San Fernando High School—SFHS—was established in 1896, and was originally known as the San Fernando Union High School (SFUHS). It is one of the oldest high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. SFHS was originally located at Fifth and Hagar streets in the City of San Fernando.
In 1906, the school moved to a new campus on North Brand Boulevard. San Fernando High School moved again in 1952, to its present location.
The auditorium was renamed after Cesar Chavez in a dedication ceremony on June 11, 2000, seven years after Chavez's death.[3]
Description
The San Fernando High School colors are black and gold.
School attendance boundaries
Students in the City of San Fernando are assigned to the school. Originally more of the Pacoima neighborhood was zoned to the school, but much of it was reassigned to Arleta High School upon that school's opening in 2006. Students in the San Fernando Gardens public housing complex in Pacoima are still assigned to San Fernando High School. [citation needed]
San Fernando High School's attendance boundary changed numerous times as well as new high schools opening in the area. In the fall of 2006, 9th and 10th grade students in a portion of San Fernando High School's 2005-2006 school year zone attended Arleta High School instead of San Fernando [1]; Arleta will phase in grades 11 through 12 [2].
During 2020-2021, the school had 2,044 students and 110 faculty members.
In 2000, 10% of faculty had attended San Fernando High School as students. At the time the school was actively seeking alumni to be teachers. Many of the teachers who were alumni of San Fernando High were bilingual and could offer assistance to Spanish-speaking students.[6]
School programs
In 2008 it was announced that San Fernando High School would start on a traditional academic calendar, rather than the "year-round" staggered calendar to accommodate overcrowding, in the fall of that year. The traditional calendar allows all three tracks (A, B, and C-track; roughly 3300 students in total) to join as one academic class. It also made it impossible for the city's planned charter middle school to take campus facilities from San Fernando High School.
SFHS was the only high school in California with Project G.R.A.D. (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams), which has now expanded to Arleta and Sylmar high schools and César Chávez Learning Academies.
Athletics
Football
Operating the wishbone offense (a rarity in California) with future USC stars Charles White and Kevin Williams, San Fernando High won the L.A. City Football title in 1974 and 1975, repeating the 1934, 1937, 1953 and 1967 season championships. Prior to the 1975 season, they were ranked #1 in the country. In 1976 they lost their first game of the season to Gardena High School by a score of 41-0. The team rebounded, losing only one more game (and defeating John Elway's Granada Hills High School team along the way) to earn a spot in the city playoffs. They went on to defeat Banning High School to win the city title. In 2012 the team lost to Van Nuys and Sylmar high schools out of their ten games making them 8-2, leading them to the Division 2 Championship against Canoga Park High School. They repeated in 2013, becoming back-to-back champions. In 2017 SFHS defeated Dorsey High School for the Division 1 Championship with a score of 28-21. San Fernando High's football stadium is named for Charles White.
Wrestling
The San Fernando High School wrestling team currently holds the largest number of city championships in Los Angeles. They have been the City Wrestling Champions in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1991, 2001—2003, 2006—2009, 2012—2015, and 2017.
During the 2006 season, the Tiger wrestling team had an undefeated season, with a record of 21-0. The 2006 wrestling team took first place at the C.I.F. championship, with five of their wrestlers qualifying for the State championship.
In 2013, Johnny Parada became the first ever CIF wrestling state champion from the Los Angeles City Section when he defeated Wyatt Wyckoff of Paradise High School 13-6 for the 126 lbs. title.
1973 City Soccer Team Champions. When LAUSD offered soccer as an official sport, the Tigers won the first-ever championship against Franklin High School, 2 to 1.
2010 City Soccer Team Champions. Played in the Southern California Regional Playoffs up to semi-finals.
Basketball
1981 Basketball League Champions; 1988 Varsity Basketball League Champions.
^Hopper, Hedda (March 7, 1965). "In Hollywood". Valley Morning Star. Texas, Harlingen. Valley Morning Star. p. 7. Retrieved November 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
