Early history (1915–2005) It started in January 1915 in a small building formerly occupied by
Oakland Technical High School. Originally, 60 students were enrolled in the school, which at that time was called Vocational High School. It was the first public school in California to offer summer school. McClymonds High School was once a predominantly white school. Demographic changes in the 1940s and 1950s transformed McClymonds into a predominantly Black high school. The school was named after
John W. McClymonds, who at one time was the
superintendent of the
Oakland Unified School District.
Ida Louise Jackson, the first black teacher in the Oakland district, taught history classes at McClymonds before her retirement in 1953. In 1927, with US$325,000 spent on additional classrooms, the school became more of a regular school than a summer school. In 1933, the legislative act was passed, regulating school building construction. This required that schools have steel and structural support on the inside. The building did not meet these requirements. The school board decided to move to the campus to 14th and Myrtle Street in the same building with Lowell Junior High School. McClymonds High thereby became a four year high school. The name changed from J.W. McClymonds to Lowell McClymonds, then to McClymonds Lowell High School. Finally, in September 1938, the official name of the school became McClymonds, and it was moved to 26th and Myrtle. In 1962,
Afro-American Association sponsored the “Mind of the Ghetto” Conference which was held at McClymonds High School, featured a speech by Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.; and in attendance was many Black leaders including
Malcolm X, young
Muhammad Ali,
Floyd McKissick,
Cecil B. Moore,
Huey P. Newton,
Wil Ussery, Thomas Berkley, and Paul Cobb. The Afro-American Association also held a demonstration at the school in 1963 about the importance of staying in school and studying. In 1982, twelve students from the basketball team at McClymonds High School were able to travel to
Dakar, Senegal as a
goodwill ambassador trip. The McClymonds students were able to fundraise US$30,000 in order to afford the travel; they visited
Gorée island, participated in local festivals, and numerous activities like museum visits. By 1994, the school board had also considered closing the campus due to the decade-long low attendance, high levels of drop out and school suspension, and the acts of violence on campus. McClymonds was featured in the book
Black in School: Afrocentric Reform, Urban Youth & the Promise of Hip-Hop Culture (2004), by
Shawn Ginwright.
McClymonds Educational Complex (2005–2010) Between 2005 and 2010, McClymonds was split into three smaller schools: BEST, EXCEL, and Kizmet Academy, collectively known as
McClymonds Educational Complex.
"Mack Is Back!" (2010–present) In 2010, McClymonds Educational Complex returned to being McClymonds High School. The school's 2010–2011 theme was "Mack is Back!" On September 24, 2010, the school opened a new, state-of-the-art football field, William Belford Stadium, named in honor of the late William "Bill" Belford (often called the "godfather" of McClymonds sports). ==Academics==