Coordinates: 37°59′01″N 122°34′19″W / 37.98361°N 122.57194°W / 37.98361; -122.57194^[1]

Sir Francis Drake High School is a secondary school located in San Anselmo, California. It was named for English privateer and naval hero Sir Francis Drake, who purportedly landed in the area in 1579. The school's mascot is a pirate named Petey.

The school was established in 1951 as the second high school in the Tamalpais Union High School District. It is located at 1327 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, situated on a 21 acre (85,000 m²) campus bordered by two creeks. The site was formerly known as Cordone Gardens. 2006-07 enrollment was 1,114 students.^[2]

Approximately 83% of Drake’s 2004 graduates continued on to higher education, 62% to 4-year universities and 21% to 2-year colleges.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

The school newspaper, the Jolly Roger is published almost every month. The 1986-87 edition was a winner of Columbia University’s Silver Crown Award for high school newspapers in 1988.^[3]. The Jolly Roger has been a regular recipient of the Medalist rating, given to the top 5% among high school newspapers in its class in United States.

Sir Francis Drake High School is also known for having one of the first high school mountain biking teams.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Lance Acord, cinematographer
• Arj Barker, comedian
• Terry Bozzio, musician
• Scott Capurro, comedian
• Reggie Carolan, NFL tight end
• Brad Hargreaves, musician
• Steve Lavin, ESPN analyst
• Tal Morris, musician
• Edward Neumeier, screenwriter
• Bill Paxton, actor
• Reminisce, street artist
• Michael Rossman, FSM activist & teacher ^[4]
• Scott Thunes, musician
• Alex Zettl, physicist^[5]
• Annie Barrows, author - Ivy and Bean children's books

[edit] Notable faculty

• Archie Williams, 1936 Olympic gold medalist

[edit] Notes

1. ^ USGS GNIS: Sir Francis Drake High School
2. ^ Sir Francis Drake High School Profile 2006-07, accessed March 14, 2007
3. ^ Columbia Scholastic Press Association, 1988 Scholastic Crown Recipients, accessed March 14, 2007
4. ^ Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 2008, "'60s activist Michael Rossman dies in Berkeley", accessed May 24, 2008
5. ^ "Thinking really small". Nanotechnology Now. 2006-04-17. http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=14842. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 

[edit] External links

• Sir Francis Drake High School home page