Tustin High School


Tustin High School is a public high school in Tustin, California, United States. It is part of the Tustin Unified School District. It was established in 1921 as the Tustin Union High School.

History

Founded in 1921, Tustin High School was originally meant to serve five elementary districts: Tustin, Laguna Beach, El Toro, Trabuco Canyon, and San Joaquin. Their mascot, the "Tiller", was inspired by the agribusinesses that originally surrounded the school.
In 1972, the Tustin Union High School District merged with Tustin Elementary School District to create the Tustin Unified School District.
In 2015, Tustin was recognized as a California Gold Ribbon School for its academics, school environment, and learning center.

Curriculum

Tustin High School's academic programs include many AP courses, honors courses, and STEM courses, alongside high school college-prep courses.

STEM

The Tustin High School Technology & Engineering Academy, is a four-year program focused on STEM fields, as guided by PLTW. Tustin started the academy in 2010. The class of 2015 was its first "complete" class.

Athletics

The Tillers currently compete in the Empire League of the CIF Southern Section, a part of the California Interscholastic Federation. The athletics programs have accumulated 131 league titles and 11 CIF-SS Championships as of 2015. League teams include:

Seasons

Tustin High School fields 26 teams in 16 different sports.
Fall:
  • Cheer
  • Cross country
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball
  • Water polo
Winter:
Spring:
  • Baseball
  • Golf
  • Lacrosse
  • Softball
  • Swimming
  • Tennis
  • Track and field
  • Volleyball

Football

In 2008, Tustin High School and Dillard high school had six players in the NFL, which was the most in the United States at the time. These players were Sam Baker, Beau Bell (American football), Chris Chester, DeShaun Foster, Matt McCoy, and Frostee Rucker. The totals were based on the 1,693-man 2008 NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters.
Since 1996, Tustin has won 10 league titles and has gone to 10 CIF semi-finals and four finals appearances.
On December 10, 2011, Tustin defeated the El Toro Chargers in the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game at Anaheim Stadium, their first CIF Championship since 1948.
Since the school's rivalry started with Foothill High School in 1966, Tustin trails with a record of 23-29-1.
As part of the National Football League Super Bowl High School Honor Roll Program, Tustin High was awarded a Golden Football for its impact on Super Bowl history. The program recognizes each high school, with alumni participating or playing in a Super Bowl. DeShaun Foster, a running back for THS from 1994 to 1998, participated in Super Bowl XXXVIII with the Carolina Panthers in 2004. In 2013, Kim Robinson, an English teacher at Tustin High, published For Underdogs Only, detailing the life of long-time football coach, Myron Miller.

Men's basketball

The Tiller men's basketball team is the reigning Empire League champions, with a league record of 10–0. They have won the league title in three of the past four years. During the 2012–13 season, the team set a school record for season wins with 31. That same season, the Tillers defeated Royal High School (California) in the Division 3AAA finals, with their final ranking being 27th in California and 167th in the nation. The following season, after being raised to Division 2A, the team made it to the semi-finals, only to be defeated by Calabasas High School 56–49. For the 2014–2015 season, again being raised to Division 1A, the team pushed far into the postseason, reaching the semi-finals again, but being defeated by Village Christian Schools 58–44. The team has also qualified for the state playoffs twice, in the 2012–2013 season, when they made it to the second round, and the 2013–2014 season, losing in the first round.

School championships

**No longer a sport offered

*Finalist / runner-up

Campus

Tustin High School is located on of land in central Tustin.
It is the oldest school in the district. The original layout of the school included a neoclassical building with a 1,000-seat auditorium, an outdoor Greek theatre, a domestic science department, a mechanical and manual training department, an athletic field, and a gymnasium. In 1927, the school added a new wing containing a large gymnasium and swimming pool.
The football stadium was constructed in the mid-1940s. The stadium and field were later named Northrup Field after Orville Northrup, who taught woodshop and physical education, and served as Principal of Tustin Union High School from 1941 to 1962.
The original building was judged unsafe in case of an earthquake and demolished in June 1966. The old building was replaced with a new building.
In June 2008, the Tustin School Board approved a master plan that would guide the possible renovations of Tustin High School or the construction of a new campus. The plan would include a new administration building, a 2-story science centre, a sports pavilion, and a two-story performing arts theatre and classroom building. The estimated cost of the renovation was approximately $150 million.
The sports pavilion was finished in 2012, costing $22 million. It seats 2,500 students and faculty within 29,000 square feet of space. Amenities include ticket windows, concession stands, foyer, dance room, trophy cases, men's and women's team rooms equipped with smart boards, two professionally sized scoreboards, and a drop-down display screen. The new facility houses four-sided bleachers and can be formatted as three basketball or volleyball practice courts, a college-sized basketball court, or a main volleyball court.
In December 2012, reconstruction at Northrup Stadium and the swimming complex began. The updated stadium includes a synthetic field, nine-lane synthetic track, concessions building, a 1,000-seat visitor bleacher, and a 1,000-seat home bleacher. The new $1.7 million swimming complex includes an Olympic-sized pool, new scoreboard, bleachers, and renovated locker rooms.
In February 2016, Tustin High broke ground on a new humanities building, housing English and language courses. The project is scheduled to be finished for the 2016–2017 school year.
The current campus consists of 22 single-story buildings, a two-story science building, and 17 portable classrooms. The campus includes two baseball fields, two softball fields, a discus field, and two gymnasiums. It also houses the District football field, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two soccer fields, six tennis courts, and a synthetic field.

January 21 Incident

On January 21, 2023, two students engaged in a fight, one of the students injuring a student with a knife. The school implemented a temporary shelter-in-place protocol. The injured student was sent to a local hospital for additional medical attention.

Notable alumni

Athletics

Film

Musicians

Business

Miscellaneous