Tamalpais Union High School District history

E.E. Wood, and three other teachers: Elizabeth Keyser (English, Commercial), Grace Pack (Science) and Shone Kurlandzk (French, German, Latin). In April 1909, John D. Saxe of Homestead Valley was elected to the Board of Trustees.

In 1911 Saxe was reelected and praised for his work in obtaining overwhelming voter approval of a $35,000 bond issue.

The modernization of Wood Hall (built in 1912) unveiled a steam tunnel under campus six feet deep, five feet wide and sixty feet long.

Gus Gym, as it is more commonly known, has been an iconic part of Tam since the 1920s.

Citizens in the Ross Valley school districts voted, mostly by overwhelming majorities, to tie with the Tamalpais Union High School District rather than with the San Rafael High School District. As a result, in 1923, Tam High underwent a large expansion in both its student body and its tax assessment base. “The Special”, a five-car school train picked up students from Manor in Fairfax through the Ross Valley to Corte Madera.

The current math building was constructed after Keyser Hall, in the early 1930’s.

Gus Gym, as it is more commonly known, has been an iconic part of Tam since the 1920s. It is named after George Gustafson, who coached football, baseball, tennis, and swimming for 37 years at Tam, starting in 1933.

She taught Latin, and in 1935, she began to hold an annual banquet with Roman decorations, music, and food.

The clock tower was not originally part of the building, and was partially funded by the class of 1946 as a memorial to those Tam students who lost their lives in World War II.

Keyser after she retired from Tam in 1947, the last of the original staff to retire.

The Wood Hall Clock Tower was built to honor young men who gave their lives in World War II. A plaque bearing 55 names was dedicated December 7, 1948.

Built on landfill, the pool eventually sank and was condemned in 1957 before being replaced the following year by the district.

Two large murals were created as a WPA project including a Maurice Del Mue (Federal Artist Project) painting of rural West Marin, which hung in the library until 1961, at which time it was put into storage.

After he retired in 1971, the gym was formally named after him.

Daniel Caldwell was a former student at Tam who in 1976 formed the Ensemble Theater Company (ETC), as it was originally known.

He headed the theater department for many years, and ETC was renamed to CTE in 1994.

Tam High Foundation is created, a parent volunteer group that raises money to provide academic support and enhance the quality of education at Tam.Tam Boys' Basketball won the State Championship in the winter of 2000.

A Modernization Bond passed in March 2001 providing $120 million to renovate and modernize all five high schools in the District.

In 2003, portables began to arrive on campus, displacing parking and tennis courts, starting one of the country’s most significant public-school modernizations.

In 2005, the Tam community rallied against alleged hate crimes, receiving attention as a school that fosters tolerance and acceptance.