Matt Weir / The Collegian

While Fresno State celebrates their centennial, University High School (UHS) is reaching a milestone by accepting their tenth incoming class. However, the school’s founding and why it was placed on a college campus remains a mystery to many Fresno State students.

Luis Costa, the former Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State, founded UHS with the idea that the school would be a college prep high school that included an emphasis in music. The school opened its doors in the fall of 2000 with Dr. Brad Huff as the original head of school. Approximately 400 students attend.

The purpose of UHS “is to allow students to experience a small-school environment while enjoying the resources of a major university including the option of earning significant college credit while in high school.”

“[Students] feel very comfortable no matter where they go [after high school] because they lived on a college campus for four years” said current head of UHS James Bushman.

He added that the other advantage of being located on Fresno State’s campus is the ability for students to take college classes and understand what college classes are like.

“Students head off to college with at least a semester, if not a year [of college], already completed,” said Bushman.

Dean of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development Paul Beare explained that UHS charter was based at Fresno State, so it was logical to place the school where the old lab school stood, and later supplemented by temporary trailers.

“University High School definitely fulfilled its purpose,” said Jenneva Cantido, a former UHS student and current Fresno State student. “I graduated high school there completely prepared for academic college life and even ahead of my studies.”

UHS students are expected to juggle their own college-prep courses and more advanced college courses. According to Bushman, Fresno State does not shape their schedule around UHS students, which means that much like Fresno State students, UHS students struggle to get the classes they need.

“It is more difficult for our kids because our kids are always trying to schedule [Fresno State] classes around the high school classes they are required to take,” stated Bushman.

In addition to scheduling conflicts, UHS and its students have received mixed reactions throughout the years from Fresno State students.

According to previous articles by The Collegian, criticism ranged from the controversy of building a permanent location for UHS where the outdoor amphitheater is (spring 2006), to debating whether or not high school students should be allowed on a college campus (fall 2007).

However, UHS students received the most criticism in September of 2009 when a group of UHS students misused one of the Henry Madden Library’s elevators, causing it to get stuck. Since then, no incidents of UHS students causing any problems have been reported.

According to the school’s website, UHS has placed in the top ten of U.S. News and World Report’s best charter school in the nation; in addition to placing within the top fifty of best public schools in the nation. These awards stem from a demanding curriculum requiring students to take music and Latin courses, along with the option to take Advanced Placement (AP) and college level courses.

“I guarantee you that no college in California, and likely none anywhere, has a high school that has ranked in the top 50 in the U.S. four years in a row,” said Beare.

“Having one of the top high schools in the U.S. is a ‘feather in the cap’ for the University,” said Beare.