Redwood High School (Visalia)

For other "Redwood High Schools", see Redwood High School (disambiguation).
Redwood High School
Address
1001 West Main Street
Visalia, California, 93291
United States
Coordinates 36°19′46″N 119°18′7″W / 36.32944°N 119.30194°W / 36.32944; -119.30194Coordinates: 36°19′46″N 119°18′7″W / 36.32944°N 119.30194°W / 36.32944; -119.30194
Information
Type Public
Established 1955
School district Visalia Unified School District
Principal Matt Shin
Grades 9-12
Number of students 2456
Color(s) Blue and White         
Mascot Mr. Ranger
Nickname Rangers
Website Redwood High School website

Redwood High School (usually abbreviated as RHS) is a secondary school in Visalia, California, United States. The public high school serves students from the north central section of the city.

The school serves grades 9 through 12. It is one of four traditional, comprehensive high schools administered by the Visalia Unified School District. Its current enrollment numbers 2374 students. The school is located at 1001 West Main St Visalia, California 93291.

Green Acres Middle School feeds into Redwood. Three private schools in the city, Visalia Christian Academy, St. Paul's, and George McCann Catholic School also supply students to Redwood.

History

Redwood High School

In 1910, Visalia High School was constructed in the style of Mission Revival architecture. The name of the school was eventually changed to Visalia Union High School. In 1952, this school served as a junior high school for two years when a new high school, Mt. Whitney, was opened a few blocks to the south. Two years after Mt. Whitney opened, the old Visalia Union High School campus was renamed Redwood High School. Mt. Whitney High School retained the original school colors and mascot of Visalia Union High School, i.e. maroon & white, The Pioneer.[1][2]

On October 29, 1965, the Spanish mission style administration building burned and was considered a total loss, although classes were held in portions of the building throughout the year. Indeed, many students took a short-cut through dangerous, burned out portions of the building for the rest of the 1965 school year. The original academic building survives to this day, although alterations to the windows and corridors were necessary. The administration wing was later rebuilt along with a larger library (the original library is now room 32). The original "Senior Court" was moved, from where the present library and memory lane are now located, to the quad area.

Redwood High School celebrated its 50th Birthday in the 2004-2005 school year. In that same year, the 50th Cowhide game against its cross town rival, Mount Whitney High School, was celebrated at the Mineral King Bowl and televised throughout the California Central Valley.

Campus

Redwood has two separate campuses separated by Giddings Street, however it is connected by a bridge that was built in 1996. The Main Campus is bounded by Main Street on the north, Conyer Street on the east, Mineral King Avenue on the south, and Giddings Street on the west. The Sierra Vista Campus is bounded by Mill Creek on the north, Giddings Street on the east, Mineral King Street on the south, and Dollner Street on the west.

Main Campus

Main Campus houses most of the school's classrooms and facilities, such as the main office, library, swimming pool, and gym.

Sierra Vista

Sierra Vista Campus Entrance

Sierra Vista is mostly made up of math and foreign languages classes. It also includes visual and performing arts, and architecture classes. The Sierra Vista campus is made up of a few portable classrooms, a main building, a theatre, and a baseball diamond. Sierra Vista's main building was originally an elementary School built during The Great Depression and commissioned as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". The elementary school was later absorbed by Redwood High School and given its current name. The Rotary Theater is directly connected to the sierra vista building and is the home for the Green Acres Little Theater musicals.

Annie R. Mitchell Library & Media Center

The Library was named in honor of Annie Rosalind Mitchell in 1989. Annie Mitchell was Dean of Girls at Visalia Union High School.[3]

Today, the Annie R. Mitchell library houses over 25,000 books for the over 2,100 students that use the facility. The library is decorated with 35 flags from around the world, photographs of students dating back to 1900, and a preserved Golden Eagle.

The school career center is located on the second level of the library.

L.J. Williams Theater

The L. J. Williams Theater, located on the Redwood High School Campus.

The L.J. Williams Theater was constructed in the 1930s, and has hosted many artistic events, including concerts and plays. It was named for Mr. Lawrence J. Williams, former instructor and principal of Visalia Union High School and the first President of College of the Sequoias.

Mill Creek

Mill Creek running along the northernmost part of the Sierra Vista campus

Mill Creek is a creek that runs through the city of Visalia, including both of Redwood's campuses. Starting at the southeast part of the main campus, the creek runs underground until halfway, then it runs along the south campus, dividing the main campus from the Mineral King Bowl, continuing under Giddings Street and finally along the northern edge of the Sierra Vista campus and into Green Acres.

Student body

The school's ethnic composition is 30% Hispanic, 40% White, 15% Asian, 10% African-American, 0% Filipino, and 5% "other".

Athletics

Redwood competes in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), Central Section Division II, West Yosemite League (WYL).

Redwood's direct rival is Mount Whitney High School.

The Cowhide Game

The Cowhide is a cross-town rivalry football game held annually against Mt. Whitney High School during November. Redwood has won 31 games, while Mt. Whitney has won 24 of the past 55 games.

Notable alumni

References

  1. About Our School
  2. DMI Agency. "ISSUU - December 2013 by DMI Agency". Issuu. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  3. "Annie R. Mitchell Library & Media Center".
  4. "Nobel Newspaper Article". stanford.edu. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
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