Lick-Wilmerding High School


Lick-Wilmerding High School is a college-preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California, United States.

History

Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874 as the California School of Mechanical Arts by a trust from James Lick. George Merrill was hired to manage the school as the first director, and Lick, as the school was informally known, officially opened in January, 1895. George Merrill was the director of Lick until 1939, and later also the director of the Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts and the Lux School for Industrial Training for Girls, which were both located immediately adjacent to the Lick campus at 17th Street & Potrero Avenue in the Mission District. In the early 1950s, The California School of Mechanical arts and the Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts merged to become Lick-Wilmerding High School. The Lux School later closed, and its students joined Lick-Wilmerding. Lick-Wilmerding High School moved to a new campus at 755 Ocean Avenue in 1956.

Academics

Curriculum

Each student must be enrolled in a minimum of six five‐unit courses per semester, regardless of grade
level. A total of 30 units per semester are required. In keeping with over a century of LWHS tradition, every student is required to complete technical arts courses.
Historically, LWHS has been known to offer technical courses that other independent schools in the Bay Area do not offer. Some of these include Metal, Woodworking, Robotics, Electronics and Jewelry. LWHS also has several year-long Architecture courses and an introduction to design course, entitled Contemporary Media and Art that is compulsory for all freshmen.
LWHS' Performing Arts Department has a choir, jazz band, orchestra, and two a cappella vocal ensembles. There is also a dance program comprising four classes: Dance 1, Dance 2, Dance Ensemble, and Dance Company. The Theatre Program presents plays, musicals, and a festival of original one-act plays. Theatre class offerings include: Acting 1, Acting Intensive, Improv, Playwriting, Stagecraft, and Directing.

Community

The school's 529 students in grades 9 through 12 reflect the LWHS tradition of a strong commitment to cultural and social diversity. The student body is 3% South Asian, 5% Southeast Asian, 9% African-American, 11% Latino, 18% East Asian, and 62% Caucasian. Overall, 22% of the student body self identifies as multiethnic, which explains why the sum of these percentages is more than 100%.
Over the past four years, 123 students have earned recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program; 20 have been named Finalists. In addition, 8 students have been selected for the National Hispanic Recognition Program.
Of the 75 full and part-time faculty and administrators, 44 have master's degrees and 8 have doctorates. Performing, technical, and fine arts teachers have supplemented their formal degrees with extensive work and performance experience.

Test scores

In 2014, the Huffington Post reported that students at LWHS had the 8th highest SAT scores in the nation.
Averages for the class of 2018:

ACT

On average, Lick-Wilmerding receives approximately 950 applications each year for 139 seats in the incoming 9th grade class. Full Tuition for the 2018–2019 school year is $47,209, with Flexible Tuition ranging from $700 to $47,000. This includes books, lunch, and all course materials and supplies

Programs

From the website:

Aim High

was founded in 1986, with 50 students and 12 teachers, on the campus of Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco.
The program has evolved into a collaboration with several outstanding educational institutions: Lick-Wilmerding High School, The Urban School of San Francisco, the San Francisco Unified School District and St. Paul's Episcopal School. Additional partners include the Bay Area Teachers Center, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Exploratorium."

The Bay Area Teachers Center

"The Bay Area Teachers Center, located within Lick-Wilmerding High School, offers a unique one-year secondary school single subject teaching credential in partnership with San Francisco State University. See the Bay Area Teachers Center website at bayareateacherscenter.org"

Extracurricular activities

Technical Arts Programs

"Remaining faithful to its century-old history as a pioneering institution in the technical arts, LWHS offers a unique collection of shop classes. This is an important part of the school's mission of developing in young people those "qualities of the head, heart, and hands" which will serve them well in college and in life.
The department's courses seek to provide a basic understanding of the qualities and characteristics of the materials in the Electronics, Machine, Jewelry and Wood Shops, as well as to foster an appreciation of the design principles introduced in the Drafting & Design course. LWHS students learn to work conceptually and physically, moving from theory to practice in order to bring the designs of the mind into the physical world.
The faculty members work closely together, often stepping across conventional boundaries. They are committed not only to educating young people but also to furthering their own learning and to exploring their own creativity. Their common objectives include efficient use of technologies, effective problem solving, creative expression, aesthetic appreciation of craft and design, and personal empowerment through self-confidence and self-esteem."

Courses

Lick-Wilmerding offers more than forty student-led clubs and organizations that allow students to become engaged in their environment and connect with others who share similar interests.

Awards

Alternet.com has also designated Lick-Wilmerding as the 6th top high school in the United States utilizing Green Architecture

California Music Education Association Honors