In September 1971, the Youth Law Center filed a suit against the San
Francisco Unified School District alleging that by maintaining a city-wide,
non-districted academic high school, admission to which is based on
academic standards, the school district discriminates against several
categories of students and that such discrimination is unconstitutional.
After prolonged hearings in the spring and summer of 1972, a judge of the
Federal District Court issued a summary judgment that the constitutional
rights of the complainants had not been violated.
The legal decisions that emanated from the suit validated the affirmative
action component of the admission policy and mandated identical admission
requirements for female and male students.
The early seventies found the school a senior high school with a rich
academic program. Two major events were to dominate the second half of the
decade; the restoration of the ninth grade and the changes in funding for
public schools that followed the 1978 Jarvis-Gann initiatives (Proposition
13).
The staff welcomed the ninth grade, but found the school crowded with an
additional 700 freshmen to go with the other three classes of 900 each. A
"south campus" located at San Francisco State University was needed while
the staff completed the transition to four classes of approximately 700
each. The financial problems were less amenable to solution. Among the
results were loss of staff, larger class size, loss of electives and two
devastating strikes. The staff's and faculty's intensive efforts were
necessary to save the elements of the Lowell Plan and the quality of the
program.
The decade of the '80s was a time of recognition for Lowell. In turn,
Money, Parade and Town and Country included Lowell as one of the best
public schools in the nation. The State of California twice recognized the
school for excellence. The United States Department of Education honored
the school in the first group of excellent schools in the 1982-83 school
year. In 1986 the University of California at Berkeley hosted a Lowell Day
in recognition of the long partnership of the two schools.
The eighties saw the PTSA and Alumni Association grow in strength as they
undertook to bring a measure of financial support to the school. One of the
tangible results of the PTSA's efforts was the construction of the library
addition. The Alumni Association staffs a campus office and the PTSA and
other volunteers staff the student bookstore and the VICCI College
Counseling Center.
In the mid-eighties, a new state law, SB 813, presented a challenge to the
Lowell Plan and the unique way in which the school provides time for
students to utilize the resources of the school. Subsequent to long
discussions with the State Department of Education, resource center time
was construed as instructional time to be included in the 64,800 minutes of
incentive time, a validation of the Lowell Plan. Other validations of the
Lowell program are the success of the Advanced Placement program and the
school's standing as first or second in the California Assessment Program
between 1985 and 1990.
In the fall of 1993, the PTSA sponsored a highly successful "Lowell
Retreat" in which almost 100 parents, administrators, teachers, students,
and alumni spent a weekend discussing Lowell's past, and deliberating on
its present and future direction. A series of recommendations was generated
and several committees were created to formulate follow-up action plans
that tied directly to the WASC Self-Study.
Shortly after the WASC Accreditation Committee departed in April 1994,
Lowell was chosen a California Distinguished School by the state Department
of Education. This was the fourth time that Lowell was accorded this honor,
having previously been recognized in 1986, 1990 and 1992 ("Sustained Achievement" category).
But topping many other achievements in 1995 was the unbelievable triumph
of the Lowell Varsity Football Team at the "Turkey Day Game" at Kezar
Stadium. This was not the usual football win, but a come-from-behind
thriller executed against the physically-superior Galileo High School team,
the defending city champs. With spectacular plays and using "brains and
brawn" (as noted by a newspaper writer) at the right moments, the amazing
quarterback and his teammates gave Lowell its first city football
championship in 18 years.
1996 was also a momentous year in which many local, state, and national
honors and awards were bestowed on the Lowell community to acknowledge the
outstanding accomplishments of its stakeholders. In particular, the U.S.
Department of Education's May 1996 Blue Ribbon Award validated our
cooperative and collaborative efforts that have continued unabated to
advance educational excellence for Lowell students at all grade levels.
Lowell representatives attended a White House ceremony honoring the award
recipients from all regions of the nation.
Throughout the mid-nineties, the PTSA's efforts continued to complement
the generous contributions made by individual alumni and by a supportive
Alumni Association that gave grants directly to teachers. Most notable
among those alumni was William R. Hewlett who responded in October 1996 to
a request for assistance by donating to Lowell $280,000 in computer
equipment for a new computer lab. This was Mr. Hewlett's third major
donation in eight years.
In November 1996, the College Board ranked Lowell sixth nationally among
over 10,800 high schools in terms of the number of Advanced Placement (AP)
examinations administered in May 1996 to students in the AP Program (626
students took 1,339 exams). Lowell was ranked eighth in 1994. The higher
ranking in 1996 reflected the growth in the popularity of the AP Program
and the superior caliber of instruction provided by our AP teachers.
