Lick-Wilmerding High School
Encyclopedia
Lick-Wilmerding High School is a college-preparatory
high school
located in San Francisco, California
, United States
.
. George Merrill was hired to manage the school as the first director, and Lick officially opened in January, 1895. George Merrill was the director of Lick until 1939, and later also the director of Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts and the Lux School for Industrial Training for Girls. All three schools later merged to become Lick-Wilmerding High School.
, Jellis Wilmerding, and Miranda Lux."
The actual text of the mission statement, printed in school publications and in every classroom of the school, is as follows:
"Lick-Wilmerding High School inspires students to become self-directed, life-long learners who contribute to our world with knowledge, skill, creativity, compassion, and can-do confidence. Toward this end, Lick-Wilmerding integrates a distinguished college preparatory curriculum with a distinctive program in the technical arts. As a private school with public purpose, Lick-Wilmerding encourages participation in community service and is committed to developing innovative educational programs that will benefit students and teachers throughout the Bay Area. Lick-Wilmerding's purpose, built on the foundation of a diverse and inclusive community, is to develop qualities of the head, heart, and hands that will serve students well throughout their lives."
level. A total of 30 units per semester are required. In keeping with Lick's 110-year tradition, every student is required to complete technical arts courses (such as wood, metal, glass or electronics).
Historically, Lick has been known to offer technical courses that other independent schools in the Bay Area
do not offer. Some of these include Metal
, Woodworking
, Glass
, Electronics
and Jewelry. Lick also has several semester-long Architecture
courses and an introduction to design course, entitled Contemporary Arts and New Media that is mandatory for all freshmen.
Lick's Performing Arts Department has choir, jazz
band, an orchestra
, an a cappella
group, one-acts, and musicals. There is also a dance group.
Over the past four years, 95 students have earned recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program; 37 have been named Finalists. In addition, three students have been honored as a Finalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program and four students have been selected for the National Hispanic Recognition Program. Six students from the class of 2006 were National Merit Semifinalists, and all became Finalists. From the class of 2007, 15 students have attained National Merit or National Achievement Semifinalist status.
Of the 59 full-time teachers, administrators, and program directors, 42 have master's degrees and four have doctorates. Of the eight part-time teachers, all have master's degrees. Performing, technical, and fine arts teachers have extensive work and performance experience.
SAT I
SAT II (and number of test takers)
Aim High
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 outstanding 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."
The Bay Area Teachers Center
"The Bay Area Teachers Center, located within Lick-Wilmerding High School, offers a unique one-year secondary school single subject teaching credential in partnership with San Francisco State University. See the Bay Area Teachers Center (BATC) website at bayareateacherscenter.org"
The department's courses seek to provide a basic understanding of the qualities and characteristics of the materials in the Glass, Electronics, Machine, Jewelry and Wood Shops, as well as to foster an appreciation of the design principles introduced in the Drafting & Design course. Lick students learn to work conceptually and physically, moving from theory to practice in order to bring the designs of the mind into the physical world.
The faculty members work closely together, often stepping across conventional boundaries. They are committed not only to educating young people but also to furthering their own learning and to exploring their own creativity. Their common objectives include efficient use of technologies, effective problem solving, creative expression, aesthetic appreciation of craft and design, and personal empowerment through self-confidence and self-esteem."
Courses:
Winter Teams:
Spring Teams:
California Music Education Association Honors
Chamber Singers: Unanimous Superior, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.
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
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
located in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
Lick-Wilmerding was founded on September 21, 1874 as the California School of Mechanical Arts by a trust by James LickJames Lick
James Lick was an American carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in California, and left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.-Early years:James Lick was born in Stumpstown Pennsylvania on August...
. George Merrill was hired to manage the school as the first director, and Lick officially opened in January, 1895. George Merrill was the director of Lick until 1939, and later also the director of Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts and the Lux School for Industrial Training for Girls. All three schools later merged to become Lick-Wilmerding High School.
Mission statement
The school's website says of its mission: "Lick-Wilmerding's central mission is to offer its students a distinctive and exemplary education, the key ingredients of which are: the school's 'head, heart, and hands' curriculum, the inclusive nature of its community, and its commitment to society beyond the campus. Each of these elements is grounded in the principles set forth by the school's founders -James LickJames Lick
James Lick was an American carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in California, and left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.-Early years:James Lick was born in Stumpstown Pennsylvania on August...
, Jellis Wilmerding, and Miranda Lux."
The actual text of the mission statement, printed in school publications and in every classroom of the school, is as follows:
"Lick-Wilmerding High School inspires students to become self-directed, life-long learners who contribute to our world with knowledge, skill, creativity, compassion, and can-do confidence. Toward this end, Lick-Wilmerding integrates a distinguished college preparatory curriculum with a distinctive program in the technical arts. As a private school with public purpose, Lick-Wilmerding encourages participation in community service and is committed to developing innovative educational programs that will benefit students and teachers throughout the Bay Area. Lick-Wilmerding's purpose, built on the foundation of a diverse and inclusive community, is to develop qualities of the head, heart, and hands that will serve students well throughout their lives."
Curriculum
Each student must be enrolled in a minimum of six five‐unit courses per semester, regardless of gradelevel. A total of 30 units per semester are required. In keeping with Lick's 110-year tradition, every student is required to complete technical arts courses (such as wood, metal, glass or electronics).
Historically, Lick has been known to offer technical courses that other independent schools in the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
do not offer. Some of these include Metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
, Woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
, Glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
, Electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
and Jewelry. Lick also has several semester-long Architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
courses and an introduction to design course, entitled Contemporary Arts and New Media that is mandatory for all freshmen.
Lick's Performing Arts Department has choir, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
band, an orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
group, one-acts, and musicals. There is also a dance group.
Community
The school's 429 students in grades 9 through 12 reflect Lick's tradition of a strong commitment to cultural and social diversity. The student body is 3% African-American, 16% Asian-American, 48% Caucasian, 6% Latino, 26% multiracial, and 1% other.Over the past four years, 95 students have earned recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program; 37 have been named Finalists. In addition, three students have been honored as a Finalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program and four students have been selected for the National Hispanic Recognition Program. Six students from the class of 2006 were National Merit Semifinalists, and all became Finalists. From the class of 2007, 15 students have attained National Merit or National Achievement Semifinalist status.
Of the 59 full-time teachers, administrators, and program directors, 42 have master's degrees and four have doctorates. Of the eight part-time teachers, all have master's degrees. Performing, technical, and fine arts teachers have extensive work and performance experience.
SAT means
For the class of 2007:SAT I
- Verbal Mean: 687
- Math Mean: 681
- Writing mean: 688
SAT II (and number of test takers)
- Biology: 657 (7)
- Chemistry: 726 (7)
- English Literature: 644 (51)
- French: 676 (18)
- Japanese: 790 (1)
- Math IC: 658 (15)
- Math IIC: 711 (50)
- Physics: 682 (16)
- Spanish: 646 (43)
- US History: 586 (10)
- World History: 735 (2)
Admissions
In 2007, there were 736 applicants for 110 places in the ninth grade. Students were admitted on the basis of previous academic work, recommendations, extracurricular talent, and test scores. The 111 ninth graders that entered Lick-Wilmerding in 2007 came from 54 middle schools. Lick's acceptance rate was about 15% in 2007.Programs
From the website:Aim High
Aim High
Aim High Academy
Aim High is a middle school summer academic enrichment program that was designed and created at San Francisco's Lick-Wilmerding High School in 1986, by Alec Lee and Eleanor McBride, two Lick-Wilmerding teachers. A founding grant from the San Francisco Foundation helped launch the program...
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 outstanding 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."
The Bay Area Teachers Center
"The Bay Area Teachers Center, located within Lick-Wilmerding High School, offers a unique one-year secondary school single subject teaching credential in partnership with San Francisco State University. See the Bay Area Teachers Center (BATC) website at bayareateacherscenter.org"
Technical Arts Programs
"Remaining faithful to its century-old history as a pioneering institution in the technical arts, Lick offers a unique collection of shop classes. This is an important part of the school's mission of developing in young people those "qualities of the head, heart, and hands" which will serve them well in college and in life.The department's courses seek to provide a basic understanding of the qualities and characteristics of the materials in the Glass, Electronics, Machine, Jewelry and Wood Shops, as well as to foster an appreciation of the design principles introduced in the Drafting & Design course. Lick students learn to work conceptually and physically, moving from theory to practice in order to bring the designs of the mind into the physical world.
The faculty members work closely together, often stepping across conventional boundaries. They are committed not only to educating young people but also to furthering their own learning and to exploring their own creativity. Their common objectives include efficient use of technologies, effective problem solving, creative expression, aesthetic appreciation of craft and design, and personal empowerment through self-confidence and self-esteem."
Courses:
- Metal Shop: Fabrications, Advanced Fabrications, Jewelry/Metal Art, Advanced Jewelry/Metal Art
- Glass Working: Glass Foundations, Advanced Glass
- Wood Shop: Woodworking I, Advanced Woodworking, Wood Carving
- Electronics: Electronics Foundations, Advanced Electronics
Athletics
Fall Teams:- Boys and Girls Cross Country
- Boys Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh/Soph Soccer
- Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Volleyball
- Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Tennis
Winter Teams:
- Boys Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh/Soph Basketball
- Girls Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh/Soph Basketball
- Boys and Girls Wrestling
Spring Teams:
- Boys and Girls Track and Field
- Boys and Girls Badminton
- Boys Varsity Lacrosse
- Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Lacrosse
- Varsity Baseball
- Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Soccer
- Boys and Girls Swimming
- Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity Tennis
- Golf
Clubs
Lick-Wilmerding offers more than forty student-led clubs and organizations that allow students to become engaged in their environment and connect with others who share similar interests.Awards
Alternet.com has also designated Lick-Wilmerding as the 6th top high school in the United States utilizing Green Architecture http://www.alternet.org/story/24530/California Music Education Association Honors
Chamber Singers: Unanimous Superior, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.
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
- Albert OverhauserAlbert OverhauserAlbert W. Overhauser is an American physicist and member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is best known for his theory of dynamic nuclear polarization, also known as the Overhauser Effect....
- National Medal of ScienceNational Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
winner (class of '42) - C. J. GoodellC. J. GoodellCouncil Julian Goodell , also called Julian Goodell, was an American attorney and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the District Court of Appeal of California from 1945 to 1953.-Early life and education:...
- Associate Justice, Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District (1945–1953) - Dan the AutomatorDan the AutomatorDaniel M. Nakamura , better known by the stage name Dan the Automator, is a Japanese-American hip hop producer. He founded the record label 75 Ark, which was distributed by Tommy Boy Records during its short existence....
source - DJ/Producer - Benjamin Wildman-TobrinerBenjamin Wildman-TobrinerBenjamin Marshall Wildman-Tobriner is a competitive swimmer and was until recently a member of the Stanford Men's Swim team....
- 2008 Gold Medal Olympic Swimmer - Teresa StrasserTeresa StrasserTeresa Lynn Strasser is an American writer and television personality known for hosting the first season of the home makeover show While You Were Out on TLC. She also co-hosted The Adam Carolla Show.-Personal life:...
- radio and television personality, writer - Gerek MeinhardtGerek MeinhardtGerek Lin Meinhardt is a foil fencer from San Francisco, California, United States.Meinhardt was one of two children born to Kurt and Jane Meinhardt. He attended Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco for two years and completed high school in a home schooling program...
- Fencer at the 2008 Summer Olympics, youngest American Olympian fencer - Frederick SeitzFrederick SeitzFrederick Seitz was an American physicist and a pioneer of solid state physics. Seitz was president of Rockefeller University, and president of the United States National Academy of Sciences 1962–1969. He was the recipient of the National Medal of Science, NASA's Distinguished Public Service...
- Physicist, National Medal of ScienceNational Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
winner - Jonathon KeatsJonathon KeatsJonathon Keats is an American conceptual artist and experimental philosopher known for creating large-scale thought experiments. Keats was born in New York City and studied philosophy at Amherst College...
- Conceptual artist - Mohammed Bilal - writer, rapper, actor, filmmaker, Real World, Midnight Voices