Schurr High School

The school, which sits atop a hillside just east of the border with Monterey Park, was named for George Miller Schurr, a former board member of the Montebello Unified School District. A placard honoring him is displayed in the school's main office. The school previously served as Schurr Junior High School, but due to the growing population of students in the area and the significant distance from the two local public high schools at the time Montebello High School and Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, California the school became a high school in 1971. The first principal was Walter Wohlheter.[2]

Most of the students who attend Schurr come from either Jack F. Macy Intermediate School, which is located in the city of Monterey Park, or Eastmont Intermediate School, which is located in East Los Angeles, just a few blocks from the Montebello city border. Though Schurr and Macy are a few blocks apart, both schools are located on Wilcox Ave. (Schurr technically on N. Wilcox since it is in a different city than Macy). Due to Schurr sitting atop a hill, it is said that Macy students simply "climb the hill" upon graduation from middle school. While Macy and Eastmont students maintain a rivalry both academically and athletically, their differences are generally considered to be put to rest once they become acclimated to Schurr and one another.

Schurr High School was originally built to accommodate 1,700 students. Today, Schurr's population has nearly doubled, and school officials expect that during the 2015-2018 school years, the population will increase to around 3,700 students. The exponential growth in terms of student population has led to many students having to share lockers.

The Alma Mater is based on the National Anthem of Russia and the words were written by music and history/government teacher David A. Lebow (1971-2003). Band director, Barry Ulrich (1973–86) composed the official "unofficial" fight song, "Taco Mambo", which is played by the Spartan Legion at home athletic events and school rallies.[3]

The Schurr High School mascot is known as Sammy the Spartan, and the school's students and alumni are referred to as Spartans.

During the 2017–2018 school year, solar panels were added to portions of both the teacher and student parking lots, giving the school a new source of energy.

Schurr offers and encourage students to participate in a variety of sports, clubs, and after school programs that foster critical thinking and problems solving skills.[4] Schurr High students take part in more than 30 clubs and activities, including Astronomy Club, Green Earth Club, Plant Posse, Drama, National Honor Society, and Youth Community Service.

Schurr also has a competing marching band, color guard, and drill team.[5]

The sports teams are referred to as the "Schurr High Spartans." The school official colors are green and white, with gold being an unofficial accent color. The school has an athletic rivalry with nearby Montebello High School. The rivalry is intensified by several geographical reasons, such as the fact that both schools are located on N. Wilcox Ave. and are separated by only a few blocks, so close in fact that depending on where someone stands on either campus, the other school is visible.

The campus is divided into two levels, with the upstairs level serving as the home for the physical education department as well as the home of all the athletic venues, such as Ken Davis field (football, soccer, track and field), two separate gymnasiums for basketball and volleyball which are shared between both sports, the baseball field, the softball field, enclosed tennis courts, and the outdoor aquatics center that was built in 2012 and has an Olympic sized pool.

The school's most noteworthy athletic organizations are the football, wrestling, cross country, and track and field teams.

The Spartans football team won the California Interscholastic Federation championship in Division 5A in 1980, and 2006, with the later win coming against Santa Fe High School.[6] The 2006 game was played in Fullerton, CA. During the 2016–2017 school year, the girl's water polo team won the CIF title by defeating Riverside Poly High School 6–4.[7] A scoreboard for the baseball field was added in for the 2014 school year. In the year 2015, the football field began undergoing long-awaited renovations to transition to an artificial turf surface.

• Official Homepage
• Schurr High Spartan Legion
• Schurr Wrestling
• Newsweek Top 1000 Public Schools, 2003