South Pasadena High School is the one public high school serving grades 9-12 in the city of South Pasadena, California. With the South Pasadena Middle School and three elementary schools it makes up the South Pasadena Unified School District.Established in 1906, it is the first and only public high school in South Pasadena. The campus is situated on the west side of the city on Fremont Avenue. The school is composed of several main academic buildings, a performing arts auditorium, a swimming pool, three sets of tennis courts, two indoor gymnasiums, a 400-m outdoor track, and three athletic fields. The school's motto is "Scholarship, Leadership, Strength, and Fair Play." The school colors are orange and black, and the mascot is a tiger.HistorySPHS opened in 1906 after South Pasadena residents approved a measure to construct a public high school. Until 1955, South Pasadena High School was known as South Pasadena-San Marino High School and served both cities. San Marino opened their own high school in 1955.In 2003, SPHS dedicated a concrete wall honoring former superintendent George C. Bush, who was murdered in 1940 by administrator Verlin Spencer. It was later determined that Verlin Spencer was high on prescription pain killers. A patio dedicated to Bush stood on the campus until the school was rebuilt in 2000.In 2005, SPHS students and faculty successfully saved principal Janet Anderson from reassignment, proposed by then-superintendent Rob Arias. Anderson had been principal of SPHS since 2001. Arias originally reassigned Anderson to a nearby elementary school. On March 18, 2005, faculty picketed outside of school, protesting the reassignments before school and students walked out of class to protest the reassignments as well. The Board of Education repealed the reassignments, leading to the resignation of Arias. Two school board members, both of whom favored the reassignments, were voted out months later in an election.
