Wilbur Cross High School


Wilbur Cross High School is a four-year public high school in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving ninth through twelfth grades. The school is named after Connecticut Governor Wilbur Lucius Cross and is the largest school in the New Haven Public Schools in the number of students as well as teachers. The school operates with two semesters and four marking periods.
The school was founded in 1920 as Commercial High School, taking over the vocational education components that had been included in Hillhouse High School. Commercial became a comprehensive school in 1949 and was renamed in memory of Governor Cross in 1950.

Advanced Placement

Wilbur Cross High School offers 15 Advanced Placement Classes: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Government & Politics: U.S., English Language & Composition, English Literature & Composition, Music Theory, Physics 1, Psychology, Spanish Language, Statistics, and U.S. History. In 2011 the school administered 360 exams to 180 students. Students are required to take the exams. The exam fee is covered by the school district.

Athletics

Wilbur Cross's mascot is the Governors, in recognition of the school's namesake. They compete in the Oronoque Division of the Southern Connecticut Conference. These sports are offered:

Fall

The school's teams have a long tradition of success on the basketball court. At one time, Cross teams were regular participants in the New England Tournament, an event at the Boston Garden in which high school teams played before crowds of up to 15,000. However, Connecticut withdrew from the tournament after riots broke out in 1958 during the tournament final between Wilbur Cross and a Somerville, Massachusetts team. New Haven high schools dominated Connecticut high school basketball in the 1960s, when games were televised or held at the old New Haven Arena because the high school gyms were too small to accommodate the fans. Cross High School and cross-town rival Hillhouse High School won the state championship in nine of ten years of the decade of the 1960s. One of the stars of the late 1960s teams, John "Super John" Williamson, averaged nearly 40 points per game for the Governors in 1970 and went to play college ball at New Mexico State University and star as a pro in the American Basketball Association. In the 1973-1974 season The Washington Post ranked Cross the No. 1 high school team in the nation and a headline in the New York Post proclaimed Cross "The Best High School Team in the World" after the Governors defeated New York City's DeWitt Clinton High School team. The 1999-2000 team was considered the state's best, with a 24-0 record, until being upset by Bridgeport Central High School in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
The 2007-2008 team had an undefeated regular season, going 20-0. The Governors won the division, the SCC tournament, and the BABC Holiday Classic, but lost to Lyman Hall by three points in the quarter-finals of the state tournament.

Other sports

The boys' soccer team won its division and advanced to the final 16 of the state championship in 2007. The boys' indoor track team finished second in Connecticut, also in the 2007-2008 year.
The football team plays Hillhouse High School every year on Thanksgiving in the Elm City Bowl in an annual game that dates back to 1920.

Notable alumni