Fullerton Union High School
| Official name | Fullerton Union High School |
| Established | 1893 |
| Principals | Cathy Gach |
| Location | 201 East Chapman Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92832 |
| Website | www.FullertonHigh.org] |
| Enrollment | |
| Mascot | |
| School Colors | |
| District | Fullerton Joint Union |
| Motto | |
Fullerton High School is a high school located in the Orange County, California city of Fullerton, United States. Its current principal is Cathy "the Gach-inator" Gach.
History
In 1893 a special election was held to create Fullerton Union High School. The school's first classroom, a rented room on the second floor of the Fullerton Elementary School building, was adequate to house the eight pupils, which constituted the first year's enrollment and the 32 books which made up the library. The high school was the first in Orange County.
In 1908, FUHS's enrollment was increasing at the rate of 18 percent a year. To accommodate the growth, the school was moved to new quarters on West Commonwealth Avenue, an area now known as Amerige Park.
School enrollment continued to grow and within two years a new polytechnic building was built to ease the overcrowding. But on November 17, 1910, the day before it could be occupied, the older FUHS building burned to the ground. FUHS was housed in the polytechnic building and four tents that year. After the fire, the school's trustees debated the best location for rebuilding. The district owned the ground on which the polytechnic building stood, but the campus was small, and school work was disrupted by the numerous Santa Fe trains that roared by each day.
In 1911, the present site was purchased one block east of Harbor Boulevard. A walnut orchard was removed prior to building, and the former site was sold to the City of Fullerton for use as a park.
The school's facilities have changed over the years to meet educational and community needs. Plummer Auditorium's original ironwork, which was made by students on the campus, was kept when Plummer was refurbished and remodeled to meet earthquake standards in 1972 (the first class to use the auditorium for Bacculaureate was the Class of '72). Since then the stadium, locker rooms, and the agriculture complex have been rebuilt. The latest replacement was the swimming pool. Renovations of Plummer Auditorium were recently completed, and the Charles Kassler fresco "Pastoral California" was uncovered and completely restored in 1997.
The school complex which makes up Fullerton Union High, Plummer Auditorium, and Fullerton College have a maze of tunnels underneath, which have been enjoyed covertly and recreationally by generations of FUHS students.
Athletics
Fullerton's sports teams are known as the Indians, and are members of the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section. They compete in the Freeway League against the other five high schools in the district.
Fullerton's athletics success dates back to 1919, when they won the 1918 CIF football championship in a game that was delayed for months due to the flu epidemic. They won more football championships in 1927 and 1984. Their football team scored 109 points in a game against Anaheim in 1921, a mark which remains an Orange County record. In 2007 the football went to the CIF finals and lost to La Habra
Later on in 1919, Fullerton won the baseball championship. They would win it again in 1927 and 1978, and were runners-up in 1925, 1929, 1954, 1955, and 1982.
In the 1930s, Fullerton's swimming program had one of the early dynasties in the region and formed an intense rivalry with Long Beach Poly. The Indians prevailed in the championship meet in 1931, 1935, and 1936, but finished runner-up to the Jackrabbits in 1932, 1933, and 1937. There was no championship in 1934. Fullerton would return to the top in the 1960s, winning four consecutive titles from 1963 to 1966.
The water polo team was dominant in the 1930s, winning eight championships: 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1939, and 1940.
Fullerton High has also found success in Basketball winning the Freeway League Championship in 2007.Coach Bill Czech has coached at Fullerton for over a decade.
Alma Mater
(to the tune of "Aloha")
We are proud of all thy prowess, Fullerton
And we thy colors bravely bear.
We will be thy loyal subjects ever;
Joy and grief we alike will with thee share.
Oh F.H.S. thy name we love,
And ever staunch and true you'll find us;
Notable alumni
- Ryan S. Smith
- President Richard Nixon (for two years)
- Walter Johnson, major league baseball player
- Hoby Brenner, former NFL player
- Leo Fender, inventor of the electric guitar
- Jim Norton, former AFL safety
The FUHS Alumni Website has more information.