The school enrolls approximately 2,100 students[4] and employs about 100 teachers. Los Gatos High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and has regularly received six-year accreditations, the highest possible. It has been recognized twice as a National School for Excellence. LGHS is also notable for its sports programs, most recently winning a Central Coast Section football title in 2019. The Los Gatos Wildcats are part of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League of the CIF Central Coast Section.
History
Los Gatos High School, originally Los Gatos Union High School, was founded in 1908 and remains the only high school in Los Gatos.[5] From the late 1880s until then, high school age students were taught at Los Gatos Central School, a grammar school which was established in 1886.[6] The original building was in Mission Revival style, and on the site of the current library. The current Neoclassical main building was dedicated on January 17, 1925; it was built using a $250,000 bond measure passed in 1923, and was designed by W. H. Weeks, a famous architect of schools in California. The former building continued in use but was gradually demolished and by 1955 had entirely disappeared.[6] The main building was extensively renovated in the mid-1960s, reopening in 1967.[5] In 2001, the town of Los Gatos passed a $79 million bondmeasure for a new renovation, which included several new buildings.
Due to the unusual joint cooperative nature of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, until 2005, Saratoga High School shared Los Gatos High School's Prentiss Brown Auditorium for performing arts and, until 2006, they shared Helm Field for football games. Both are on the grounds of Los Gatos High School but are available for equal use by both schools. When the two schools played each other, the title of home team rotated between them each year.
Academics and Activities
Los Gatos High School is well known for its rigorous academics. In 2021, Niche[7] ranked Los Gatos High School as #37 with California. In 2021, 96% of graduating seniors went on to attend college, including 74% to four-year colleges, and had an average SAT score of 1326 and average ACT composite score of 29.8.[8] During 2019–2020, 73% (387 students) of LGHS class of 2021 took at least one AP course.[8]
Students participate in over 70 academic, athletic and community service activities that annually raise over $100,000 for charities and non-profit organizations.[8]
The school, its stadium and track, and nearby Santa Cruz Avenue were also used for filming an episode of the 1986 television series Starman; drama students played the role of some extras.
In 1992, Principal Ted Simonson, former Dean of Boys during earlier decades, attracted media controversy for a series of racist and bigoted jokes he made during a roast at the Lions Club in which he referred to female joggers as "jigglers" and described gay-friendly city of San Francisco as "Fairyland" and the city of Oakland, California, with its large African-American population, as "Jungleland."[11][12]
In 2021, Mark Rober used the school's football field to test his robotic field kicking machine.[13]
In 2021, NBC Bay Area published an investigative report about "a wave of sexual misconduct allegations by current and former Los Gatos High School students on social media".[14] The report details an ongoing student-led movement to change the culture of LGHS that gained momentum in 2020.[15]
