Gunn (henry M.) High School
780 Arastradero Rd., Palo Alto, CA, 94306-3827 - Map Map

School Overview:
Definition of Terms
Gunn (henry M.) High School
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 9 - 12
County Santa Clara County, CA
Students & Faculty
Total Students 1762 students
% Male / % Female 50%  /  50%
Total Classroom Teachers 96 teachers
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 454 students
Grade 10 - 461 students
Grade 11 - 410 students
Grade 12 - 437 students
This School
(CA) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio 1:18 1:23
Students by Ethnicity
This School
(CA) School Average
% American Indian n/a 3%
% Asian 33% 8%
% Hispanic 5% 39%
% Black 2% 9%
% White 54% 36%
% Unknown 6 % 5%
Additional Student Information
This School
(CA) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch 3% 30%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch 1% 7%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a 3%
School Performance:
(CA) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Palo Alto Unified School District
This School's Agency
(CA) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 19 7
Number of Students Managed 10,756 students 3,960 students
District Total Revenue $135,546,000 $37,604,000
District Expenditure $145,106,000 $39,520,000
District Revenue / Student $12,602 $9,496
District Expenditure / Student $13,491 $9,980
District Graduation Rates n/a n/a
School Notes:
  • Henry M. Gunn High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California. Gunn High School is a four-year high school with a current enrollment of 1,907 students. The Class of 1966 was the first class to graduate from Gunn High School. The academic year has two semesters with 240 minutes of weekly instruction for every class. The school's schedule operates on a rotating bell schedule with classes assigned to lettered "periods" from A through G.
  • Established in 1964, Gunn High School was named after the late Henry M. Gunn (1898-1988), who served as the Palo Alto superintendent from 1950 to 1961. In 1964, the Palo Alto Unified School District announced it would name the district's third high school after him.
  • The ethnic and racial makeup of the 2007-08 student population is American Indian or Alaska Native - 0.1%, Asian - 32.9%, Pacific Islander - 0.4%, Filipino - 0.8%, Hispanic or Latino - 5.3%, African American - 1.7%, White - 48.6%, Multiple or no response - 10.1%. Males make up 51.0% and females make up 49.0%.
  • The mascot of the school is Timmy the Titan. The student newspaper is The Oracle, part of the High School National Ad Network. The internal student-run television news show is the Titan Broadcast Network.
  • Academic reputation
  • U.S. News & World Report rated Gunn High School 66th in 2007, 74th in 2008.
  • The average SAT score for Gunn seniors hovers around 1200-1300 on the former 1600 scale (1249 in 2004, 1291 in 2005, 1263 in 2006).
  • Education in mathematics and computer sciences is particularly strong. In 2004, 5 students qualified for the USAMO out of around 250 nationally, and during the 2004-2005 school year 5 out of the approximately 35 American students in the Gold Division of the USACO were from Gunn. In 2005, 2 students qualified for the USAMO. In 2006, 5 students qualified. In 2007, 4 students qualified. In 2008, 7 students qualified. In 2009, 8 students qualified.
  • Robotics Team
  • The acclaimed Gunn Robotics Team (GRT), established in 1997 and advised by teacher and former NASA employee Bill Dunbar, has consistently placed in the top 25 at the FIRST Robotics Competition. It is also the only FIRST Robotics team to have won the national animation award three times, in 1997, 2006, and 2009.
  • Notable alumni
  • Zoe Lofgren, class of 1966 — member, U. S. Congress House of Representatives
  • Pete Snyder, class of 1970 — Coach of U. C. Santa Barbara NCAA 1979 National water polo team
  • Stanley Jordan, class of 1977 — jazz guitarist
  • George Packer, class of 1978 — author
  • David Leavitt, class of 1979 — author of Family Dancing and The Lost Language of Cranes
  • Stephan Jenkins, class of 1983 — lead singer for Third Eye Blind
  • Jessica Yu, class of 1983 — director of Academy Award winning short documentary for Best Documentary in a Short Subject for the film The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien
  • Steve Almond, class of 1984 — author
  • Rick Porras, class of 1984 — co-producer on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
  • Matt Flynn, class of 1988 — Grammy Award-winning drummer of Maroon 5, as well as former drummer of the The B-52's
  • Shemar Moore, class of 1988 — actor, formerly of the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, currently the CBS drama Criminal Minds, as well as the former host of Soul Train
  • Anne Wojcicki, class of 1991 — businesswoman, founder of 23andMe, wife of Google founder Sergey Brin
  • Brett Simon, class of 1992 — director of Assassination of a High School President
  • Trip Adler, class of 2002 — CEO and co-founder of the document-sharing website Scribd
  • Mehdi Ballouchy, class of 2002 — professional soccer player
  • Andrew Jacobson, class of 2003 — professional soccer player
  • Matt Marquess, class of 2004 — professional soccer player
  • External links
  • Gunn High School website
  • Gunn Alumni Site
  • The Oracle, student-run newspaper
  • Gunn Auto Tech
  • Gunn High School's The Partisan Review, student-run political magazine patterned after the now-defunct Partisan Review
  • Gunn Robotics Team
  • Gunn Web Design Club's New Gunn Site
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
  • Add/edit information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (94306)
School Zip (94306)
(CA) State Average
Population (Approximate) 24,484 people 33,115,272 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 77% 32%
Population Average Age 39 years old 32 years old
Average Household size 2.3 persons 2.9 persons
Median Household Income $82,314 $48,909
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 4.7 rooms 4.8 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 51 years old 39 years old
View Current Housing Listings View current housing listings in this area
Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (94306)


Zillow Median Value of Housing Unit
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Zillow Median Value of Housing Unit
% Owning / % Renting 54% / 46% 58% / 42%
School Map:
1. Los Altos High School - 1749 students - 1.6 mi. away - view location
2. Summit Preparatory High School - 276 students - 2.9 mi. away - view location
3. Palo Alto High School - 1728 students - 3.0 mi. away - view location
4. Moffett High Alternative School - n/a - 3.1 mi. away - view location
5. Packard Children's Hospital/stanford - 40 students - 3.4 mi. away - view location
View all schools in: Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, Zip 94306 
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects 2006 statistics (most recent year available).

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