Sunset High School (Hayward, California)

Sunset High School was a public high school in Hayward, California, United States. It opened in 1959 and was closed in 1990. The campus now contains the Hayward Adult School vocational school, and Thomas Brenkwitz Continuation high school, both part of the Hayward Unified School District.

Sunset High School
Address
22100 Princeton Street Hayward , California 94541 United States
Coordinates	37°40′19″N 122°5′55″W
Information
Type	Public
Established	1959
Closed	1990
School district	Hayward Unified School District
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Red and gold
Team name	Falcons
Yearbook	Aquila

The Sunset High School campus is just west of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) tracks, about one-half-mile north of the main Hayward BART station. There is a view of the playing fields and the back part of the campus from BART trains.

History

At its creation in 1959, Sunset High School was part of the Hayward Union High School District, and continued to be until 1963, when that district was dissolved and all of its high schools became part of smaller unified school districts.[1][2] At that time, Sunset High School became part of the Hayward Unified School District.

On September 25, 1959, the newly chartered State College for Alameda County – now California State University, East Bay – welcomed its first 293 students to classes in temporary quarters at Sunset High School.[3] The high school was able to share space with the college because, during the 1959–1960 school year, the high school consisted of only the 9th and 10th grades. September 1961 was the first time Sunset had all four high school classes.

In the summer of 1966, runners from the track team got together and ran a continuous relay around the clock with the goal of beating Tennyson's high school world record of a little over 4,000 miles completed in the summer of 1965. After 52 days, Sunset High School did set a world record of 10,035 1/2 miles of non stop running. Each of the 24 runners ran one hour each.

In 1970, social studies students at Sunset High School researched and wrote the book A History of Hayward.[4]

The school closed in 1990.

Principals of Sunset High School

• 1959–1961 – Blanche G. Sullivan[5]
• 1961–1962 – Norman J. Sanders
• 1962–1976 – Nels B. Nelson
• 1976–1990 – Larry Ratto[6] (Sunset closed in 1990)

Notable alumni and teachers

• Lewis Feldman, professor of plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley; class of 1963
• Ed Galigher, former professional football player who played for the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets; class of 1968
• Bud Harrelson, former Major League Baseball shortstop and New York Mets coach and manager and Mets Hall of Famer; class of 1962[7][8]
• Maxine Hong Kingston, taught English and mathematics at Sunset, 1965–1967; later became a famous author[9]
• James R. Lambden, judge on the California First District Court of Appeal; class of 1968[10][11]
• Dave Maggard, former Olympian and university athletic director; head track coach at Sunset, 1964–1966[12]
• Ed Sprague Sr., former professional baseball pitcher; class of 1963[13]

See also

• Alameda County High Schools
• San Lorenzo Unified School District, which operates the similarly named continuation high school in the Hayward area, Royal Sunset High School

References

1. "History of School District Organization in California". California Department of Education. February 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
2. Marciel, Doris. "History". San Lorenzo, California: San Lorenzo High School. Retrieved May 24, 2011. the HUHS District ... became three unified districts in 1963
3. Building Healthy Communities — A Lasting Legacy by Mohammad "Mo" Qayoumi (President of California State University, East Bay), from "Cal State East Bay Magazine", Fall 2009, page 3
4. McDow, Mildred, A History of Hayward – Hayward, CA: Young Historians, 1970. 1st ed. 195 pages. Hardcover
5. "Educator Blanche G. Sullivan Rites Set". Oakland Tribune. October 13, 1966. p. 16. Archived from the original on July 17, 2013. In 1958 she was appointed principal of Sunset High School where she served until her retirement in 1961. (obituary)
6. Stark, Pete (July 11, 2001). "In Recognition of Educator Larry Ratto". Congressional Record. United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved July 15, 2013. In 1971, Larry became vice principal at Hayward High School and five years later he led as principal of Sunset High School until it closed in 1990.
7. "A Crowd Pleaser, Harrelson Has a Bit of Fire" by Robert McG. Thomas Jr., The New York Times, May 30, 1990
8. "The New Generation at Shortstop" by Charles Dexter, from Baseball Digest, September 1967, page 5
9. "Maxine Hong Kingston: Chronology". eNotes. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2014. 1965–1967: Kingston teaches English and mathematics at Sunset High School in Hayward, California. She is active in the protest movement against the Vietnam War.
10. "James R. Lambden – Associate Justice, First Appellate District". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 13, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2013. Sunset High School, Hayward, California
11. "James Lambden". Judgepedia. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2013. James R. Lambden is a judge on the First District, Second Division of the California Courts of Appeal.
12. "Sunset High Hires Maggard". Oakland Tribune. April 23, 1964. p. 40. Retrieved July 17, 2013. Former University of California athlete Dave Maggard has been hired by Sunset High of Hayward to take over the position of head track and cross country coach.
13. "Sprague suffers knee injury". Daily Review. Hayward, California. June 4, 1975. p. 39. Retrieved July 17, 2013. But Sprague, a Sunset High alum, ...

External links

• Hayward Adult School website