Capuchino High School

Capuchino High School is a public high school in San Bruno, California, although the school is surrounded by the city of Millbrae on all but one corner. 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.

History

From 1895 to 1902, all San Mateo County high school students attended Sequoia High School in Redwood City. Then, from 1902 to 1923, high school students in San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, and San Mateo attended San Mateo High School. In the fall of 1923, Burlingame High School opened and served students in San Bruno, Millbrae, and Burlingame. 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. [San Mateo County Historical Society]

The physical campus, which is just over 34 acres in size, was formerly the Spanish "Rancho del Capuchino". There was initially only one two-story building on the campus; by 1953 most of the campus was completed. A 1,000-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 available space was utilized for classrooms. [Interviews with students, 1961-63]

The school mascot is the Mustang. The school colors are green and gold.

In 1963, KPIX (Channel 5) filmed scenes, including a pep rally, at the school for its weekly "High School Salute" program. Host Dick Stewart also interviewed students and faculty in the KPIX studios during the telecast.

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.

Fine Arts

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, "Hail Green and Gold," 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. ["San Bruno Herald" archives, 1964 interview with Dr. Hunt]

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. [1964 interview with Dr. Hunt] Ton and Mielenz first collaborated on a 1962 production of "Brigadoon" by Lerner & Loewe. ["Cap 62" yearbook] In 1964 Mielenz left Capuchino to teach at San Bernardino Valley College, followed by Chabot College in Hayward, California. [1967 interview with Otto Mielenz] Mr. Masonson became the new choral director in 1964. Ton continued to direct plays and collaborated on additional musicals, until his retirement in the early-1980s. ["San Bruno Herald" archives] 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. [Eyewitness accounts by Robert E. Nylund]

ports

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 yearbooks, interviews with students.] Capuchino baseball players Wally Bunker and Keith Hernandez both went on to careers in Major League Baseball. ["San Bruno Herald" archives]

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 (Regional Occupational Program) classes for free. These include CompTIA A+ Certification (or "computer system design"), CCNA Certification (or "Cisco Networking Academy"), and an advanced Art of Video lab.

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.

Notable people

Alumni

*Luana De Vol, 1960. Opera singer
*Wally Bunker, 1963. MLB player.
*Keith Chapman, 1963. Concert organist.
*Gordon De Vol, 1964. Actor.
*Keith Hernandez. MLB player.
*Suzanne Somers, 1964. Actress.
*Mike Moyer, 1988. Actor. Director. Producer. Adult Film Industry.

Faculty

*Leo Ryan. History teacher/politician, 1961.

ee also

*San Mateo County high schools

References

External links

* [http://chs.smuhsd.org/ Official site of Capuchino High School]
* [http://capmustangs.olinesports.com/ Official site of Capuchino High School Sports Program]