Tustin High School


Tustin High School is a public high school located in Orange County in the city of Tustin, California, United States. The school's mascot is the Tiller. Tustin High is a part of Tustin Unified School District and was originally established in 1921 as Tustin Union High School.
Tustin High School is a California Distinguished School. In 2015, it was recognized as a California Gold Ribbon School, an award given to top high schools in the state for its academic success, positive school environment, and innovative learning centers. It has been recognized by Newsweek magazine seven years in a row as one of the top 600 public high schools in the United States.

History

Founded in 1921 as Tustin Union High School because it served five elementary districts, Tustin High School was a stately two-story structure surrounded by miles of orange groves and other agri-businesses, thus the school's nickname was the "Tustin Tillers". Tustin High School is the oldest school in the district, with the second oldest built in 1963. The original layout of the school included a neoclassic building with a 1,000 seat auditorium, outdoor Greek theater, domestic science department, mechanical and manual training departments, athletic field and gymnasium. In 1927, a new wing was added, and then a large gymnasium and swimming pool.
The football stadium and 440 track were constructed in the mid-1940s. The stadium and field were later named Northrup Field after Orville Northrup, who taught woodshop and physical education, and served as Principal of Tustin Union High School from 1941 to 1962.
In 1966, the original building was judged to be unsafe in case of an earthquake. It took wreckers 10 days to demolish the structure during July of that year. The old building was replaced with the current facility which, although lacking the charm of the original Tustin Union High School, continues to carry on its excellent traditions, excelling in both sports and academics.
In 1972, the Tustin Union High School District merged with Tustin Elementary School District to create the Tustin Unified School District. Tustin High is a California Distinguished School and has been recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of the top 600 high schools in the nation.
Tustin High School is located on 29 acres of land in the middle of the city of Tustin. Today's campus consists of 22 single-story buildings, a two-story science building and 17 portable classrooms. The campus includes two baseball fields, two softball fields, a discus field and two gymnasiums. It also houses the District football field, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two soccer fields, six tennis courts and a synthetic track and field.

Alma Mater

Our strong bond can ne'er be broken,
Form’d in Tustin High,
Far surpassing wealth unspoken,
Seal’d by friendship's tie.
High school life is best at passing,
Gliding swiftly by,
Then let us pledge in work and deed,
Our love for Tustin High.
Alma Mater, Alma Mater
Deep graven on each heart,
Shall be found unwav’ring true
When we from school shall part.

New campus construction and modernization

In June 2008, the Tustin school board approved a master plan that would guide the possible renovations of Tustin High School or the construction of a new campus. The plan would include a new administration building, a 2-story science center, a sports pavilion, and a two-story performing arts theater and classroom building. The estimated cost of the renovation was put at around $150 million.
The sports pavilion was finished in the summer of 2012, costing $11 million. It seats 2500 students and faculty within 29,000 square feet of space. Amenities include ticket windows, concession stands, foyer, dance room, trophy cases, men's and women's team rooms equipped with smart boards, two professionally sized scoreboards and a drop-down display screen. The new facility houses four-sided bleachers, and can be formatted either as three basketball or volleyball practice courts, or a college sized basketball court or main volleyball court.
In December 2012, reconstruction at Northrup Stadium and swimming complex began. The updated stadium includes a synthetic field, nine-lane synthetic track, concessions building, a 1000-seat visitor bleacher and 1000-seat home bleacher. The new $1.7 million swimming complex includes an Olympic-sized pool, new scoreboard, bleachers, and renovated locker rooms.
In February 2016, Tustin High broke ground on a new humanities building, housing English and language courses. The project is scheduled to be finished for the 2016–2017 school year.

Academics

Tustin High School's academic programs include many AP courses, honors courses, and STEM, alongside normal high school college-prep courses.

MUN

The Tustin High School Model United Nations program is an educational simulation and/or academic competition in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations through conferences with other high school students. Tustin High is the only high school in the district to offer this course.
The THSMUN program hosts an annual two-day novice/advanced conference, usually in late November, and invites high schools across Southern California and also an international group of students. The conference hosts over 50 schools, totaling over 1600 delegates, in many different committees dealing with local and international issues. In 2015, Tustin High hosted its 23rd annual conference.

STEM

The Tustin High School Academy of Technology & Engineering, also known as T-Tech, is a four-year program that emphasizes the STEM fields guided by PLTW. The academy, started in 2010, is known for being one of the premier technical education programs in Orange County. The class of 2015 was its first "complete" class; seniors were awarded special recognition during graduation for their hard work and dedication toward finishing the four-year program.
The Freshmen: Introduction to Engineering course is a hands-on introduction to basic engineering, programming and technology principles in a fun and engaging class.
The Sophomore: Principles of Engineering course is an advanced science and technology curriculum with hands-on lab activities, robotics, and computer simulations.
The Junior: Product Design & Engineering course encompasses 2D drafting, 3D computer-aided design & modeling with SolidWorks, and 3D printing.
Seniors have a choice of two courses for their final year: the capstone Engineering Design & Development course and the Computer Science & Engineering course. The capstone class is a senior product design class that emphasizes advanced engineering skills, communication and teamwork that students have learned in their four-year academic career to solve real-world engineering challenges.
A club is also available during the school year with a centerpiece project being electric cars/go-karts. Along with a full classroom of computers, the program features 3-3D printers, wood and steel engraver, smart boards, and full workshop. All classes in the program are recognized by the UC system as "UC approved" courses.
T-Tech annually competes in the UCI Energy Invitational, a competition among high schools and universities to create vehicles that run on only $1.00 of electricity. Tustin has continuously done well at these competitions, and defeated rival high school Foothill High School in 2015.
T-Tech is proud to be an education partner of the Boeing Company. Each summer, THS chooses six students to participate in this eight-week engineering internship in Boeing's Huntington Beach campus. Only 75 interns from 13 high schools across Orange County are accepted. The Boeing internship is exclusively offered to Tustin High School T-Tech students finishing 11th grade in the Tustin Unified School District.
In 2015, T-Tech was awarded the prestigious Golden Bell Award by the California School Boards Association for its outstanding achievement in STEM fields. In recent years the university acceptance rate for T-Tech seniors has been double that of the average OC high school student. T-Tech alumni currently attend a number of prestigious universities including UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Athletics

The Tillers currently compete in the Empire League of the CIF Southern Section, ap art of the California Interscholastic Federation. The athletics programs has accumulated 131 league titles and 11 CIF-SS Championships as of 2015. League teams include:
Tustin High School offers 16 different sports, in 26 teams.
Fall:
Winter:
Spring:
In 2008, Tustin High School had six players in the NFL at one time, tied with Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the most in the United States. These players were Sam Baker, Beau Bell , Chris Chester, DeShaun Foster, Matt McCoy, and Frostee Rucker. The totals were based on the 1,693-man 2008 NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters.
Since 1996, Tustin has won 10 league titles, and has gone to 10 CIF semifinals and 4 finals appearances.
On December 10, 2011, Tustin defeated the El Toro Chargers in the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game at Anaheim Stadium, their first CIF Championship since 1948.
Since the school's rivalry started with Foothill High School in 1966, Tustin trails with a record of 23-29-1.
Tustin High, as part of the National Football League Super Bowl High School Honor Roll Program, was awarded a coveted Golden Football for its impact on Super Bowl history. The program recognizes each high school that has had one of their alumni participate or play in a Super Bowl. DeShaun Foster, a running back for THS from 1994 to 1998, participated in Super Bowl XXXVIII with the Carolina Panthers in 2004.

Men's basketball

The Tiller men's basketball team is the reigning Empire League champions, with a perfect league record of 10-0. They have won the league title in three of the past four years. During the 2012-13 season, the team set a school record for wins in a season with 31. That same season, the Tillers defeated Royal High School in the Division 3AAA finals, with their final ranking being 27th in California and 167th in the nation. The following season, after being raised to Division 2A, the team made it to the semi-finals, only to be defeated by Calabasas High School 56-49. For the 2014–2015 season, again being raised to Division 1A, the team pushed far into the postseason, reaching the semi-finals again, but being defeated by Village Christian Schools 58-44. The team has also qualified for the state playoffs twice, in the 2012–2013 season, when they made it to the second round, and the 2013–2014 season, losing in the first round.

School championships

**No longer a sport offered

*Finalist / runner-up

Notable alumni

Sports