University High School was a public high school serving the northwestern portion of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. It originally opened in 1923 at what was 5714 Grove Street. Due to the proximity of the campus to the City of Berkeley, "UNI" gained the reputation of the "feeder" high school of Oakland of students directly to the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

. The high school was closed following World War II in 1948. In 1954, the campus was converted into first location of Oakland City College, which later became Merritt College. Merritt College moved to its new campus in 1967. In the early 1970s the location temporarily became a high school again, as Oakland Technical High School moved its students into the campus while its normal location was retrofitted for earthquake safety. At the time, many called this site "Old Tech," although Oakland Tech was actually opened at its current location in 1914, before University High School. After the "Tech" students moved back to their original campus, the building remained vacant for several years. At one point, it was used as the filming location for the 1987 film ''

The Principal ''The Principal'' is a 1987 crime thriller action film starring Jim Belushi, Louis Gossett Jr. and Rae Dawn Chong. Written by Frank Deese and directed by Christopher Cain, it was filmed in Oakland, California, and at Northgate High School in ...

''. The location has been rehabilitated and is now shared between the

Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is a biomedical research institute affiliated with California’s pediatric medical center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. CHORI is based in Oakland, California, and operates a ...

and the North Oakland Senior Center. Grove Street was subsequently renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Way. This site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1992.National Register of Historic Places in Alameda County
/ref> Among its notable alumni is 1936 Olympic

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

Gold Medalist

Archie Williams Archie Franklin Williams (May 1, 1915 – June 24, 1993) was an American U.S. Air Force officer, athlete, and teacher. He was the winner of the 400 meter run at the 1936 Summer Olympics. As recorded on his birth certificate, his name is Archie a ...

and his classmate, tennis great

Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam e ...

References

{{authority control School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California Defunct schools in California Public high schools in California Mission Revival architecture in California School buildings completed in 1923 High schools in Oakland, California National Register of Historic Places in Oakland, California 1923 establishments in California