Capuchino High School
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| Capuchino High School | |
| Home of the Mighty Mustangs | |
| Established | 1950 |
| School type | Public |
| Principal | Edward Marquez |
| Location | San Bruno, California, United States of America |
| Enrollment | 1192 |
| Colors | Green and Gold |
| Homepage | [1] |
Capuchino High School is a public high school in San Bruno, California. It is one of seven high schools in the San Mateo Union High School District, a division of the San Mateo County Office of Education.
Capuchino’s rival school is Mills High School in Millbrae, California.
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[edit] History
Capuchino first opened on September 11, 1950, to meet the demands of an increasing high school-aged population in the nearby communities of Burlingame, Millbrae, and San Bruno. Prior to 1950, most high school students in the area attended Burlingame High School in Burlingame, California. The physical campus, which is just over 34 acres in size, was formerly the Spanish Rancho del Capuchino. There are secret underground tunnels underneath the school; these tunnels are probably interconnected to other parts of the school. One known entrance to the underground tunnels is in the auditorium, near the entrance. There was initially only one two-story building on the campus; by 1953 most of the campus was completed. A 1000-seat auditorium was built in 1959, supplementing the school's little theatre. In the 1961-62 academic year, just prior to the completion of Crestmoor High School, student enrollment exceeded 1,800 and almost every avilable space was utilized for classrooms.
The school mascot is the Mustang. The school colors are green and gold.
The school has long been known for its music and drama programs. Randolph Hunt was the school's first music teacher; he joined the faculty in 1950 and wrote the school's hymn and other songs; he left Capuchino in 1960 to earn his doctorate. Ralph Bredenberg (1913-1990) became the band director in 1953 and built an outstanding marching band that performed at numerous competitions, as well as appearing at the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California and the nationally-televised inaugural parade for John F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 1961.
Kenneth L. Ton (1921-1982) was drama director at Capuchino for many years and, when Otto Mielenz became choral director in 1960, they began plans for producing the school first's musical comedy productions. Randolph Hunt had preferred to present operettas by Gilbert & Sullivan, including a performance of The Mikado in 1959, when the new auditorium was completed. Ton and Mielenz first collaborated on a 1962 production of Brigadoon by Lerner & Loewe. Two years later they produced Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser, which featured the first major performances by future star Suzanne Somers, who was then known as Suzanne Mahoney; at the last scheduled performance Ton gave a curtain speech, then introduced a surprise visitor, nationally-syndicated columnist Walter Winchell, who praised the production and told the story of how the musical came to be, then announced plans for a benefit performance for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. Mielenz left Capuchino after that, to teach at San Bernardino Valley College, followed by Chabot College in Hayward, California. Ton continued to direct plays and collaborated on additional musicals, until his retirement in the early 1980s. In the early 1980s a guiding director at Capuchino was Robert Meadows, who had formerly taught at Crestmoor High School until it closed in 1980; Meadows was the first musical director for the Capuchino Community Theatre, whose first productions were The Sound of Music by Rodgers & Hammerstein and The Music Man by Meredith Willson.
Capuchino has long had an outstanding athletic department. It initially competed in the Peninsula Athletic League, which stretched from Jefferson High School in Daly City, California to Lincoln High School in San Jose, California. As more high schools were built during the 1950s and early 1960s, the Mid-Peninsula was established to include the seven high schools of the San Mateo Union High School District. Capuchino dominated league competition over the years, especially in football, basketball, swimming, wrestling, track, and tennis. During the late 1950s the school won the league championships in varsity football, basketball, and baseball, a time often referred to as "The Golden Age of Sports." Capuchino baseball players Wally Bunker and Keith Hernandez both went on to careers in Major League Baseball.
SMUHSD residents approved Measure D in November, 2000, which authorized funding for school renovation and modernization. Capuchino has a renovated Science Wing, a new spirit court and Cafeteria building, and several new classrooms adjoining the new Administration building. Renovations are continuing throughout parts of the campus.
[edit] Curriculum
Capuchino is the only school in the San Mateo Union High School District to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
On the 2005 California Department of Education Academic Performance Index (API), Capuchino scored a 7 of 10, which indicates that its students, on average, tested better than at least 60% of the high schools in the state.
For its similar schools rank, in which Capuchino was compared with the 100 schools in the state with demographics most like that of Capuchino, Capuchino scored an 8, which means its students outperformed those of at least 70 of the 100 schools.
Capuchino also offers ROP (Reach Your Potential) classes for free. These include CSD, Cisco Networking, and Art of Video.
[edit] Demographics
The student population is approximately 37% white, 32% Latino, 9% Asian, 7% Pacific Islander, 6% Filipino, 5% African American, and approximately 4% of its students are of multiple cultural backgrounds.
Approximately 17% of the students at Capuchino are served by the free or reduced-price lunch program, and approximately 15% of Capuchino's students are English language learners.
[edit] Notable people
[edit] Alumni
- Luana De Vol, 1960. Opera singer
- Wally Bunker, 1963. MLB player.
- Keith Chapman, 1963. Concert organist.
- Gordon De Vol, 1964. Actor.
- Suzanne Somers, 1964. Actress.
- Keith Hernandez. MLB player.
[edit] Faculty
- Leo Ryan. History teacher/politician, 1961.
[edit] Sources
- Capuchino High School web site
- Capuchino High School yearbooks
- Eyewitness accounts
- San Bruno Herald
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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| High schools | Aragon | Burlingame | Capuchino | Hillsdale | Mills | San Mateo |
| Continuation schools | Peninsula |
| Alternative schools | San Mateo Middle College Hgh School |
