF),
Central Section
The California Interscholastic Federation—Central Section (CIF-CS) is the governing body of high school athletics in the central and southern portions of the San Joaquin Valley, the Eastern Sierra region, and as of the 2018/9 season, San Luis O ...
Division II,
East Yosemite League
The East Yosemite League is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Central Section.
Members
* Porterville High School
* Redwood High School (Visalia)
* Monache High School
* El Diamante High School
El Diamante High School, know ...
(EYL).
Redwood's direct rival is
Mount Whitney High School.
The Cowhide Game
The Cowhide is a cross-town rivalry
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 ...
game held annually against Mt. Whitney High School during November.
Notable alumni
*
Aaron Hill (2000) -
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), ...
second baseman
*
Bob Ojeda
Robert Michael Ojeda (born December 17, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher from to , most notably as a member ...
(1976) - MLB pitcher
*
Robert B. Laughlin
Robert Betts Laughlin (born November 1, 1950) is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University. Along with Horst L. Störmer of Columbia University and Daniel C. Tsui of Princeton Universit ...
- Nobel laureate
References
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Visalia Unified School District schools
High schools in Tulare County, California
Public high schools in California
1955 establishments in California