Galileo Academy of Science and Technology
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Galileo Academy of Science and Technology (formerly Galileo High School) is a public secondary school located in San Francisco's Russian Hill and Marina District neighborhoods. The school is a part of the San Francisco Unified School District.
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About Galileo
- Galileo Academy of Science & Technology is located in the historic north end of San Francisco, and was originally built in 1921.
- Galileo currently has a staff of more than 100 and serves more than 2,000 students.
- The lion is the official mascot of Galileo. In Latin, Galileo means "Gallic Lion." Thus, in sports and other inter-school activities the team members are known as the Galileo Lions.
- The official school colors are Purple and Gold, although gold was replaced by orange for a period of time.
- The school is commonly known as just "Gal" or "G-House".
- It is the only Bay Area school with its own observatory.
- Galileo is California's first blogging school Template:Citation needed.
- Galileo received the 2005 California Distinguished School Award along with the 2005 CTE Award - one of the very few schools that were awarded this.
- The school motto is "Eppure si muove." Latin for "And yet it moves." As the story goes, Galileo was told to deny his scientific findings that the earth moved, or be punished - so he did as he was ordered. But on his way out he mumbled to himself, "And yet it moves."
History
On December 10, 1920, Major Joseph P Nourse, who had been actively engaged in educational work in the city for many years, became the first principal of Galileo High School. Throughout the summer, carpenters were busy converting the Red Cross Building, located on Fulton Street near the Civic Center. On August 1, 1921, Galileo High School welcomed its student body into the remodeled facilities. The ceremony of "breaking ground" for the new building occurred on November 4, 1921 ' Dedication of the Van Ness Building took place on March 30, 1924. At the same time, plans were underway for a new wing which would double the capacity of the school.
Back in the 1920's, the Galileo High School building was considered an outstanding example of modern architecture. Planned with the idea of housing one of the best educational institutions in the country, it was equipped to offer the highest type of academic curriculum in addition to training in commercial and technical branches.
During the 1970s, Galileo went through an extensive seismic retrofit where most, if not all, student facilities were moved across the street onto Fort Mason. Before the seismic retrofit, there were rumors that the Galileo campus would permanently be moved onto the Fort Mason site. Though the student population, then, did not indicate whether the move and larger facilities would be justified, the land that Galileo sits on was quite valuable, which could have made the move plausible. It can not be said whether this rumor is true, but can only be verified with the staff and faculty who worked at the school during that time.
Since school year 1995-96, Galileo has transformed itself to the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology. The new program provides students with five career pathways in biological science, environmental science, space science/aeronautics, computer science/engineering technology, and creative media technology.
Location
1150 Francisco Street, San Francisco, CA Aerial View
Galileo is located in the Marina district with nearby bus stops including the 19, 28, 30, 47, 49, and more. Less than half of the students reside near the school, but school buses are provided by the district for transportation. Facilities include:
- 4-story Western Wing
- 5-story Easten Wing
- 1 Observatory
- 5 Computer Labs
- Schoolwide surveillence
- 3 Gymnasiums
- 2 Basketball courts
- 1 Tennis court
- 1 Football Field
Football
Largely due to the fame of former football player and actor O.J. Simpson, Galileo Academy is known well for its football team. While Galileo has not been the best football team within the school district, it is still a powerful force. Galileo's arch enemy is reputed to be the Eagles of George Washington High School, though the Cardinals of Lowell High School have been a rising challenge.
The football field that dominates the second block of Galileo was formely named in honor of O.J. Simpson. After the infamous trial, the football field was subsequently renamed to George White Field. The two twin apartment buildings that face the northern side of the football field are the Fontana buildings. The design of the twin buildings were actually built to echo and magnify the sounds of the football games.
Reputation
Galileo was previously known for having a bad reputation with low test scores and criminal events occurring in school, but for the last two years it has been the most improving school in San Francisco (see Academic Performance Index below). The administration has taken a harsh stance against criminal acts at Galileo and they have since declined as a serious issue. Math scores remain one of Galileo's best academic strengths. Galileo's reputation is rising due to its academics, its technology inside the school, and assignment of many incoming freshmen from high-standing middle schools. It has risen to become one of the better schools in the SFUSD.
Tardy Policy
On January 30, 2006, Galileo's administration introduced a new tardy policy. The policy forces any student that is late, after 8:00 a.m., to their first class to report to the attendance office. Any student that doesn't have their school I.D. on them is forced to pay $2 for a replacement, although the student may have original somewhere else. Though this new policy is used as a deterrent from being tardy, it has brought much controversy, to teachers and students alike. Teachers and students have complained of how a student will arrive at 8:01 a.m., but will not actually arrive for class for atleast another half an hour. The administration wholly underestimated the large number of students who are late every day, which caused the extremely long wait for a tardy slip. Lines will stretch from the attendance office and round the entire length of the auditorium. Though the policy is a decent step to deter tardiness, it may still require some more planning. Some students also believe this policy is unfair because they live far away from Galileo. For the last 2-3 years Galileo has been getting a lot of students who are far away from the school (example: the Richmond and Sunset districts). In turn they did not get a neighborhood school and are forced to travel a long distance to get to school. It is difficult for them sometimes to get to school by 8:00 because they live so far away.
JROTC
Galileo's Army JROTC Battalion, top notch battalion out of 7 battalions that make up San Franciscos JROTC Brigade, Honor Unit with Distinction
Instructors: SAI: LTC M.Thore
AI:SFC S.Hardee
Galileo's JROTC has many award winning teams such as:
(Most Recent Placings as of Fall Competition 2005)
Color Gaurd-1st Place
Drill Platoon-2nd
Girls Drill Team -2nd
Drum Corps-3rd
Boys Drill Team-2nd
Raiders Team-3rd
Squad Drill-2nd
Cadet Challenge
Guidon-3rd
Galileo JROTC is seen often in various parades (Columbus, Veterans, Lunar, etc.) Marching down. and competes every year in two major SFUSD Brigade Competitions ;Fall Competition and
Spring Competition which is also known as 91st.
Academic Performance Index (API)
Comparison By Years (Galileo)
The Academic Performance Index of Galileo High School has since been steadily improving and in the last two years it has risen to become one of the top schools in San Francisco in terms of API scores.
| Score Type | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schoolwide API | 606 | 674 | 744 |
| API Statewide Rank | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| API Similar Schools Rank | 2 | 8 | 9 |
Comparison with other San Francisco high schools (2004-2005)
| Score Type | Lowell | Washington | Lincoln | Galileo | Wallenberg | Burton |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schoolwide API | 946 | 781 | 772 | 744 | 726 | 701 |
| API Statewide Rank | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| API Similar Schools Rank | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
Student population
- 2005-2006:
- 2050 students; M/F (57.1/42.9)
- Ethnic profile:
| Latino | White | African-American | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | American Indian | Filipino | Other Non-White | Declined to State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.8% | 5.1% | 9.4% | 51.1% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 6.2% | 12.1% | 0.9% |