Temple City High School (also known as TCHS) is a four-year comprehensive secondary school located in

Temple City, California Temple City, officially the City of Temple City, is a city in Los Angeles County, California located northeast of downtown Los Angeles and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Temple City is part of a cluster of cities, along with Pasadena ...

, in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

. The high school was awarded the California Distinguished School award in 1996 and in 2019, and a California Gold Ribbon School award in 2017. Temple City High School was ranked #209 in the distinguished Newsweek list of America's Best High Schools.

History

The

Temple City Unified School District Temple City Unified School District is the governing public school system of Temple City, California, in the West San Gabriel Valley. Encompassing approximately four square miles, the District includes within its boundaries most of the incorpor ...

was established on July 1, 1954, and incorporated

Oak Avenue Intermediate School Oak Avenue Intermediate School is a two-year public intermediate, junior high, or middle school, located in Temple City, California, in the west San Gabriel Valley. History The Temple City Unified School District was established on July 1, 1954 ...

, a junior high school formerly part of the Pasadena Unified School District. Before 1956, Temple City public school students would attend Pasadena High School after Oak Avenue, but in 1956 the first 12th grade class in the district graduated at Oak Avenue. The first graduation from Temple City High was a year later, when the

Associated Student Body A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

established the green and gold school colors and the

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * Ra ...

as the school mascot. Temple City High School holds its annual graduation ceremonies at the school's Hitchcock-North Stadium in the evening and the Grad Night celebration takes place after the ceremonies on campus instead of holding it at a Southern California theme park.

Awards and recognition

Temple City High School has received several awards for its academic programs. Rampage, the school newspaper, was presented with the second place award for High School Newspaper Excellence in Division A by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' at the Student Journalism Awards on May 26, 2005.

Temple City High School Yearbook: ''Templar''

Over the years, Temple City's yearbook program has been both regionally and nationally recognized. The most prominent year was in 2007, where the ''Templar's'' 2005–06 edition yearbook, themed "It All Adds Up", received one of only six

Columbia Scholastic Press Association The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) is an international student press association, founded in 1925, whose goal is to unite student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchang ...

"Gold Crown" awards in the nation. In 2009, the ''Templar'' received the "Herff Jones Yearbook Silver Crown" award for their 2007–08 edition yearbook entitled "Right Click". In 2009, at the East Los Angeles Journalism Education Association (ELAJEA) Write-Offs competition in Alhambra, the ''Templar'' also took home Grand Sweepstakes for accumulating the most points over a series of criteria that include Copywriting, Layout, and Pictures.

Athletics

Temple City High School competes interscholastically as a member of the Rio Hondo League in boys' and girls'

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,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

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 ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

, boys'

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 ...

Auxiliaries Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, u ...

cheer Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle English ...

pep flags Pep flags, also known as flaggies, short flags, small flags, or twirl flags, is the performing art of twirling one or two flag(s) as part of a choreographed routine. In the early 21st century, some school flag squads have implemented a third or e ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

, Choreo Dance Team, and Fusion Competitive Dance Team. In

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, the football team set 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)

Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

record for most consecutive wins, with 46. It also tied the California

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

state record. Girls' volleyball won the CIF Southern Section championship in 2002, and girls' water polo won the CIF Section III championship back-to-back in 2003 and 2004, marking a consistent streak in girls' athletics. The girls' tennis varsity tennis team secured a CIF win in 2016 and the boys' varsity baseball team won CIF championships in 2018. Girls' golf has won the Rio Hondo League 4 years in a row starting with their inaugural season in 2018–2019. Men's basketball won the Rio Hondo League in 2009. Auxiliaries, cheer, pep flags, Song, Choreo, and Fusion have competed at various competition circuits including United Spirit Association and Sharp International. At Sharp International regionals, they have placed top three as well as overall first and sweepstakes in the categories of cheer, flags, song, lyrical, jazz, hip hop, and senior dance. In 2011 and 2012, Choreo and Fusion won back to back national champion titles in senior dance. In 2013, Choreo and Fusion won national champs in lyrical dance and Song won national champs in pom. Athletes who went on to play professionally from Temple City High School include Kent Kramer, Steve Busick, Jimmy Conrad, Bryan Jordan, Ryan Tucker, and Lee “Rocky” Biddle.

Performing and visual arts

Temple City High performing and visual arts consist of

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

auxiliaries Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, u ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, chorus,

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. Dragonflicks, part of the school's art and film department, holds an annual Film Festival supported by the school during the months of May and/or June. Their nationally recognized "co-ed" show choir team is named the Brighter Side Singers and they perform at Disney's California Adventures every Christmas season. The Brighter Side Singers also tour every year. The Temple City Marching Band and Pageantry Corps—the "Pride of Temple City"—was invited to march in the 2004 Tournament of Roses Parade, because they had had one of their most successful marching seasons, earning 3 Sweepstakes Awards and 7 First Place Awards. Their appearance later led to an invitation to perform on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

''. In 2005, the Temple City High School Symphony Orchestra was invited to New York to take part in the Youth Symphony Orchestra Competition in Carnegie Hall. They were awarded the Gold Plaque Award for their performance. In 2008, the Temple City High School Honors Orchestra was invited to play in Disney's Concert Hall. They were invited due to the recognition of one of their students and cello players, Daniel Gee. He was recognized for his arrangement of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". In 2013, The Pride of Temple City Marching Band and Pageantry Corps was again selected to march in the 2015 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Notable alumni

Kent Kramer Kent Devlin Kramer (July 21, 1944 – February 21, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings, and the Philadel ...

, class of 1961, former tight end in the

National Football League 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 ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, and the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

* Kent Cullers, class of 1967

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

, the first totally blind physicist in the world and Director for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other pl ...

R&D *

Reb Brown Common meanings * Johnny Reb, personification of a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War * Reb (Yiddish), an honorific title for a teacher People * Reb Anderson (born 1943), American Zen Buddhist teacher and writer * Reb Beach (born 1963), ...

, class of 1967. Actor, ''

Uncommon Valor ''Uncommon Valor'' is a 1983 American action war film directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Gene Hackman, Fred Ward, Reb Brown, Randall "Tex" Cobb, Robert Stack, Patrick Swayze, Harold Sylvester and Tim Thomerson. Hackman plays a former U.S. Mar ...

'', ''

Yor, the Hunter from the Future ''Yor, the Hunter from the Future'' ( it, Il mondo di Yor, lit=The World of Yor) is a 1983 science fiction fantasy film directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring Reb Brown, Corinne Cléry, Luciano Pigozzi, and John Steiner. The film was an Ital ...

'', and ''

Space Mutiny ''Space Mutiny'' (also known as ''Mutiny in Space'') is a 1988 South African - US space opera action film about a mutiny aboard the generation ship known as the ''Southern Sun''. The film has since developed a cult following after being featu ...

''. *

Steve Busick Steven Ray Busick (born December 10, 1958) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He graduated from Temple City High School in 197 ...

, class of 1977, member of

1978 USC Trojans football team The 1978 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Following the season, the Trojans were crowned national champions according to the Coaches Poll. While Alabama ...

which earned

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

honors as national champion, also 7-year

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 ...

career as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Steven W. Lindsey Steven Wayne Lindsey (born August 24, 1960) is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Lindsey served as Chief of the NASA Astronaut Office from September 2006 until October 2009. Early life and education Lindsey was born on Au ...

, class of 1978, is a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Colonel and

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Angela Morales Angela Morales (born 1966, Los Angeles) is an American essayist, writer, and educator. She is the author of '' The Girls In My Town: Essays'', published by the University of New Mexico Press, 2016. Her essays appear in '' River Teeth'', ''The ...

, class of 1985, is a writer/essayist, author of The Girls in My Town, and winner of the PEN Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. *

Steve Jablonsky Steve Jablonsky (born October 9, 1970) is an American composer for film, television and video games, best known for his musical scores in the ''Transformers'' film series. Some of his frequent collaboration partners include film directors Michae ...

, class of 1988, composer and music director. Music Director for ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' and ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

'' movies * Erin Martin, class of 1993, professional soccer player; national record holder (most career goals), National Soccer Hall of Fame *

Jimmy Conrad James Paul Conrad (born February 12, 1977) is an American retired association football player who played as a defender. During his 13-year MLS career, he was four-time MLS Best XI and the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year. He also earned 27 caps wi ...

, class of 1994, made the U.S. roster for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, defender for the Kansas City Wizards * Lee "Rocky" Biddle, class of 1994, former MLB relief pitcher for the Expos and White Sox. *

Rico Harris Rico Omarr Harris (born May 19, 1977 – disappeared October 10, 2014) is an American former professional basketball player. A high school standout in his native Southern California, he later led Los Angeles City College (LACC) to its first state ...

, class of 1995, former

Harlem Globetrotter The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of ...

who disappeared in 2014 *

Joseph Meehan Joseph Meehan or Joe Meehan may refer to: * Joseph Meehan (horticulturalist) * Joseph Meehan (basketball), former head coach of La Salle Explorers men's basketball The La Salle Explorers men's basketball program represents La Salle University ...

, class of 1997, professional wrestler * Bryan Jordan, class of 2003, midfielder for the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

and formerly for the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

Ryan Tucker Ryan Tucker (born June 12, 1975) is a former American football offensive tackle who played for the St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns in the National Football League. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 1997 NFL Draf ...

, class of 2005, Major League Baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers * Alex "Xpecial" Chu, class of 2010, professional League of Legends player; currently plays support for Golden Guardians Academy *

Brandon Soo Hoo Brandon Soo Hoo (born November 2, 1995) is an American actor and martial artist known for playing Tran in the 2008 film ''Tropic Thunder'' and for his series regular role on the Cartoon Network sketch comedy series ''Incredible Crew''. Soo Hoo pl ...

, class of 2013, actor

References

External links

Temple City High School website

TCHS Rampage website

Temple City Unified School District website

TCHS Alumni News Association website
{{authority control 1954 establishments in California Educational institutions established in 1954 High schools in Los Angeles County, California Temple City Unified School District schools Public high schools in California