UC High has been around for ages. Decade after decade, students just like us have cycled through their four years of high school around the same buildings. How has this school changed over that time? Luckily enough, many alumni have continued to stay involved in the local community.
While the school first opened just over 40 years ago in 1981, the school’s history spans even further back. According to the district website, “The San Diego Unified School District chose the site for University City High School back in 1962, but saw many layers of difficulty with design plans and funding.” Despite obstacles, the plans for the school were brought to fruition, resulting in a “…champagne reception attended by hundreds of University City High School supporters” (sandiegounified.org). Grounded in community support, the school has only grown.
Class of 1994 Alumna PE Coach Kelsey Jenkins is another former student, one who has found her way back to UC High to teach where she was once taught. When she was a student, she said, her favorite activities at the school were, “…playing softball and going to the school’s dances with my friends. I almost always had practice after school, but when I didn’t, my friends and I would go to the UTC mall.” Since her graduation, she said the school has changed tremendously. “The school has been updated with more buildings and the main office has also been updated,” she said. “We also had more lockers where the lunch tables now are. The fields are turf now, but back then, we had just grass and dirt,” she added. She became a PE coach for UC High in the 2021- 2022 school year.
Class of 1987 Alumnus and Local Father Tony Tovar is in no shortage of supply when it comes to stories from his high school years. He said, “My senior year, we had two talent- show concerts in the school auditorium, and I played drums in both, though with different bands each time. I also helped with the sound- mixing in the second concert and I still feel bad about the horrible mistake I made with one band.
According to him, the band composed of his friends had faulty electronics. He continued, “They had a synthesizer with a bad cable which made a lot of noise-and they weren’t playing it- so I muted it, and then forgot what I’d done.” Meanwhile, they played their hearts out and reached the crescendo of their last song, when my friend walked up to the keyboard, picked his keys, closed his eyes and dramatically threw his head back… and silence. His head snapped down in shock and we stared at each other in horror, then I lunged forward and un-muted his keyboard. But it was too late, the song was ruined.” Ironically enough, he moved on to study sound engineering in college.
The class of 1987 existed before the widespread internet usage was commonplace, so in order to socialize, Tovar said, people had to mingle in what he affectionately calls “meat space.” He said, “One big hang-out spot was actually [local fast food restaurant] Carl’s Jr! I know that’s hard to believe now because of the remodel, but it used to have a completely different floor plan, with a huge dining room which was out-of-sight from the counter.”
Class of 1987 Alumna English Teacher Susan Bristol said she remembers driving off campus for lunch everyday. She said, “We used to drive up to UTC and eat at the food court. There was a Taco Bell at the entrance to the food court back then that a lot of students frequented. I also remember that there were also a lot of tardies to fifth period classes.”
Class of 1989 Alumnus Ken Naylor lead singer of the UC band TheEvent, said, “I was in advanced auto shop in my senior year, and we restored a ‘65 Mustang. We ended up entering it in a competition at the [San Diego County] Del Mar Fair, and we took first place for best restoration.”
Some differences in the school from now and then, Tovar noticed, include the absence of an auto shop. Additionally, he said, “all those sports fields didn’t exist up the hill overlooking the school. Or, maybe they did and I was too big a nerd to notice.” Lastly, the lack of garage bands is apparent. He said, “When I attended UC High, there was a live band at almost every party.”
It’s hard to believe that just so many people had their life influenced by the school that many readers are currently attending. While much has changed, there will always be a sense of camaraderie that comes with saying, “Go Centurions!”