Fort Bragg High School
History
Upon incorporating in 1889, Fort Bragg established its first public school for children in grades one through eight, the four-room City Grammar School and six years later added another of equal size, Park Grammar School. With no legal requirement at the time to educate children older than 14, no public option was provided for students above that age. When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent three days of fire struck the area a large majority of the town's structures were destroyed, including both schools. Afterwards, it was decided during the rush to rebuild that the time had come to construct a modest high school in addition to rebuilding the existing two. Records show that a "Mr. Biggers" was contracted to oversee the construction for a sum of $16,500 (equivalent to $560,000 in 2023, adjusted for inflation) on land the city purchased from Dave Brandon, located on Harrison Street just north of the intersection with Bush.
On November 6, 1907, a dedication ceremony was held for Fort Bragg Union High School which began holding classes immediately. At that time only one in ten American children from ages 14–17 were still pursuing a formal education yet the school outgrew its accommodations at a startling pace, requiring an addition to be built in 1916 that doubled the original number of classrooms. Again in 1936 the school neared the limits of the students it could reasonably enroll as the High school movement, championed by the civic leaders of the nation's Progressive Era, reached the area. The need for a larger campus catalyzed the undertaking of one of the largest building projects in town to the present day, made possible by funding from the New Deal's $6 billion Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works budget. Ground was broken that year on a 2,800 acre parcel along the banks of Pudding Creek, technically within the town of East Fort Bragg, though just six blocks east of its original site.
The first phase of the new school's construction to reach completion was the attached Cotton Auditorium, an 842-seat auditorium intended to serve both the school and the city's barely 3,000 residents, which opened on July 1, 1937. Complete with a proscenium arch and ample flyspace, double-aisle orchestra seating, a large balcony and (formerly) six luxury boxes it remains in widespread use, still the largest performing arts venue in the 200-mile section of coastal Northern California between Eureka and Santa Rosa. The school building itself was completed less than a year later, retaining its original name despite the technical change of municipality, with all operations moved in time for the start of the 1938-39 school year.
Academics
The state Department of Education's 2017 report showed that only 28.6% of males and 49.1% of females in the graduating class had successfully completed the minimum coursework necessary to apply for acceptance at the state's two public university systems, University of California and California State University, with a 2.0 GPA or higher.
Demographics
The demographic makeup of the 535 students enrolled for 2017-18 was:
- By gender:
- Male - 47.3%
- Female - 52.7%
- By ethnicity:
- White - 47.85%
- Hispanic/Latino - 42.62%
- Native American - 1.12%
- Asian - 0.93%
- African-American - 0.93%
- Multiracial - 0.37%
- Filipino - 0.19%
The state Department of Education classified 334 students (62.4%) in the 2017-18 enrollment as socio-economically disadvantaged, the criteria for which is either to be eligible for free/reduced price school meals, or whose parents/guardians do not possess a high school diploma or equivalent certificate of proficiency. Also during the 2017-18 academic year, 26 students (4.9%) were reported as belonging to a household that received assistance from the Mendocino County Health & Human Services Agency while experiencing a period of homelessness. For 2015-16, Fort Bragg was a Title I school.
Athletics
The school's athletic teams are called the Timberwolves and their mascot is Timmy the Timberwolf. The football team has had five undefeated seasons, most recently in 1995 (finishing with an 11-0 record).
Notable alumni
- Robert L. "Bob" Celeri - National Football League quarterback, 1951 New York Yanks & 1952 Dallas Texans
- John DeSilva - Major League Baseball pitcher, 1993-95
- Les Munns - Major League Baseball pitcher, 1934-36
- Raymond C. "Ray" Peterson - National Football League running back, 1937 Green Bay Packers
References
- ^ "FBHS Student Handbook, 2018-19". Google Docs. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ^ "Fort Bragg High School". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ "Photo Union High School". Fort Bragg-Mendocino Coast Historical Society. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
- ^ "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Fort Bragg Unified". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
- ^ "FBUSD Administration Contact Information". Google Docs. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ^ "School Profile: Fort Bragg High". CA Dept of Education. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
Schools are coded in the CA Dept of Education database using a County-District-School (CDS) code
- ^ "Search for Public Schools - Fort Bragg High (061407001610)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
- ^ "School Profile - Fort Bragg High". EdData. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "School Summary Data - Avg. Class Size for 2015-16". CA Department of Education DataQuest. 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "CIF North Coast Section League Alignments for 2018-2020" (PDF). CIF North Coast Section. 2017-10-03. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-04. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ^ "What time is it? Wolves' time!". Fort Bragg Advocate-News. 2006-08-31. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ^ "Directory of Schools, 2018-2019 Edition" (PDF). Accrediting Commission for Schools - Western Association of Schools and Colleges. July 2018. p. 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "Fort Bragg High in Fort Bragg, CA". US News Best High Schools. 2019-04-30. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "California Department of Education Academic Accountability Unit: SAT Report - Fort Bragg High School Scores". data1.cde.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
- ^ "Fort Bragg High Summary". California School Dashboard - CA Dept of Education. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "Census profile: Fort Bragg Unified School District, CA". Census Reporter. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Mendocino County, CA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2024-04-10. - Text list
- ^ "Photo City Grammar School". www.fortbragghistory.org. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
- ^ "Photo Park Grammar School". www.fortbragghistory.org. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
- ^ "1906: Quaking earth ruins many cities; Ukiah largely spared". Ukiah Daily Journal. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
- ^ "City History - Fort Bragg, CA - 1916 Fort Bragg Union High School". Fort Bragg, CA Official Website. Archived from the original on 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "The 1900s Education: Overview". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
- ^ Division, US Census Bureau Administration and Customer Services. "US Census Bureau Publications - Census of Population and Housing". www.census.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
- ^ "Fort Bragg Middle School - Fort Bragg CA - Living New Deal". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
- ^ "School Graduation Numbers". dq.cde.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- ^ "2019 FBHS School Plan for Student Achievement" (PDF). Google Docs. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ Tennis, Mark. "Fort Bragg Football History Highlights". Cal-Hi Sports. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "Bob Celeri Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
- ^ "John DeSilva". The Baseball Cube. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "Les Munns". The Baseball Cube. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ "Ray Peterson Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-09-09.