San Rafael High School opened in 1888. The school's current campus opened in 1924. 's 1940 statue of Louis Pasteur in stainless steel and granite, said to be the site of the original 1971 420 gatherings. The school is cited as the origin of the time and codeword 420 in cannabis culture; originally "420" served as a code word for "The Waldos", a group of marijuana users who would meet in front of the 1940 Benny Bufano statue of Louis Pasteur at 4:20p.m. to smoke marijuana, both near the statue and at other clandestine locations on campus grounds. The "420" moniker was in widespread use on campus during the 1974-1976 timeframe by the school stoner community. As the usage spread, the original connotations of the term "420" faded away. San Rafael High School served as the setting for the video of the 1984 power ballad "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger. KSRH is the school's radio station, which is completely operated by students. The station broadcasts with 10 watts of power on 88.1 FM and 107.3 Cable FM. The station takes requests during school hours at 457-KSRH. Facilities at the school were upgraded with funds from bond measures passed in 1999 and 2002. Beginning with the 2001-02 school year, San Rafael High School moved to an A/B rotating block schedule. In 2006, the school scored 680 on the Academic Performance Index, the California Department of Education’s program for measuring school accountability. It also passed all Adequate Yearly Performance criteria required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In September 2008, the school served as a primary location for the independent feature filmThe Prankster. School was in session while filming took place and some students and teachers had background roles in the movie. Former principal Judy Colton had a small speaking part with Kurt Fuller, who played Dean Pecarino in the film.
Eleanor Garatti - Swimmer, Olympic Gold Medal winner in 1928 & 1932; 1929 world record in the 100-meter freestyle
Daniel Foley - Associate Justice Palau Supreme Court; former Associate Justice Hawaii Court of Appeals; attorney who brought and won the Hawaii same-sex marriage cases Baehr v Lewin and Baehr v Miike