Lowell High School is probably the most talked-about public school in San Francisco. The school says it was founded in 1856 and is the oldest public high school west of the Mississippi. If you have an eighth grader, the tour season is now.

From a church on Powell Street

In 1853, Col. Thomas J. Nevins, San Francisco's first superintendent of schools, proposed a free high school. The Board of Education approved a "San Francisco High School and Ladies' Seminary" in July 1856, then rescinded it six days later because a high school couldn't legally be part of the city's common schools. Renaming it the Union Grammar School got around the objection.

The school opened Aug. 25, 1856, in rented space at a Wesleyan Methodist church on Powell Street between Clay and Sacramento, according to Wikipedia. In 1864 the board split students into a Boys' High School and a Girls' High School. In 1894 the boys' school was renamed for poet James Russell Lowell, partly because more girls were taking its college-prep classes.

Three moves

  • 1856-1913: Downtown, starting on Powell Street
  • 1913-1962: A full block on Hayes Street between Ashbury and Masonic
  • 1962-today: The current campus near Lake Merced, south of Parkside and west of Stonestown

Admission

Most SFUSD high schools use a lottery or attendance areas. Lowell uses merit-based admission. Applicants submit standardized test scores from the previous school year and a writing supplement. Lowell previously required an entrance exam, but that was waived in 2021. Wikipedia notes that the school later brought back test scores after academic performance declined.

SFUSD's school page says Lowell has been named a National Blue Ribbon School four times and a California Distinguished School eight times.

Debates over the name and mascot

Lowell's mascot was the Indian until 1988, when Superintendent Ramon Cortines ordered a change. In 2020, Lowell was one of 44 SFUSD schools a committee flagged for possible renaming because of James Russell Lowell's documented racist views. Opponents pointed to his abolitionist and anti-war writing.

Touring this fall

According to Lowell's SFUSD page, tour sign-ups are open from Oct. 6 through Dec. 11, 2026. The page also links to the school's 2026-27 events calendar. Mission High is another historic SFUSD high school on families' lists.