San Marino High School

San Marino has been recognized for its scholastic achievements on both a national and state level. San Marino High School is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges through the Focus on Learning process. San Marino High School was then named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2006 and a Gold Medal school by U.S. News and World Report,[4] ranking in the 80s in the nation for December 2007. The California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) again named San Marino High to its Honor Roll in 2008[5] in the Scholar Schools category. This category recognizes schools for academic excellence, regardless of demographics or any other factor. In 2009, the school was among 261 named California Distinguished School by the California Department of Education (CDE). With San Marino High School's state Academic Performance Index (API) rating a 932 out of a possible 1000 points, as determined by the California Department of Education.[3]

The school's yearbook, Titanian, has been nationally recognized with the National Pacemaker Award (2011, 2012, 2015) from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Gold Crown Award (2013) from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Music by Oscar Rasbach
Words by Cheryl Foote '57

'Neath the blue majestic mountains,
Fine and strong she proudly stands.
San Marino Alma Mater,
We pledge our hearts and hands.
Symbol of a higher purpose,
Blue and white her banners fly.
Long may voices praise her glory,
Hail, Hail, Hail.
Long may voices praise her glory,
San Marino High!

San Marino High School was founded in 1952 after 50 years of utilizing South Pasadena High School in nearby South Pasadena. The high school is situated on the former site of Carver Elementary School. The reconstruction began in 1996 and was completed by support with bond issues and rigorous fund-raising by the San Marino Schools Endowment. The school is equipped with newer laboratories, classrooms, and ethernet connections. The new buildings include a brand new cafeteria, orchestra and band room, dance studio, journalism lab, and renovated auditoriums, as well as a renovated baseball field and a brand new football field/track.

San Marino High School is part of the San Marino Unified School District. Its public funding is supplemented by private donations raised through the San Marino Schools Foundation.

San Marino High School's upper football practice field was the location of where Kathy Fiscus fell into an abandoned water well in 1949. It was subsequently capped and covered by the local water district.[6]

As of the 2008-09 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,096 students (276 seniors) and 59 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 18.6.[1] The school's racial composition is 60% Asian, 27% Caucasian, 10% Hispanic, 1% African American, 1% Two or more Races and 1% other.[7]

San Marino High School currently has a 59-member teaching faculty. SMHS offers a variety of AP Classes in mathematics (Calculus AB and BC, Statistics), science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science), foreign languages (Spanish, Japanese (non-AP), Mandarin (non-AP)), English (Language and Literature), social science (Government), and music theory/art.

Extracurricular classes include: the school newspaper Titan Shield, the school yearbook Titanian, Speech and Debate, Robotics, Indoor Winter Drumline, Winter Color Guard, Marching Band, Chamber Choir, Boys' and Girls' Choirs, orchestra, concert band, and wind ensemble, small business, fashion merchandising, computer graphics, three courses in media arts (digital film making, animation, and field work), three levels of drama, stagecraft, and dance.

San Marino has a history of athletic rivalry with South Pasadena High School, a neighboring city school. Due to tradition, games against South Pasadena tend to have a larger crowd and hold more significance versus games against other schools.

The school's most recent title was CIF Co-Ed Varsity Badminton in Spring season of 2019. The D1 team's win was the first since Badminton was first introduced to the school. The time before that was Girls Golf Champions of Northern Division in November 2015 and Boys Football Champions of Central Division in December 2015. In 1998, the school won five straight CIF boys' tennis titles and was ranked number one in USA Today's High School Tennis Teams.

In April 2018, the San Marino High School Winter Drumline advanced to the WGI world class division and ranked 14th in the nation.

On December 5, 2015, the football team won a California Interscholastic Federation Central Section title, defeating Charter Oak High School of Covina by the score of 45-28, then on December 12, 2015, they defeated Sierra Canyon School in the CIF State Southern California Regional Small School Division by the score of 36-35. On December 19, 2015, in the California Interscholastic Federation State Small School Open Division championship game, played at Sacramento State University's Hornet Stadium against Central Catholic High School of Modesto, they lost by the score of 56-21. They finished with a record of 15 wins against 1 loss.

The high school holds several events, including sports, theater, and others. The Associated Student Body puts on the Coronation Ball, a dance held to crown the Homecoming Queen, King, and the Princesses, and Princes. They will then be honored throughout Homecoming. The ball is held on the Saturday directly before the Homecoming game takes place, in the home of a student, and also features an annual theme. During the week before the homecoming game, the ASB usually holds lunch- and snack-time rallies to boost school spirit. Finally, on the Thursday night before homecoming day, the ASB will stay overnight at school to decorate the campus. In the afternoon of Homecoming day, students hold a homecoming parade with the assistance of the San Marino Police Department and Fire Department. The parade is attended by community figures such as the mayor, the principal, and San Marino Unified School District Board members. Floats include each class' advisory board and community service clubs. The Marching Band usually leads the parade. The homecoming game takes place that night, with the marching band and color guard performing during half-time. Also, the school holds its annual Grad Night at the campus after the graduation ceremonies with music and memories.

• Gary Primm - 1958 (casino owner)
• Donald Segretti - 1959 (political "dirty trickster," organizer)
• Bob Day - 1961 (1968 Olympian)
• Bill Redell, football coach and member of the College Football Hall of Fame.[8]
• Kim Carnes - 1963 (singer-songwriter)
• Laurie Garrett - 1969 (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist)
• Gregg Jarrett - 1973 (Fox News anchor)
• Jorge Jarrin - 1973 (LA Dodgers Broadcaster)
• Kathryn Barger - 1978 Los Angeles County Supervisor (5th District)
• Andres Cantor - 1980 (Emmy-award-winning sportscaster)
• Jim Gott - 1980 (retired MLB player, coach for the Philadelphia Phillies).[9]
• Scott Melville- 1984 (Professional tennis player)
• Stephan Pastis - 1986 (cartoonist).[10]
• Greg Penner - 1988 (Chairman, Walmart)[11]
• Derek Kan - 1996 (Government Official)
• Michael Catherwood - 1997 (television and radio personality a.k.a. "Psycho Mike")
• Blair Imani - 2012 (activist)

• San Marino High School
• San Marino Unified School District
• San Marino ROP Media Arts
• San Marino High School Library