James Lick High School is a public high school in San Jose, California, US, located in the Alum Rock district of East San Jose. The school is part of the East Side Union High School District. History James Lick High School opened in 1950 at the base of the East Foothills of San Jose; orchards and open land surrounded the established residential area. Its reach included homes in the Foothills overlooking the entire breadth of Santa Clara Valley. The land had been part of a proposed site for the city's airport in 1928. The school was named for James Lick benefactor of the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, east. It was the first of 11 comprehensive, traditional high schools in the East Side Union High School District, and it quickly became the standard for educational quality in the emerging district. The school built a tradition of excellence in the classroom and on the athletic fields. For many years after its opening, James Lick was viewed as the "jewel" at the base of the foothills. The community surrounding James Lick changed much in the subsequent decades, as orchards were replaced with apartment complexes and single family homes. As the community changed, so did the make-up of its student body. After decades as a recognized leader among comprehensive high schools, it entered a period of decline. In the 1990s, a high rate of turnover developed in the school's population and standardized scores declined precipitously. In 1999, James Lick was declared "an underperforming school". Many families, concerned about academic quality and issues of school safety, removed their students by way of the "No Child Left Behind" legislation. The surrounding area, during the economic decline of recent years, became a haven for families seeking affordable places to live. Concurrently, many first-time homeowners found themselves in the county's epicenter of foreclosure. Even after some easing of that housing crisis, the neighborhood of James Lick High School still held Santa Clara County's top foreclosure rate out of 226 neighborhoods in 2012. Athletics The number of students participating in James Lick High School's athletic programs has grown, along with their success on the field. James Lick offers 14 distinct sports: cross country, American football, boys' and girls' volleyball, boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' basketball, wrestling, softball, baseball, badminton, track and field, swimming and diving. In the 2011–12 school year, 458 students participated in a sports