Sir Francis Drake High School

Sir Francis Drake High School is a secondary school located in San Anselmo, California. It is named after the English privateer, slave trader, and naval officer Sir Francis Drake, who purportedly landed in the area in 1579. The school's mascot is a pirate named Petey.

Sir Francis Drake High School
Address
1327 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard

San Anselmo
,
California
94960
Coordinates37°59′01″N 122°34′19″W[1]
Information
School typePublic, comprehensive high school
Founded1951
School districtTamalpais Union High School District
OversightWestern Association of Schools and Colleges,
Accrediting Commission for School
SuperintendentTara Taupier
School numberCEEB Code: 052770
PrincipalLiz Seabury
Assistant Principals
  • Chad Stuart
Staff70.90 (FTE)[3]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,301 (2018–19)[3]
Student to teacher ratio18.35[3]
LanguageEnglish
CampusSuburban
AreaUpper Ross Valley and San Geronimo Valley, Marin County
Color(s)Green and White and Black
MascotPetey the Pirate
Team namePirates
Communities servedFairfax, Forest Knolls, Lagunitas, Nicasio, San Anselmo, San Geronimo, and Woodacre
Feeder schoolsLagunitas School District
Nicasio School District
Ross Valley School District
WebsiteOfficial website

The school was established in 1951 as the second high school in the Tamalpais Union High School District. It is located at 1327 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, situated on a 21-acre (85,000 m²) campus bordered by two creeks. The site was formerly known as Cordone Gardens.[4]

Approximately 99% of Drake's 2015 students graduated.[5]

History

Sir Francis Drake high school was founded in 1951 in San Anselmo, California, providing schooling for students from Fairfax, Forest Knolls, Lagunitas, San Geronimo, Woodacre, San Anselmo, and Nicasio grades 9–12. This was the second high school to be introduced into the Tamalpais Union High School District, the first being Tamalpais High School.[4] Until 1958, Sir Francis Drake High School served other towns of Marin that are now served by Redwood High School, including Corte Madera, Ross, Larkspur, Greenbrae, and Kentfield.[4]

Between 1992 and 1995, Drake High School started a new program of small learning communities due to the poor performance of students, which was affecting the perception of the school.[6] Drake has received two state grants for these programs; one in 1996–1997 and the other being in 2000.[4] Since then, there have been four Freshman–Sophomore Academies and two Junior–Senior Academies.[7]

School awards

In 1990 the school was designated as a Next Century School by RJR Nabisco Foundation for its "entrepreneurship in education."[4][8] Drake was one of the thirty school to receive this award.

In 1999 Drake High School was designated as a California Distinguished School.[4][9]

In 2003 Drake was the first high school to be recognized has a Bay Area Green Business School for its environmental awareness around campus.[4][10]

Extracurricular activities

Basketball

In 1982 both the boys and girls basketball teams took the state division II title. The boys basketball team returned to the states championship in 2014 but lost.[4]

Jolly Roger

The school newspaper, the Jolly Roger is published almost every month. The 1986-87 edition was a winner of Columbia University’s Silver Crown Award for high school newspapers in 1988.[11] The Jolly Roger has been a regular recipient of the Medalist rating, given to the top 5% among high school newspapers in its class in United States.

Mountain Biking Club

The school's NICA NorCal League mountain bike team is notable for being one of the first in the nation and has won numerous regional and statewide competitions.[12] The team is nine time NorCal League champions (2004, 2006, 2009-2017) and five time California State champions (2009-2012, 2015-2017),[13] being beaten by Redwood High School in 2013 and 2014[14]

Notable alumni

Notable faculty
  • Archie Williams (May 1, 1915 – June 24, 1993), 1936 Olympics 400-meter gold medalist

Notes
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sir Francis Drake High School
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sir Francis Drake High School
  3. "Sir Francis Drake High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  4. "History of Drake - DHS Handbook / History of Drake - DHS Handbook". www.tamdistrict.org. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  5. "Sir Francis Drake High School - San Anselmo, California - CA - School quality". www.greatschools.org. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  6. Small Learning Communities: A Documentary, DHS Trek, December 15, 2014, retrieved 2015-06-27
  7. "Academies / Academies Homepage". www.tamdistrict.org. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  8. "Nabisco Awards $9.7 Million in Grants to 15 Schools". The New York Times. 1991-04-17. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  9. "2009 Distinguished Middle and High Schools - California Distinguished Schools Program (CA Dept of Education)". www.cde.ca.gov. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  10. "ABAG Green Business Program". www.greenbiz.ca.gov. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  11. Columbia Scholastic Press Association, 1988 Scholastic Crown Recipients, accessed March 14, 2007 Archived December 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  12. "About Drake MTB « Drake MTB Online". www.drakemtb.org. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  13. "Drake MTB Online". www.drakemtb.org. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  14. "Welcome to Drake MTB!". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  15. Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 2008, "'60s activist Michael Rossman dies in Berkeley", accessed May 24, 2008. Archived January 28, 2012, at Archive.today
  16. "Thinking really small". Nanotechnology Now. 2006-04-17. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  17. "Joel Blum - IBDB database".
  18. "Drake Junior Selected For Swedish Trip". Daily Independent Journal. 23 Jan 1960. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  19. Genzlinger, Neil (March 27, 2019). "Linda Gregg, Poet of Taut, Vivid Verse, Is Dead at 76". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
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