Aragon High School

Aragon High School
The main entrance of Aragon High School.
Address
900 Alameda de las Pulgas San Mateo , California 94402 United States
Coordinates	37°33′02″N 122°19′46″W
Information
Type	Public secondary
Established	1961[1]
NCES School ID	063498005919[2]
Principal	Michael Jones
Faculty	78.05 (on an FTE basis)[2]
Grades	9–12
Number of students	1,686 (2023–24)[2]
Student to teacher ratio	21.60[2]
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Scarlet and black
Athletics conference	CIF Central Coast Section
Mascot	Don
Rival	Hillsdale High School
Newspaper	Aragon Outlook[3]
Yearbook	El Tesoro
Website	Main Athletics Hall of Fame

Aragon High School is a public co-educational high school in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD).^[4] It is located in San Mateo County, a large suburb just outside San Francisco. The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).^[5]

History

Aragon High School was established in 1961 to accommodate development and population growth in San Mateo. The campus is located in the affluent Foothill Terrace neighborhood^[6] to the north of State Route 92 and west of State Route 82 (El Camino Real), on the border with the town of Hillsborough.

Campus

Aragon's campus surrounds a grassy center court, which is also home to the school's swimming pool. The main office, attendance office, and guidance, college, and career center are located west of center court. To the north and south are A-E halls, which contain a majority of the classrooms. To the east are the school's two gyms. In 2012, the Career Technical Education (CTE) building was completed, which houses biotech labs, a robotics shop, and a media arts classroom.^[7] In 2013, a new 600-seat theater was completed.^[8] Aragon's campus includes eight tennis courts, softball field, baseball field, track and football field, and two basketball courts.

Statistics

Demographics

2023–2024^[2]

• 1,686 students: 53.3% male, 46.7% female

Asian	Hispanic	White	Two or more races	Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Black	American Indian/Alaska Native
569	450	434	186	35	9	0
33.7%	26.7%	25.7%	11%	2.1%	0.5%	0%

Approximately 14.8% of the students at Aragon are served by the free or reduced-price lunch program.^[2]

Standardized testing

SAT scores for 2014–2015 [9]
	Critical Reading average	Math average	Writing average
Aragon High	567	581	572
District	544	570	544
Statewide	489	500	484

2013 Academic Performance Index
2009 Base API [10]	2013 Growth API [11]	Growth in the API from 2009 to 2013
822	849	27

Rankings

Aragon High School has been recognized nationally for its academic excellence. In 2015 it was ranked the 100th best public high school in the country by Newsweek.^[12] In 2013 U.S. News & World Report ranked it 379th nationally.^[13] In 2012 it was ranked 689th nationally by The Washington Post.^[14]

Notable alumni

• Robert Bazell: 1963, chief NBC science and health correspondent^[15]
• Linda Bilmes: 1976, Harvard professor at the Kennedy School of Government^[16]
• Ted Chen: 1984, reporter and weekend anchor, KNBC Channel 4, Los Angeles
• Justin Christian: 1998, former Major League Baseball player^[17]
• James P. Connolly, comedian; TV and radio host
• Steve Gibson: Software engineer and IT security journalist^[18]
• Ann Kiyomura: Wimbledon ladies' doubles tennis champion^[19][20][21]
• Brad Lewis: 1976, Academy Award winner for producing Ratatouille; former mayor of San Carlos, California
• Natalie Nunn: 2003, one of the Bad Girls Club girls, Season 4 (Episodes 1–11)^[22]
• Darick Robertson: comic book artist for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Malibu Comics, and Acclaim Comics;^{[23][24][25][26]} designed and drew the mascot, in 1984, that Aragon is using to this day^{[citation needed]}
• Neal Schon: guitarist for Santana and Journey^[27]
• Kristen Sze: News anchor for KGO-TV in San Francisco
• Manase Tonga: 2002, former National Football League and United Football League fullback^[28]
• Matangi Tonga: former Arena Football League and National Football League linebacker
• Sam Tuivailala, 2010: Major League Baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners^[29]
• DJ Vlad: 1991, interviewer, journalist, YouTuber, and former disc jockey^{[citation needed]}
• Eddie Williams: 2005, former National Football League fullback^[30][31]
• Pegi Young: 1971, singer, songwriter, environmentalist and co-founder of the Bridge School^[32]
• Joshua Yuan: 2021, United States Olympic badminton player^[33]

See also

• San Mateo County high schools

References

1. "Visiting Committee Report for Aragon High School" (PDF). San Mateo Union High School District. March 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
2. "Search for Public Schools - Aragon High School (063498005919)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
3. Aragon Outlook
4. "San Mateo Union High School District: Our Schools". Archived from the original on 2009-12-30. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
5. "Western Association of Schools & Colleges - WASC ACS - Directory of Schools". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
6. "Foothill Terrace". Archived from the original on 2007-08-08.
7. "Aragon High School CTE Building | ZFA Structural Engineers". ZFA Structural Engineers. Archived from the original on 2017-04-02. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
8. Designs, School. "Aragon High School Theater - Project Details". schooldesigns.com. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
9. "SAT Report - 2014-15 District Level Scores". California Department of Education. Retrieved September 26, 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
10. "2010 Growth API School Report - Aragon High". Archived from the original on 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
11. "2013 Growth API School Report - Aragon High".
12. "America's Top High Schools 2015". Newsweek.
13. "Best High Schools-2013". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 2016-03-20.
14. "The High School Challenge-2012". The Washington Post.
15. "Public School Review: Aragon High School". Public School Review. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
16. Lempert, Sue. "A new political star, bafflement in Belmont". The Daily Journal. Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
17. "Justin Christian Stats - ESPN". Espn.go.com. 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2014-08-17.
18. "Security Now! Transcript of Episode #281".
19. "ANN KIYOMURA HAYASHI". Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
20. "CIF/CENTRAL COAST SECTION ATHLETIC ALUMNI" (PDF). November 23, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-29. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
21. Mitch Stephens (April 24, 2004). "Aragon tennis star keeps it all in the family / Hayashi draws from Mom's court success". SFGate. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
22. "Natalie Nunn Bio - University of Southern California Official Athletic Site". Usctrojans.com. 1984-12-26. Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2014-08-17.
23. Bill Mitchel (August 28, 2009). "IN-DEPTH: Darick Robertson". Archived from the original on 18 January 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
24. "Darick Robertson". goodreads.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
25. Rik Offenberger. "Darick Robertson: Clawing His Way To The Top". comicsbulletin.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
26. "Dynamite's Star-Studded SDCC Plans". newsarama.com. July 21, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
27. "Neal Schon Q and A". schonmusic.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
28. "Pro Day". KSL. April 24, 2010. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.]
29. Versatile Aragon athlete Sam Tuivailala may blaze trail in baseball
30. "San Mateo County prep notebook: PAL celebrates trifecta payout in". Oakland Tribune. April 27, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009. ^{[dead link‍]}
31. Will McCulloch (May 2, 2009). "Ex-SI CCSF quarterback Lee impresses Nebraska coaches". SFGate. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
32. Sam Whiting (January 4, 2019). "Pegi Young, singer and co-founder of Bridge School, dies of cancer". SFChronicle.com.
33. Dong, Andrew (September 19, 2024). "Aragon graduate Joshua Yuan competes at Paris Olympics". Aragon Outlook. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-30.

External links

• Aragon's homepage
• Aragon High School athletics
• Aragon High School student newspaper (Outlook)
• Great Schools profile