Oakland High School (Oakland, California)


Oakland Senior High School is a public high school in Oakland, California. Established in 1869, it is the oldest high school in Oakland and the sixth oldest high school in the state.

History

Oakland High was first located at 12th Street and Market Street, then at 12th and Jefferson Street. It has been at its current location at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Park Boulevard since 1928. The building that stood before its current manifestation was known as the "Pink Prison" or "Pink Palace." The stairway leading up from Park Boulevard is what remains of the exterior. The lamps in the commons are original fixtures. What is now the football field and basketball courts was once classrooms and a huge theater. The school colors are royal blue and white, and the mascot is Willy the Wildcat.
The building was torn down in 1980 to be rebuilt as a safer structure in the event of a major earthquake.
A new football/soccer/baseball field was inaugurated in the spring of 2006. The football field is officially known as the "Jackie Jensen Field", while the baseball/softball field is dedicated to a, longtime coach and teacher.
Pamela Moy became Oakland High's principal in fall 2020, succeeding Matin Abdel-Qawi, who was the principal serving from 2012 to 2020.
In the summer of 2008, renovations and rebuilding to the main building began and were completed in August 2011.
In January 2021, filmmaker Peter Nicks released Homeroom, a documentary following the Oakland High class of 2020 through their senior year. The 2019–2020 school year started normally but made an unexpected turn in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the students into quarantine and to attend virtual classes, with no prom or graduation ceremony.
In the 2022-2023 school year, the boys varsity basketball team won its first state basketball championship.

Academics

OHS offers many Advanced Placement courses, and concurrent enrollment college courses are offered from the Peralta Colleges after school.

Test scores

For 2013, the school's API score was 634 out of a possible 1,000 points.

Families and learning pathways

Ninth-grade students are parts of learning communities called freshman "families" named after different wildcats such as puma, tiger, panther, jaguar, or cheetah. Students in grades 10 to 12 join one of the school's Career and Technical Education, aligned pathway programs.

Athletics

In 2023, the basketball team won the Dlll State championship.

Student newspaper

The Aegis is the oldest high school newspaper in California. It was founded in 1886 at Oakland High School. The newspaper puts out occasional print issues, but mostly publishes content on its website.
In the 1890s, Jack London wrote for the publication, and these stories were later collected into a book called ''The Aegis.''

Notable alumni