Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874, as the California School of Mechanical Arts, at Sixteenth and 17th Street and Potrero Avenue[1] and Utah streets,[2] in the Mission District, 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 (Jellis Clute)[3] Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts and the (Miranda)[3] Lux School for Industrial Training for Girls, which were both located immediately adjacent to the Lick campus. 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.[3]
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.[4] Every student is required to complete two semesters of technical arts courses (such as wood, metal, jewelry, or electronics), one semester of performing arts, and two semesters of visual arts. Additionally, students must complete three semesters of health class (BME).
Technical courses 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 Ehrer Theatre (named after Marcel Roy Ehrer, an American of French and Alsatian origin) Program presents plays, musicals, and a festival of original one-act plays written and directed by students. Theatre class offerings include: Acting 1, Acting Intensive, Improv, Playwriting, Stagecraft, and Directing.
Community
As of the 2021–2022 school year, the student body is 9% South Asian, 6% Southeast Asian, 11% African-American, 18% Latino, 29% East Asian, and 62% Caucasian. Overall, 35% of the student body identifies as multiethnic, which explains why the sum of these percentages is more than 100%.[5]
Test scores
In 2014, the Huffington Post reported that students at LWHS had the 8th-highest SAT scores in the nation.[6]
In spring of 2018, 38 students took 44 Advanced Placement exams; 93% of the scores 3 or higher
Admissions
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 [8]
Aim High Program
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 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."
Extracurricular activities
Technical Arts Courses
The following courses were available during the 2021–22 school year.[9]
3D-Printing and Parametric Design
Circuits and Electronics: Analog and Digital
Circuits and Electronics: Device Invention
Community Computing PPP
Design & Technology
Graphics and Game Design (formerly Computing 1)
Jewelry 1
Jewelry 2
Private Skills for a Public Purpose (PPP)
Rethinking Furniture
Sewing and Textile Arts Level 1
Sewing and Textile Arts Level 2 PPP
Wood: Joinery and Turning
Athletics
Fall Teams:
Boys and Girls Cross Country
Girls Varsity, Junior Varsity and Frosh/Soph Volleyball
Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Tennis
Girls Varsity Field Hockey
Boys and Girls Water Polo
Flag Football/Ultimate Frisbee (Club)
Sailing (Club)
Winter Teams:
Boys Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh/Soph Basketball
Girls Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh/Soph Basketball
Boys Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh/Soph Soccer
Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Soccer
Boys and Girls Wrestling
Spring Teams:
Boys and Girls Track and Field
Boys and Girls Badminton
Boys Varsity Lacrosse
Girls Varsity Lacrosse
Boys Varsity Baseball
Girls Varsity Softball
Boys and Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Swimming
Big Band: Unanimous Excellent, two years running, and Unanimous Superior, two years before.
Advanced Jazz Combo: Unanimous Superior, for four years
Orchestra: Unanimous Superior, for one year
Anaheim Heritage Festival Honors
2004: Chamber Singers and Chamber Orchestra: Gold
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (April 2021)
Lick-Wilmerding-Lux LIFE Volume VII, No. 2 (December, 1921) (The semi-annual publication by the students of the Lick-Wilmerding and Lux Schools published from 1915 to 1937), via archive.org
