Jane Stanford

Jane Lathrop Stanford (August 25, 1828 – February 28, 1905) was a co-founder of Stanford University in 1885 (opened 1891) along with her husband, Leland Stanford, as a memorial to their only child, Leland Stanford Jr., who died in 1884 at the age of 15. After her husband's death in 1893, she funded and operated the university almost single-handedly until her death in 1905.

Early life and marriage

Born Jane Elizabeth Lathrop in Albany, New York, she was the daughter of shopkeeper Dyer Lathrop and Jane Anne (Shields) Lathrop. She attended The Albany Academy for Girls, the longest running girls' day school in the country. She married Leland Stanford on September 30, 1850, and went to live with him in Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he had practiced law since 1848.

The Stanfords lived in Port Washington until 1852 when his law library and other property were lost to fire; they then returned to Albany. Leland Stanford went to California to join his brothers in mercantile businesses related to the California Gold Rush, while Jane remained in Albany with her family. He returned in 1855, and the following year they moved to San Francisco, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits on a large scale. Stanford was a cofounder of the Central Pacific Railroad, serving as its president from 1861 until his death in 1893. He was also president of the Southern Pacific Railroad from 1868 until ousted from the post by Collis Potter Huntington in 1890. After nearly 18 years of marriage, they finally had a child, a son, in 1868 when Jane Stanford was 39.

Leland Stanford

Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824 – June 21, 1893) was an American tycoon, industrialist, politician and a co-founder (with his wife, Jane) of Stanford University. Migrating to California from New York at the time of the Gold Rush, he became a successful merchant and wholesaler, and continued to build his business empire. He served one two-year term as governor of California after his election in 1861, and later eight years as senator from the state. As president of Southern Pacific Railroad and, beginning in 1861, Central Pacific, he had tremendous power in the region and a lasting impact on California. He is widely considered a robber baron.

Biography

Early years

Stanford was born in 1824 in what was then Watervliet, New York (now the Town of Colonie). He was one of eight children of Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. Among his siblings were New York State Senator Charles Stanford (1819–1885) and Australian businessman and spiritualist Thomas Welton Stanford (1832–1918). His immigrant ancestor, Thomas Stanford, settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the 17th century. Later ancestors settled in the eastern Mohawk Valley of central New York about 1720.

Stanford University

Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, and one of the world's most prestigious institutions.

Stanford was founded in 1885 by Leland Stanford, former Governor of and U.S. Senator from California and leading railroad tycoon, and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford, in memory of their only child, Leland Stanford, Jr., who had died of typhoid fever at age 15 the previous year. Stanford admitted its first students on October 1, 1891 as a coeducational and non-denominational institution. Tuition was free until 1920. The university struggled financially after Leland Stanford's 1893 death and again after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Following World War II, Provost Frederick Terman supported faculty and graduates' entrepreneurialism to build self-sufficient local industry in what would later be known as Silicon Valley. By 1970, Stanford was home to a linear accelerator, and was one of the original four ARPANET nodes (precursor to the Internet).

Middle school

A middle school (also known as intermediate school or junior high school) is a school for students older than elementary school, but not yet in high school. The ages covered varies between, and sometimes within, countries.

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, middle school consists of grades 6, 7 and 8.

Algeria

In Algeria, a middle school includes grades 6 through 10, consisting of students from ages 10 or 11 to 15.

Australia

Most regions of Australia do not have middle schools, as students go directly from primary school (for years K–6) to secondary school (years 7–12, usually referred to as high school).

As an alternate to the middle school model, some secondary schools divided their grades into "junior high school" (years 7 to 8) and "senior high school" (years 9, 10, 11, and 12.)

In 1996 and 1997, a national conference met to develop what became known as the National Middle Schooling Project, which aimed to develop a common Australian view of

Palo Alto Unified School District

The Palo Alto Unified School District is a public school district located near Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. It consists of twelve primary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools.

History

The district itself was founded on March 20, 1900, with the first school opening in September of that year. Enrollment grew until it reached a peak of 15,576 students in 1967. Afterwards, enrollment declined sharply, forcing the district to close many schools, including Jordan Middle School. The closing of Jordan Middle School was the reason for the renaming of Wilbur Junior High School as Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in 1985. Jordan Middle School was reopened when enrollment decreased again. Barron Park Elementary School was added in 1998, and Terman Middle School was reopened in 2001.

High schools

Gunn High School

Henry M. Gunn High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto. The school is named after Henry M. Gunn (1898–1988), who served as the Palo Alto superintendent from 1950-1961. During his tenure he saw the district expand from 5,500 students to 14,000, adding 17 new schools, and is credited with the establishment of De Anza College and Foothill College, two local community colleges. In 1964, the Palo Alto Unified School District announced it would name its third high school after him. Its first class graduated in 1966. The mascot of the school is Timmy the Titan. The student newspaper is The Oracle, part of the High School National Ad Network. There is an internal student-run television news show called the Titan Broadcast Network.