Lincoln High School (San Diego, California)
Opened in 1949 and originally serving middle school students, Lincoln was converted into a high school in 1955. The original buildings were demolished and rebuilt during 2003–2007.
Construction of facilities in the 2000s
Lincoln High School opened its doors to high school students in the 1950s, the old Lincoln High School was built in the 1950s shortly after the end of World War II, and the original campus had a basement that could serve as a fall-out shelter Expansion of the school was done on existing facilities until 2003. On September 24, 2003, Lincoln's cafeteria was the first building to be demolished. The entire campus (except the gym) and a few homes nearby were eventually razed to make way for construction of the new campus. This was a result of an elected ballot proposition approved by its citizens. During construction, many students were displaced and relocated to other high schools in the district. The campus expanded with additional acquisition of property through eminent domain.
Before demolition, the campus had been infamous for its gang activity, particularly when graduating senior Willie James Jones Jr. was gunned down in 1994, just days before he was to matriculate to the prestigious Cornell University, hitting headlines and sparking outrage all over the San Diego media. The school also had been criticized for being behind academically, and there remained some skepticism in the community about Lincoln's reopening over those criticisms. Soon after Jones's death, Pastor Roy Dixon was told by the principal that "kids entered Lincoln with extremely low reading levels and could not perform academically."
Lincoln High School was reopened on September 4, 2007. The new 24-acre (97,000 m) campus was designed by architect and Lincoln alum, Joseph Martinez (class of 1966), and rebuilt by many Lincoln alumni who took part in the construction of the school. For $129 million, Lincoln was the most expensive campus in its district at the time of its re-opening in 2007.
In its newly rebuilt form, Lincoln now features major improvements such as an increased student enrollment capacity of 2,700 (from an average of 800 students during Lincoln's last few years before demolition), a 790-seat performing arts center, a football and track stadium that can seat 3,700, and other facilities for press and concessions. The improvements addressed concerns over Lincoln's previously dilapidated and outdated facilities, proper allocation of rooms per grade enrollment, and the increasing high school enrollment pressures of the neighborhood, in addition to public input and suggestions given by members of the Lincoln community. The site also features modern, state-of-the-art building design and facilities specialized to the curriculum.
Academic program
The Lincoln-Gompers Redevelopment Committee noted the paramount importance of holding Lincoln's students, often from groups historically under-served by the public education system, to high expectations within a rigorous, standards-based curriculum framework.
Upon Lincoln's re-opening, all students were required to fulfill the "A-G" subject area requirements for admission to the University of California, two years before San Diego Unified codified an "A-G for all" policy under then-superintendent, Terry Grier. Due in part to the uneven diaspora of its middle school students to charters and bussing to schools north of the I-8, Lincoln was privately criticized within the district for being "too ambitious" in its academic aspirations in 2007, because data indicated many incoming first-year students to Lincoln were often under-prepared in comparison to their grade-level peers in key academic disciplines such as English and math.
Lincoln's fledgling academic program grew from five AP (Advanced Placement) class offerings in 2007 to 18 offerings in 2010, including AP Environmental Science, AP Language and AP Literature, AP Calculus, and AP Music.