Lowell High School (San Francisco)

Lowell High School
Seal of Lowell High School Fiat Scientia "Let there be knowledge"
Address
1101 Eucalyptus Drive San Francisco, California 94132 United States
Coordinates
Information
Type	Public
Founded	1856 (as Union Grammar School)
School board	San Francisco Board of Education
School district	San Francisco Unified School District
School number	697
CEEB Code	052970
Dean	Ivan Yee
Principal	Andrew W. Ishibashi
Faculty	~150
Number of students	2,671
Campus type	Urban
School colour(s)	cardinal red      white
Song	The Lowell Hymn
Mascot	Cardinal
Team name	Cardinals
Accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges
USNWR ranking	50th
Academic Performance Index average	956
Newspaper	The Lowell
Yearbook	The Red and White
Website	http://lhs-sfusd-ca.schoolloop.com/

Lowell High School is a public magnet school in San Francisco, California. The school opened in 1856 as the Union Grammar School and attained its current name in 1896. Lowell moved to its current location in the Merced Manor neighborhood in 1962.

Run by the San Francisco Unified School District, Lowell is open to all San Francisco residents and charges no tuition. Admission is contingent on submission of an application and based primarily on evaluation of test scores and prior academic record.

Lowell contains a wide-ranging and rigorous curriculum and is noted for its academic excellence and prominent alumni. The school has been named a California Distinguished School seven times and a National Blue Ribbon School four times. Lowell is currently ranked 50th by U.S. News & World Report in its "Best High Schools in America" for 2015, making it the 2nd highest ranking school in the nation with over 2000 students. Lowell was also ranked 49th by Newsweeks America's Best High Schools 2012 list and 66th by Newsweeks 2013 list.

History

Lowell High School in 1917 at Hayes & Masonic Streets

Lowell High School began in 1856 as the Union Grammar School. In 1894, the school was renamed to honor the distinguished poet James Russell Lowell, chiefly by Pelham W. Ames, a member of the school board and ardent admirer of James Russell Lowell. The school relocated in January 1913 to an entire block on Hayes Street between Ashbury and Masonic. Lowell remained there for 50 years and established its position as the city's college preparatory high school. In 1952, the school sought a new location near Lake Merced and moved there (its present address) in 1962.

Historical milestones

• 1856 Union Grammar School Founded
• 1858 Name changed to San Francisco High School
• 1864 Genders separated, name changed to Boys High School
• 1875 Moved within San Francisco to Sutter Street between Gough and Octavia
• 1886 Girls (slowly) reintegrated into college prep program (thus, female graduates of Boys High)
• 1894 Name changed to Lowell High School in honor of poet James Russell Lowell
• 1898 First issue of the school newspaper "The Lowell" published (spring)
• 1908 Funds secured by bonds for new building
• 1913 School moved to new, larger campus on Hayes Street between Masonic Avenue and Ashbury Street
• 1962 School moved to current campus to make room for future expansion and add a library, gymnasium and larger auditorium
• 1966 Enrollment limited, school switched from neighborhood to GPA/test based admission
• 1969 20-period modular schedule instated
• 1981 125th anniversary celebrated at the San Francisco Hilton
• 1996 Lowell ranked 6th nationally in AP exam scores
• 2003 New academic/science wing opened on campus
• 2004 Unit 6 building section renovation completed; roof replaced; "temporary" bungalows 14,15, and 16 relocated
• 2006 150th anniversary of the school. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (class of 1955) visited.
• 2009 Lowell ranked 3rd internationally in AP exam scores.
• 2010 Because of state class-time requirements, modular schedule abandoned in favor of mod/block schedule. School day lengthened to eight hours and twenty three minutes. Lowell ranked 2nd internationally in AP exam scores.

San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District (1980s)

In 1983, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) attempted to ensure racial desegregation at Lowell and other schools by implementing a race-based admissions policy as a result of San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District and the 1983 Consent Decree settlement.

Because of the Consent Decree, SFUSD strived to create a more equal distribution of race at Lowell, which was predominantly Chinese American, particularly trying to introduce more African American and Hispanic students into the school's population. As a result of this policy, effective in 1985, Chinese-American freshman applicants needed to score 65 out of a possible total of 69 eligibility points, whereas Caucasian and other East Asian candidates needed only 61 points.

Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District (1990s)

Main article: Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District

In 1994, a group of Chinese-American community activists organized a lawsuit to challenge the 1983 Consent Decree race-based admissions policies used by SFUSD for its public schools.

In 1999, both parties agreed to a settlement which modified the 1983 Consent Decree to create a new "diversity index" system which substituted race as a factor for admissions with a variety of factors such as socioeconomic background, mother's educational level, academic achievement, language spoken at home, and English Learner Status.

Expiration of the Consent Decree

Critics of the diversity index created by Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District point out that many schools, including Lowell, have become even less racially diverse since it was enacted.

On November 15, 2005, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied a request to extend the Consent Decree, which was set to expire on December 31, 2005 after it had been extended once before to December 31, 2002. The ruling claimed "since the settlement of the Ho litigation [resulting in the institution of the "diversity index"], the consent decree has proven to be ineffective, if not counterproductive, in achieving diversity in San Francisco public schools" by making schools more racially segregated.

The expiration of the Consent Decree means that SFUSD's admissions policies, including the "diversity index" and the special admissions policies granted to Lowell, and many of its "Dream School" initiatives are no longer codified and mandated by the Consent Decree. As a result, these policies may be challenged at the community and local levels as well instead of just at the judicial level by filing a lawsuit.

Campus

Lowell High School's Main Entrance.

Lowell is located north of Lake Merced, south of San Francisco's Parkside District. The school spans several blocks between Sylvan Ave. in the west and 25th Ave. in the east, and Eucalyptus Drive in the north to Winston Drive in the south. The school is accessible via the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) K, M, 17, 18, 23, 28, 28L, and 29 lines. The campus is located next to Lakeshore Elementary School, a public school, and St. Stephen School, a private K-8 school.

The campus itself consists of a main three-story academic building with two extensions, a two-story science building finished on September 21, 2003, a two-story visual and performing arts building with the 1,500-seat Carol Channing auditorium, 13 Bungalows, a library, extensive arts and science laboratories, six computer labs, a foreign language lab, an indoor gymnasium, a dance studio, a weight room, an American football field, a soccer/multipurpose field and baseball batting cage, ten tennis courts, eight basketball courts, four volleyball courts, and a 1/4 mile (400 m) dirt oval.

Academics, admissions, and demographics

Lowell is one of the two public schools in the San Francisco Unified School District (the other being School of the Arts) that is permitted to admit only students who meet special admission requirements. The Lowell admission process is based on a combination of standardized test scores, GPA, a writing sample, and extracurricular activities. Lowell High School is ranked 3rd in terms of test scores among the Top 10 Public Schools in California, behind Gretchen Whitney High School and Oxford Academy. Lowell was also named a California Distinguished School in 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2001, and 2009 as well as a National Blue Ribbon School in 1982, 1994, 2001, and 2012.

The school's modular scheduling system and self-scheduling "arena" program allow students freedom in course choice, unlike the rest of the high schools in the SFUSD. Students also have the opportunity to choose from a large number of Advanced Placement courses. Lowell has a graduation rate of nearly 100%, and it is the largest feeder school to the University of California system, particularly to the Berkeley and Davis campuses. Many students also matriculate at other prestigious universities nationwide.

Arena scheduling system

Lowell uses a class scheduling system historically popular in most high schools and colleges, an "arena" in which students move from table to table signing up for classes, allowing students a degree of programming freedom almost unheard of in other high schools today.

While scheduling classes for the 2006 spring semester, one of the students who had volunteered to assist the running of arena was caught abusing the scheduling system to use early scheduling privileges, granted to volunteers by the administration, to let friends schedule before others.

This abuse proved to be a catalyst for anti-arena faculty in the school. Five of six department chairs and dozens of teachers at Lowell filed a union grievance demanding an end to class imbalances. Citing these imbalances, they called to eliminate arena scheduling and to replace it with computerized scheduling used in all other SFUSD schools. Critics characterized arena scheduling as an antiquated and inefficient system, one which promotes inequities and abuses, and creates weeks of unnecessary work for teachers and counselors (the system tends to produce "incomplete" schedules which must be dealt with after the scheduling period).

Proponents of arena argued that the system distinguishes Lowell and gives students additional responsibility and flexibility with shaping their high school careers. Doing so, students can prepare for a similar selecting of courses in college. Students would be able to choose teachers whom they found to be compatible with their learning style. The rotating priority system of picking teachers and times would assure the fairest results for the greatest number of people.

After a student forum, countless committee meetings, several student petitions, and final deliberation by then-principal Paul Cheng and the administration, it was decided that arena would remain in place, with modifications to address concerns about inequities and class imbalance, including the abolishment of early scheduling for Shield and Scroll and "mini arena," which allowed people with incomplete schedules another chance to complete them by opening up all the classes again with a few slots.

Under pressure from faculty and students, in 2013 the Lowell administration decided on an "online arena"—very different from the previous arena. In 2012, the Lowell administration began preliminary testing by requiring students to submit their proposed classes for the next school year through an online form, designed and maintained by a few students from the computer programming classes. The preliminary trials were a success as students were able to submit their schedules into a database by means of a computerized system, saving the faculty from having to input the information themselves. This new arena no longer required students to miss an entire day of district-funded schooling.

Demographics

• 2008–2009 Student Demographics:
  • 2,638 students; 39.8% male, 60.2% female
  • Student demographics:

Latino	White	African-American	Chinese	Japanese	Korean	American Indian	Filipino	Other Non-White	Declined to State
7.0%	14.1%	2.9%	52.1%	1.6%	1.1%	0.2%	6.1%	12.3%	2.7%

• 2008–2009 Faculty Demographics:
  • 147 certified staff; 49.6% male, 50.4% female
  • Certificated staff demographics

Latino	White	African-American	Chinese	Japanese	Korean	American Indian	Filipino	Other Non-White	Declined to State
8.1%	56.4%	2.0%	13.6%	3.4%	0.6%	0.0%	2.7%	4.0%	8.8%

Student activities

The Cardinals are one of the most active student bodies in San Francisco, with over 84 academic organizations, teams and student interest clubs.

Lowell also has academic teams that are exempt from volunteer hours in exchange for not being publicized as well as the clubs.

Mock Trial

The Mock Trial team is very accomplished, representing San Francisco County at the State Competitions in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2012 and 2014. In 2007, 2012, and 2014 they finished in the top ten at State Finals, In 2014 the Lowell High School Mock Trial team placed 6th at the Empire Mock Trial San Francisco International Competition and in 2015 won 1st place beating out 21 teams from across the world.

Lowell Forensic Society

Main article: Lowell Forensic Society

The Lowell Forensic Society, founded in 1892, is the oldest high school speech and debate team in the nation and the largest student organization on campus, with over 200 members. The team travels regularly to prestigious national invitationals, including Harvard, UC Berkeley, Stanford, CSU Long Beach, and the Tournament of Champions in Kentucky. Lowell Forensics has also competed in the National Speech and Debate Tournament under the National Forensic League for 40 years, making it one of the longest running national championship teams in the nation. Forensics alumni include Yale University President Richard Levin, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, actress Carol Channing, actor Benjamin Bratt, writer Naomi Wolf, actor Bill Bixby, PG&E CEO Frederick Mielke, author Daniel Handler of Series of Unfortunate Events fame and numerous academics, writers, and judges.

The Lowell

The school's monthly student newspaper, The Lowell, has won numerous national-level awards, including the CSPA Gold and Silver Crown awards, the NSPA Pacemaker (1993, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2012) and the Northern California Society for Professional Journalists' James Madison Award, in recognition of their 2006–2007 school year battle to protect free speech. The Lowell received the All-American ranking, with five marks of distinction, from the NSPA, the highest award.

JROTC

Lowell JROTC indoor review in May 2005.

Lowell has a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps battalion consisting of seven special competition units: Drum Corps, Exhibition Drill Teams (boys and girls), Color Guard, Drill Platoon, Brigade Squad Drill and the Lowell Raider Challenge Team.

Lowell Battalion has been a role model for many Army JROTC battalions around the San Francisco Bay Area. A photo of the Lowell Battalion's former rifle range, now converted into a classroom and indoor drill facility, was featured in the Army JROTC Cadet Reference Second Edition

The Lowell Battalion has been an honor unit with distinction for the past 15 years and has won many San Francisco Brigade awards in their seasonal competitions. Every fall, the Lowell Drill Platoon, Color Guard, Best Guidon Bearer, and Brigade Best Squad compete in the Annual Fall Liberty Bell Competition. In addition, every spring, Lowell's Exhibition Drill Teams and Drum Corps participate in the Spring 91st Infantry Memorial Drill Competition. The Lowell Raider Challenge Team also competes in the San Francisco JROTC Brigade Raider Challenge, which consists of a physical fitness test, first aid obstacle course, land navigation, and a three kilometer run.

Athletics

Lowell's athletic teams claim more city championships than any other public high school in San Francisco. Many students participate in a variety of athletic leagues and competitions. Lowell has competitive football, cross-country, soccer, tennis, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, badminton, dragonboat, gymnastics, softball, swimming, track and field, fencing, golf, cheerleading, and baseball teams.

Lowell's Boys Varsity Basketball has recently been very successful. In 2004, the team won its first AAA Championship since 1952. Following a runner-up finish in 2005, the 2006 squad went undefeated in league play and finished with a 30-3 record and a city championship. The 2007 squad also won the championships, while the 2008 squad finished high in the playoffs. The 2009 team once again won the 2009 AAA championships over Lincoln. The basketball team engages in an annual rivalry with Washington High School in a game commonly known to those in the city as the "Battle of the Birds" game. This is based on that fact that Lowell's mascot is the cardinal and Washington High School's mascot is the eagle.

Lowell's Varsity Baseball team, led by coach John Donohue, won eight of ten championships from 1994 to 2004 while posting a regular season record of 185 wins and only 11 losses during that span. Coach Donohue won his 300th AAA league game on March 7, 2003 and tallied his 450th win overall just two weeks later on March 21, 2003.

Lowell's track and field and cross-country teams have also fared well in the past. Led by Andy Leong, the track and cross country teams recently won the city championship in all four divisions for the seventh year in a row. The cross country team recently swept all three divisions at the city finals in Golden Gate Park, marking Lowell's 26th overall championship win in a row. In recent years, the track and field team has attracted about 150 athletes each season, and the cross country Team has attracted nearly 100 runners each season.

Lowell's Girls' Varsity Volleyball team has dominated the sport since its creation with the most city championships amongst other San Francisco public schools, and from November 1996 to November 2008, went on a record streak of 13 consecutive volleyball city championships. The girls' junior varsity volleyball team also owns 15 of the 18 city titles (as of November 2010).

In April 2007, Lowell's varsity swim team won their 11th consecutive AAA Championship title, with an undefeated season and an undefeated girls' title, ever since girls have been admitted on the team. The close rivalry between the Cardinals' and the Washington Eagles ended with Lowell coming out on top of all the other SFUSD high schools participating, which included Balboa High, Lincoln High, and Wallenberg High School. In April 2008, Lowell's varsity swim team won their 12th consecutive AAA Championship title, with an undefeated season yet again. The rivalry between the Cardinals' and the Washington Eagles ended with Lowell coming on top with the varsity boys scoring 170-49 and the girls 122-62. The JV girls also were able to defeat Washington with a score of 104-67. However, the JV boys lost to their counterpart from Lincoln 93-69.

In April 2007, Lowell's dragonboat team competed in the California Dragonboat Association Youth Race at Lake Merced in San Francisco, California. They brought home three golds and two silvers. The Lowellitas, the girl's team, won their seventh consecutive gold medal. In the spring of 2010 the Lowell Dragonboat team won gold medals in the top division, breaking a five-year drought of golds for Lowell in the top division traced back to 2005.

Lowell's Varsity Girls' Soccer has won the AAA Championship title for the past 15 years in a row. In 2012, they ended their season without being scored on in league games, a record of 101-0. Their most recent defeat was two seasons ago, a forfeit to Balboa on April 6, 2010. Aside from forfeits, the girls have remained undefeated for the past 10 years in league play. There is no JV team.

Lowell's JV Girls' Gymnastics team placed first in the NCVAL JV Gymnastics Finals from 2007 to 2010. At the CCS Varsity Finals, Lowell's Varsity Girls' Gymnastics team placed third in 2009 and second in 2010. Lowell does not have a boys' gymnastics team.

The Lowell Varsity Cheer Squad placed 1st in stunts and received a runner up medal in dance in the 2009 AAA competition. They also went to USA Nationals (2010) and placed in the top half of their division (4 points away from 1st place). In 2015 Lowell Cheer attended USA Nationals and won 4th place in the Super Novice Show Cheer Division. Lowell Cheer also performs at school rallies and pumps up the crowd at most, if not all, boys' football and basketball games.

Lowell Hymn

The Lowell Hymn is the official alma mater for Lowell High School. Its melody is taken from All Hail Blue and Gold, written by Harold Bingham to serve as the alma mater for the University of California, Berkeley.

Other Lowell songs include: "On, On Cardinals" (sung to the famous "NC4 March" commemorating the first transatlantic flight by the NC4 navy seaplane in 1919).

The PEP Song written by faculty member Mr. Anino

Lyrics

With heads bared we stand
In tribute to thee,
Our alma mater Lowell
All true to thee we'll be!

Unfurled red and white
None shall thee decry,
Thy name we love
Oh Lowell High!

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Lowell High School have been cataloged by the Lowell Alumni Association. Alumni include:

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Albert Abraham Michelson	1868	Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907. First American Nobel laureate in a scientific field.
Charles Lee Tilden	1874	Attorney & businessman, namesake of Tilden Regional Park in the East Bay.
Joseph Erlanger	1892	Physician; Professor, Washington University in St. Louis. Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1945.
G. Albert Lansburgh	1894	Notable architect of Broadway and Los Angeles theatres and cinemas.
Rube Goldberg	1900	Pulitzer Prize winner, creator of "Rube Goldberg" machines.
Walter A. Haas	1905	Board Chairman, Levi Strauss & Co.
Alexander Calder	1915	Renowned artist and inventor of the mobile.
Cyril Magnin	1918	Former Chief Executive of the Joseph Magnin Co..
Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Sr.	1923	District Attorney of San Francisco; State Attorney General; Governor of California, 1959–1967.
Robert Lees	1929	Television and screenwriter.
William Hewlett	1930	Inventor, businessman, philanthropist. Co-founder, Hewlett-Packard Company; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Charles Ginsburg	1936	Developed first commercially viable Video Tape Recorder at Ampex.
Carol Channing	1938	Tony Award-winning singer, actress and comedienne.
Richard Diebenkorn	1939	20th century painter.
Pierre Salinger	1941	Press secretary to US President John F. Kennedy.
Art Hoppe	1942	Popular columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle for more than 40 years.
Jerry Coleman	1942	Decorated Marine aviator, New York Yankee, Hall of Fame announcer
General Kenneth McLennan	1943	Marine Corps four-star general, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Harry Likas	1943	NCAA Men's Tennis Championship in Singles in 1948 (as a member of the University of San Francisco Dons); Collegiate Tennis Hall of Famer.
Donald Fisher	1946	Founder and Board Chairman of The GAP.
Dian Fossey	1949	Scientist who dedicated her life to protecting the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. Book and film, Gorillas in the Mist based on her life with the great apes.
Ed Mayer	1950	Major League Baseball player for the Chicago Cubs.
Warren Hellman	1951	Private equity investor and co-founder of Hellman & Friedman.
Bill Bixby	1952	Movie and TV actor: The Incredible Hulk, My Favorite Martian, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and film director.
Richard C. Blum	1953	Husband to Dianne Feinstein. Chairman and President of Blum Capital. Regent of the University of California.
Stephen Breyer	1955	Associate Justice in the United States Supreme Court.
William Ware Theiss	1948	Academy Award nominated Costume Designer for movies and TV, including Star Trek.
Tom Meschery	1957	Played in the NBA for the Warriors, 1961–1971.
Charles R. Breyer	1959	Senior United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Susie Tompkins Buell	1960	Entrepreneur and liberal political donor associated with the Democracy Alliance.
Steve Silver	1962	Creator of Beach Blanket Babylon.
Eric Albronda	1963	Founding member of the band Blue Cheer, often considered to be the first heavy metal band
Michael Bortin	1966	Member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
Richard Levin	1964	President of Yale University from 1993 to 2013.
Dennis Marcellino	1965	Former member of Sly & The Family Stone, The Elvin Bishop Group, Rubicon, and The Tokens (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)
Michael Bortin	1966	Member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz	1966	Journalist and author.
Charles H. Ferguson	1972	Software entrepreneur; Writer; Filmmaker. Film Inside Job won 2011 best documentary Academy Award.
John Roos	1973	Attorney & U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
Larry Baer	1975	President of the San Francisco Giants MLB team.
John D. Trasviña	1976	President of MALDEF, HUD Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
Gill Byrd	1978	Played in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers, 1983–1992.
Eric Allin Cornell	1980	Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.
Jennifer Egan	1980	Novelist and short story writer.
Soji Kashiwagi	1980	Playwright, Executive Producer for Grateful Crane Ensemble theatre organization.
Naomi Wolf	1980	Rhodes Scholar, Writer.
Benjamin Bratt	1982	Movie and TV personality who starred in the television series, Law & Order.
Paris	1985	Hip-hop artist.
Margaret Cho	1986	Comedienne, briefly attended Lowell before transferring to Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts.
Daniel Handler	1988	Aka Lemony Snicket, bestselling author of a series of children's novels: A Series of Unfortunate Events, and a novel set in a fictional Lowell High School, The Basic Eight.
Elaine Mar	1990	Forensic scientist. For 4½ years following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Project Manager and Lead Supervisor of the World Trade Center DNA Identification Unit for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
Alex Tse	1994	Screenwriter of Sucker Free City (2004) and Watchmen (2009).
Jamie Chung	2001	Reality television personality who gained fame on The Real World: San Diego, and later, an actress known for her work in films such as Sorority Row and The Hangover Part II and in TV series such as Once Upon a Time.
Anton Peterlin	2005	Soccer player
Rita Volk	2008	(Born Margarita Volkovinskaya) Model and Actress. Star of Faking It (2014 TV series)
Adrian Lamo		Computer hacker and journalist who attended Lowell along with two other high schools.
Frank Kudelka		Former NBA player
John L. Heilbron		Historian of science.
William Coblentz		California power broker, Lawyer, UC Regent
Lisa Bielawa		composer and vocalist

See also

• San Francisco County high schools

External links

• Lowell High School Online, official website
• SFUSD School Description, official profile and statistics of Lowell
• The Lowell On the Web, student newspaper
• The Lowell's Archive, over 100 years of back issues
• Lowell Alumni Association
• Lowell High School's Student Body Council, student government
• Lowell's Parent Teacher Student Association

• SFUSD Profile 2008-09: Lowell HS
• The official web site of the Lowell Alumni Association
• Lowell High School wins third Blue Ribbon. From the Lowell Alumni Association.
• Honor society causes scheduling inequity. From The Lowell.
• Shield and Scroll must maintain high moral standards. From The Lowell.
• Class scheduling methods put Lowell High in a tizzy. From the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Self-scheduling is fundamental to Lowell. From The Lowell.
• Shift to online self-scheduling a success. From The Lowell.
• Author: US Army Cadet Command, Ft. Monroe, VA. Title: Army JROTC Cadet Reference Second Edition, ISBN 978-0-536-74189-9, Publisher: Pearson Custom Publishing, Boston, MA.
• AAA Baseball Annual Champions.
• 3 teams have caught Lowell in race for baseball supremacy. From the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Lowell baseball is amassing very big numbers. From the San Francisco Chronicle.
• AAA Track and Field Annual Champions.
• AAA Cross-country Annual Champions.
• AAA Volleyball Girls Annual Champions.
• "Famous Lowell Graduates", Lowell Alumni Association. Accessed June 12, 2013.
• Woo, Elaine. "COLUMN ONE : Caught on the Wrong Side of the Line? : Chinese Americans must outscore all other groups to enter elite Lowell High in San Francisco, sparking an ugly battle over diversity and the image of a 'model minority.'", Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1995. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Lowell has produced a governor (Edmund G. Brown Sr.), scientists and artists (naturalist Dian Fossey, sculptor Alexander Calder), Nobel laureates (physicist Albert Michelson, physiologist Joseph Erlanger) and a United States Supreme Court justice (Stephen G. Breyer)."
• Guide to the Albert A. Michelson Papers 1891-1969, University of Chicago Library. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Albert Abraham Michelson was born on December 19, 1852 in Strelno, Poland (then a part of Prussia) to Samuel and Rosalie Przlubska Michelson. Two years later the Michelson family left Strelno for Murphys, California where his father opened a dry goods store. Michelson attended Lincoln Grammar School in San Francisco, and graduated from Boys’ High School in 1869."
• Davis, Hallowell. "Joseph Erlanger: 1874-1964, National Academy of Sciences, 1970. Accessed June 12, 2013. "He tells of his early schooling at the San Francisco Boys' High School where he took the three-year 'classical' course."
• Lansburgh, Gustave Albert, Encyclopedia of San Francisco. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Graduating from Boys High School in 1894, Albert enrolled at U. C. Berkeley, the year Julia Morgan graduated."
• Elliott, Christopher. "Budget Cuts May Silence School's Voice", Los Angeles Times, April 30, 1991. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Famous Lowell newspaper alumni include former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr., veteran journalist Pierre Salinger and illustrator Rube Goldberg."
• Kinnaird, Lawrence. History of the Greater San Francisco Bay Region, Volume 3, p. 376. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1966. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Graduating from Lowell High School at San Francisco, he studied at the University of California at Berkeley, and graduated in 1910, with a Bachelor of laws degree."
• Reinhold, Robert. 'Edmund G. Brown Is Dead at 90; He Led California in Boom Years", The New York Times, February 18, 1996. Accessed June 12, 2013. "At Lowell High School, Pat Brown gave ample evidence of what was to come, running for 11 student offices and winning each time."
• Hearings, Volume 1, United States Congress, 1951.Accessed June 12, 2013. "Mr. Lees: I was in grammar school in San Francisco, Lowell High School, San Francisco."
• William Redington Hewlett, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Although the father died suddenly when Bill was twelve, the family rallied. Bill was enrolled in San Francisco's Lowell High School, and life moved on."
• Hammar, Peter. Charles P. Ginsburg, Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, Volume 7 (1994) . Accessed June 12, 2013. "Ginsburg was born in San Francisco and diagnosed with diabetes at the age of four, just two years after insulin was discovered. He lived a normal childhood and graduated from Lowell High School."
• Zinko, Carolyne (May 11, 2003). "Carol Channing marries long-time sweetheart". San Francisco Chronicle. Reprinted at Lowell Alumni Association. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
• Staff. "CAROL CHANNING THE CHARACTERS, NOT THE DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND", The Salt Lake Tribune, March 28, 1993. Accessed June 12, 2013."As student body secretary at San Francisco's Lowell High School, the born entertainer would read the minutes in her own inimitable style."
• Paris, Jay. "Paris: Jerry Coleman never forgot his first sight of Jackie Robinson", U-T San Diego, April 15, 2013. Accessed June 12, 2013. "But Coleman's exposure to Robinson, who was honored by major league baseball on Monday, goes back. Way back, to when Coleman was a senior at San Francisco's Lowell High School."
• GENERAL KENNETH MCLENNAN, USMC (DECEASED) , United States Marine Corps History Division. Accessed June 12, 2013. "General McLennan was born 31 May 1925, in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He graduated from Lowell High School, San Francisco, California, in 1943, and received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco in 1948."
• 1948 Men's Tennis Singles Champion, San Francisco Dons. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Men's Singles Tennis Champion: Harry Likas - Hometown: San Francisco; High School: Lowell High School"
• "Staunch Champion Of US Water Polo, Donald Fisher, Passes Away", USA Water Polo. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Donald George Fisher was born to middle-class parents on Sept. 3, 1928. He attended Lowell High School and UC Berkeley, where he starred on the swimming and water polo teams."
• [1]. Accessed January 12, 2016.
• Bill Bixby biography, Biography Channel. Accessed June 12, 2013. "After graduating from Lowell High School, Bixby attended San Francisco College to pursue a major in acting and then switched to the University of California at Berkeley."
• Groves, Martha. "The Man Behind the Woman Who Would Be Governor : Politics: Dianne Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, is a shrewd businessman, a friend of the famous, with a 'Lt. Columbo style' and a passion for distance running and Tibetan treks.", Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1990. Accessed June 12, 2013. "A lifelong San Franciscan, Blum was brought up in well-to-do circumstances.... Blum attended San Rafael Military Academy for a year, then went to prestigious Lowell High School."
• Stephen Gerald Breyer, The Future of the Court. Accessed June 12, 2013. "He graduated from San Francisco's prestigious Lowell High School in 1955 and went on to Stanford University, where he majored in philosophy and received his A.B. in 1959."
• Lowell High School year book 1962
• "Bay Area's roll call of fame", SFGate.com, June 2, 2009.
• Music Roots, Dennis Marcellino. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Because of the changing tastes in popular music in America, in 1962 he switched to saxophone and became a vocalist/front man in his first rock band, The Spotliters, whom he worked with until 1965, when he also got married the month after he graduated from Lowell High School."
• Yolandha, Friska. "Stephen Suleyman Schwartz: Dari Komunis Menjadi Muslim (Bag 1)", Republika (Indonesian newspaper), January 18, 2012. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Ayahnya berjualan buku dan ibunya adalah pekerja sosial. Keluarganya hijrah ke San Francisco, ketika dirinya masih kecil. Di kota itu, Schwartz menempuh pendidikan pada Lowell High School."
• John V. Roos, US Ambassador to Japan, Asia Society. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Roos grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School in 1973 before attending college at Stanford University, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors and distinction in 1977."
• SF Giants President and Chief Operating Officer, Laurence M. Baer, San Francisco Giants. Accessed June 12, 2013. "The San Francisco Lowell High School graduate was the driving force behind every phase of the ballpark project..."
• "Giants President and CEO Larry Baer to deliver SF State Commencement keynote", San Francisco State University, April 2, 2013. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Baer attended nearby San Francisco Lowell High School, and said that SF State continues to be the influential community partner that he remembers from his youth in the public schools."
• Lowell Alumni Southern California Luncheon 4/9/05 (retrieved May 23, 2009).
• Nightengale, Bob. "HE COMES TO PRAY : Gill Byrd Wishes Teammates Would Understand Why God, Not Football, Comes First", Los Angeles Times, September 8, 1989. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Byrd's skin darkens with embarrassment as he recall his days at Lowell High School in San Francisco."
• Eric A. Cornell Autobiography, Nobel Prize. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Just before my final year of high school, my brother, sister and I moved with my mother to San Francisco. I spent my last year of high school there, at Lowell High School. Lowell High was a so-called 'magnet school,' drawing academically inclined students from all over the city."
• Ciabattari, Jane. "The Book on Aging Rockers", The Daily Beast, June 29, 2010. Accessed June 12, 2013. "After her parents were divorced and her mother remarried, she moved to San Francisco, where she attended Lowell High School and considered herself an 'unexceptional' student."
• Kashiwagi , Soji. "Nihonmachi: The Place to Be ", Discover Nikkei, March 14, 2007. Accessed June 12, 2013. "I attended Lowell High and San Francisco State University, but after school and on weekends the place to be for me was Nihonmachi."
• Barrios, Gregg. "The Rise and Fall and Rise of an Actor in Hollywood", Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1988. Accessed June 12, 2013. "But by the time he was attending San Francisco's Lowell High School, he'd become homogenized."
• Byrne, Peter. "Capital RapFrom revolutionary rapper to stockbroker to rapper again -- the long, strange trip of Paris, aka Oscar Jackson Jr.", SF Weekly, December 3, 2003. Accessed June 12, 2013. "The son of a medical doctor, Oscar Jackson Jr. grew up in the Haight and Western Addition neighborhoods of San Francisco.... He was, he says, an unremarkable student at Lowell High School, preferring to spend his time recording music with his DJ pal, 'Mad Mike' Hornsby."
• Staff. "THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE MARGARET CHO BUSINESS", The Sacramento Bee, August 18, 1995. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Her performing career began shortly thereafter - when she was expelled from San Francisco's Lowell High School and enrolled in the city's High School of the Performing Arts."
• Benfer, Amy. " The mysterious Mr. SnicketHe's been compared to Edward Gorey and Roald Dahl, but to know the true identity of the author behind the bestselling children's series, you must read this story. ", Salon, August 17, 2000. Accessed June 12, 2013. " The mysterious Mr. SnicketHe's been compared to Edward Gorey and Roald Dahl, but to know the true identity of the author behind the bestselling children's series, you must read this story."
• Honoring the service of Elaine Mar. From the Congressional Record, 109th U.S. Congress. Statement of Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York.
• Dunlap, David W. (October 24, 2007). Conceived, in a sense, on 9-11". The New York Times
• Wang, Oliver. "The Storyteller: An Interview with Alex Tse", UCLA Asia Institute, July 17, 2009. Accessed June 12, 2013. "APA: You grew up in San Francisco, you attended Lowell High School, you came from an upwardly mobile family -- under other circumstances, you probably could have groomed yourself for business or law or science, etc. When did you realize you had a real drive to do something creative as a career?"
• Fred Topel. "Sorority Row Remake Scares its own Star", SciFi Wire, April 3, 2009
• Boys Soccer All-City 2004–2005, CIF San Francisco Section: Academic Athletic Association. Accessed June 12, 2013.
• CIF-SF: San Francisco Sports Information. Boys Soccer All-City 2003–2004, CIF San Francisco Section: Academic Athletic Association. Accessed June 12, 2013.
• MTV Biography
• Kirby, Carrie. "Alleged hacker grounded at home / Accused of breaking into N.Y. Times' system, he faces his fate with Zen serenity", San Francisco Chronicle, September 22, 2003. Accessed June 13, 2013. "Lamo attended three San Francisco high schools -- Lowell, the International Studies Academy and Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School - but instead of graduating, he passed the California High School Proficiency Exam. "
• Wildermuth, John. "William Coblentz dies; lawyer, UC ex-regent", San Francisco Chronicle, September 14, 2010. Accessed June 12, 2013. "Mr. Coblentz was born in San Francisco on July 28, 1922, the son of a prominent obstetrician. He went to Lowell High School, received his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and his law degree from Yale in 1947."
• Gerebren, Janos. "SF Girls Chorus brings ‘Tidings of Great Joy’" San Francisco Examiner, December 17, 2010. Accessed 12 October 2013. " Herbert Bielawa and his daughter, Rome-Prize winner Lisa Bielawa (Lowell High School and SFGC alumna) have contributed to the chorus repertory."