History of Ravenswood HS

Ravenswood High School was a public high school located in East Palo Alto, California. Opened in 1958, it served the East Palo Alto area of San Mateo County California until its closure in 1976. In 1958 its enrollment was 629 students. East Palo Alto was the low income area in the shadow of its more affluent neighbors of Menlo Park, Atherton and Palo Alto. Ravenswood was part of the Sequoia Union High School District which serves the southern San Mateo County cities of Belmont, Redwood City, San Carlos, and Woodside.

Ravenswood High School

Location: East Palo Alto, California United States

Public High School

Opened: 1958

Closed: 1976

Sequoia Union High School District

Enrollment 823 (1974)

Color: Blue and Gold

Mascot: Trojan

Yearbook Argonaut

During the early 1960s, the enrollment in the school increased from initially less than 800 to over 1,200 students. Due to white flight, 60 percent of the student population was African American. The next decade continued this trend. Almost a decade after Brown v. Board of Education decision, the conditions at the school drew the attention of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In the early 1970s, the school board instituted a district wide busing program to increase the diversity of all its high schools. This was successful for a few years, but by the mid­-70's volunteer students wishing to attend Ravenswood became harder to find. Enrollment declined and facing the financial burden of keeping the school alive, Ravenswood was closed in 1976. The location was demolished in 1995 to make room for the Ravenswood 101 Shopping Center.