Galileo Academy of Science and Technology

Galileo Academy of Science and Technology (formerly Galileo High School) is a public secondary school located in San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood. The school is a part of the San Francisco Unified School District.

**Galileo Academy of Science and Technology**
File:Galileo Academy Seal.gif © Galileo Academy of Science and Technology
Motto: Eppure si muove (Latin: And yet it moves)
Principal	Margaret Chiu
School type	Public
Religious affiliation	None
Founded	1921
Location	San Francisco, California
Enrollment	2050
Faculty	110
Campus surroundings	Urban
Sports teams	Galileo Lions
Mascot	Lion

About Galileo

Galileo Academy of Science & Technology is an academic high school in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. Its district is the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Located in the historic north end of The City, Galileo was originally built in 1921.

Galileo currently has a staff of more than 100 and serves more than 2,000 students.

The lion is the official mascot of Galileo. In Latin, Galileo means "Gallic Lion." Thus, in sports and other inter-school activities the team members are known as the Galileo Lions.

The official school colors are Purple and Gold, although gold was replaced by orange for a period of time.

The school is commonly known as just "Gal" or "G-House".

It is the only Bay Area school with its own observatory.

Galileo is California's first blogging school.

Galileo received the 2005 California Distinguished School Award along with the 2005 CTE Award - one of the very few schools that were awarded this.

The school motto is "Eppure si muove." Latin for "And yet it moves." As the story goes, Galileo was told to deny his scientific findings that the earth moved, or be punished - so he did as he was ordered. But on his way out he mumbled to himself, "And yet it moves."

History

On December 10, 1920, Major Joseph P Nourse, who had been actively engaged in educational work in the city for many years, became the first principal of Galileo High School. Throughout the summer, carpenters were busy converting the Red Cross Building, located on Fulton Street near the Civic Center. On August 1, 1921, Galileo High School welcomed its student body into the remodeled facilities. The ceremony of "breaking ground" for the new building occurred on November 4, 1921 ' Dedication of the Van Ness Building took place on March 30, 1924. At the same time, plans were underway for a new wing which would double the capacity of the school.

Back in the 1920's, the Galileo High School building was considered an outstanding example of modern architecture. Planned with the idea of housing one of the best educational institutions in the country, it was equipped to offer the highest type of academic curriculum in addition to training in commercial and technical branches.

During the 1970's, Galileo went through an extensive seismic retrofit where most, if not all, student facilities were moved across the street onto Fort Mason. Before the seismic retrofit, there were rumors that the Galileo campus would permanantly be moved onto the Fort Mason site. Though the student population, then, did not indicate whether the move and larger facilities would be justified, the land that Galileo sits on was quite valuable, which could have made the move plausible. It can not be said whether this rumor is true, but can only be verified with the staff and faculty who worked at the school during that time.

Since school year 1995-96, Galileo has transformed itself to the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology. The new program provides students with five career pathways in biological science, environmental science, space science/aeronautics, computer science/engineering technology, and creative media technology.

Location

1150 Francisco Street, San Francisco, CA Aerial View

File:GalileoFront.jpg

Front view.

Galileo is located in the Marina district with nearby bus stops including the 19, 28, 30, 47, 49, and more. Less than half of the students reside near the school, but school buses are provided by the district for transportation. Facilities include:

4-story Western Wing
5-story Easten Wing
1 Observatory
5 Computer Labs
Schoolwide surveillence
3 Gymnasiums
2 Basketball courts
1 Tennis court
1 Football Field

Football

Largely due to the fame of former football player and actor O.J. Simpson, Galileo Academy is known well for its football team. While Galileo has not been the best football team within the school district, it is still a powerful force. Galileo's arch enemy is reputed to be the Eagles of George Washington High School, though the Cardinals of academic powerhouse Lowell High School have been a rising challenge.

The football field that dominates the second block of Galileo was formely named in honor of O.J. Simpson. After the infamous trial, the football field was subsequently renamed to George White Field. The two twin apartment buildings that face the northern side of the football field are the Fontana buildings. The design of the twin buildings were actually built to echo and magnify the sounds of the football games.

Reputation

Galileo was previously known for having a bad reputation with low test scores and criminal events occuring in school, but for the last two years it has been the most improving school in San Francisco (see Academic Performance Index below). The administration has taken a harsh stance against criminal acts at Galileo and have since declined as a serious issue. Math scores remain one of Galileo's best academic strengths. Galileo's reputation is rising due to its academics and its technology inside the school. It has risen to become one of the better schools in the San Francisco Unified School District.

Miscellaneous

Common places where students eat: Cafe Le, First Cup, Chestnut Diner, and In-N-Out. Though the close proximity of these places, students are still willing to travel slightly further to eat at: McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell.

Academic Performance Index (API)

Comparison By Years (Galileo)

The Academic Performance Index of Galileo High School has since been steadily improving and in the last two years it has risen to become one of the top schools in San Francisco in terms of API scores.

Score Type	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005
Schoolwide API	616	673	743
API Statewide Rank	3	6	6
API Similar Schools Rank	1	8	8

Comparison with other San Francisco high schools (2004-2005)

Score Type	Lowell	Washington	Lincoln	Galileo	Wallenberg	Burton
Schoolwide API	946	781	772	743	726	701
API Statewide Rank	10	9	9	6	7	5
API Similar Schools Rank	10	7	9	8	6	8

Student population

2005-2006:
- 2050 students; M/F (57.1/42.9)
- Ethnic profile:

Latino	White	African-American	Chinese	Japanese	Korean	American Indian	Filipino	Other Non-White	Declined to State
12.8%	5.1%	9.4%	51.1%	0.9%	1.1%	0.4%	6.2%	12.1%	0.9%